British Hostels

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
scragend
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Re: Recent experiences of youth hostelling

Post by scragend »

simonhill wrote: 15 May 2023, 3:39pm (Not in response to above.)

I suspect the name is a bit of a misnomer.

Youth??

The days of young people venturing out on their own are now long gone. While the minimum age for unaccompanied is 16, which is pretty good by modern standards, I bet you rarely see many youths, except on organised trips.
Well, quite.

The International Youth Hostel Federation changed its name to Hostelling International some years ago. Independent hostels are invariably just known as "hostels", so the YHA is a bit of an outlier in keeping the reference to "youth" in its name.
mattheus
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Re: Recent experiences of youth hostelling

Post by mattheus »

scragend wrote: 15 May 2023, 4:18pm
simonhill wrote: 15 May 2023, 3:39pm (Not in response to above.)

I suspect the name is a bit of a misnomer.

Youth??

The days of young people venturing out on their own are now long gone. While the minimum age for unaccompanied is 16, which is pretty good by modern standards, I bet you rarely see many youths, except on organised trips.
Well, quite.

The International Youth Hostel Federation changed its name to Hostelling International some years ago. Independent hostels are invariably just known as "hostels", so the YHA is a bit of an outlier in keeping the reference to "youth" in its name.
I don't think it does any harm (and it provides something to moan about ...)
Might be a good thing, in distinguishing from the Backpackers Hostels which generally are for party-seeking types.
scragend
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Re: Recent experiences of youth hostelling

Post by scragend »

mattheus wrote: 15 May 2023, 4:22pm I don't think it does any harm (and it provides something to moan about ...)
Might be a good thing, in distinguishing from the Backpackers Hostels which generally are for party-seeking types.
And I suppose it means I can still delude myself that I am still young if I stay in a "youth" hostel :wink:

It also acts as a bit of a shibboleth. If anyone asks me if I am staying in a "youth hostel", that's a pretty good indication that they aren't au fait with the modern hostelling scene. It's rare that they actually mean to distinguish between the YHA specifically and any other hostel.
Slowroad
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Re: Recent experiences of youth hostelling

Post by Slowroad »

I gave up on British Youth Hostels quite a few years ago, except for a couple of stays at St Pancras. I have stayed at a few Dutch Youth Hostles (Stayokay), Belgian ones and lots of German ones on the Rhine route and Vennbahn. I really enjoyed staying at these, being a solo female cycle tourer I often had a dorm to myself. It is possible in Germany to book as an independent traveller even if there are schools using the hostel, but they may keep you separate and make you eat in a side room! I've stayed in forts, castles, modernist buildings and purpose-built hostels. I've eaten rather too much pizza or gone out for chips, as there aren't kitchens, but there are good canteens in many. Few problems, only had annoying room-mates once. They cost £20-£35 if I remember right.
It's been a great way to tour with my Brompton, but I last hostelled abroad in 2019 and need to build up my confidence again about going abroad and saying with strangers. I'd be interested if anyone else has hostelled in Germany or nearby countries in the last couple of years, and has anything changed?
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axel_knutt
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Re: Recent experiences of youth hostelling

Post by axel_knutt »

Grldtnr wrote: 15 May 2023, 3:10pm I yearn for the good old days, book ahead by telephone, or just turn up and ask for a bed for the night, shower tokens, and a hostel duties to keep costs down, all that's gone.
I recall a bit about modernising the YHA on Channel 4 news perhaps 20 years ago (just after foot & mouth?). After the journalists stopped tittering at grown men who still sleep in bunks, they asked the CEO or whoever he was "what about the traditional hostellers", and the reply was to the effect "oh, we don't take any notice of them, they're living in the past".

I remember a comment from the warden at Bellever: "Travelodge are our competition now".
simonhill wrote: 15 May 2023, 3:39pmThe days of young people venturing out on their own are now long gone.
At Byrness in 1997 I was very impressed by a lad who was cycling alone from home in Newcastle to spend the school summer holiday with his grandparents in the Lake District.
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ElaineB
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Re: Recent experiences of youth hostelling

Post by ElaineB »

Sadly the YHA had to adapt to compete with the Premier Inns and Travel Lodges. The rooms are very expensive now, as a solo cyclist I recently booked a four bedded room with en-suite all for myself at £50 per night, just for the room. The dormitory beds used to be £13 per night but quite a lot of Yha’s don’t offer them now.
Last week I booked a B&B for £60 single en-suite which included breakfast, kettle with tea and coffee, fridge and flat screen tv. I used to love staying at the YHA but now you can book on bookings.com, the people staying there are quite often workers who stay long term and are often found watching films on their laptops with earphones in.
I’ve met some fantastic people, cyclists, walkers, visitors from abroad who were always happy to chat and exchange ideas but now the Yha’s are more interested in families and school parties. I was also told recently that they struggle to get staff and quite a few hostels have limited opening times in the winter season. They prefer to let out the whole hostel too, it’s really all about finance and the ethos has changed with it. The school holiday summer months can be horrendously noisy but out of season you can still enjoy peace and quiet and if you are lucky meet like minded souls but it’s getting much harder and expensive, sadly. I’m not sure I will be renewing my yha membership this year, but that said I still have some very happy memories of past stays at the yha, so it’s not quite RIP YHA!
mattheus
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Re: Recent experiences of youth hostelling

Post by mattheus »

scragend wrote: 15 May 2023, 4:25pm
mattheus wrote: 15 May 2023, 4:22pm I don't think it does any harm (and it provides something to moan about ...)
Might be a good thing, in distinguishing from the Backpackers Hostels which generally are for party-seeking types.
And I suppose it means I can still delude myself that I am still young if I stay in a "youth" hostel :wink:

It also acts as a bit of a shibboleth. If anyone asks me if I am staying in a "youth hostel", that's a pretty good indication that they aren't au fait with the modern hostelling scene. It's rare that they actually mean to distinguish between the YHA specifically and any other hostel.
Or perhaps being polite, avoiding the suggestion you may be homeless:
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/w ... s-hostels/
rareposter
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Re: Recent experiences of youth hostelling

Post by rareposter »

Stopped even considering them as options years ago.

First used them as a teenager in the late 90's - a mate and I did a couple of tours from the Tim Woodcock MTB guides and I've still got the books, some of them with scribbled pencil notes about cost (£6/night!). That really was the days when you'd meet a load of cycle tourers, backpackers etc.

Used them a bit as a family too - this was back in the days when the people staying had "chores" in the morning before you could check out and it was obviously a thoroughly hated part of the experience because very few people ever seemed to do them.

Fast forward a bit and a group of us from the cycle club stayed at Ambleside YHA before the Fred Whitton Sportive - it was a simple cheap option that could accommodate all of us. It was horrendous. Kids running round screaming and spraying deodorant and hairspray at each other which set the fire alarms off so we were standing in the car park at 11pm freezing for an hour before we were finally allowed back in.

Since then every hostel stay I've ever had has been progressively worse. Was really ill one night when someone came in late and closed the window in the dorm room, I woke up a few hours later really overheated and was sick (thankfully in the toilet, not the dorm!). Innumerable cases of other people in the dorm snoring like a freight train or coming in really late/getting up really early and disturbing everyone.

I'd never even consider them now, there's so many B&Bs, cheap hotels like Premier Inn/Travelodge (which allow you to take bikes into the room) and you can find them all on booking.com and reserve there and then, often with free cancellation until the day of arrival and often no more expensive than YHA these days.

They lost their way sometime in the late 2000's when they were selling off the small hostels in favour of ones they could rent out to school parties.
Grldtnr
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British Hostels

Post by Grldtnr »

I have been a YHA Member for some time 30 off years, occasionally I would just go off and hostel for a weekend or whenever.
But since the Foot & Mouth, and more recently the COVID Panic demic, ,it's been a case that I cannot go to any Hostels I'd like to stay , they seem to be closed. Unavailable or school parties only.
Just what is the situation?
I am so nixed off , I will write to complain , I am paying to be a member and yet I am denied the right to stay, besides which members benefit amountdvto a small discount to staying ,if you can book.
I will update when I get a reply, when & if !
What's anyone else experience on this ?
A laid back, low down, layabout recumbent triker!
Jdsk
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Re: British Hostels

Post by Jdsk »

"Recent experiences of youth hostelling":
viewtopic.php?t=156132

Jonathan
richardfm
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Re: British Hostels

Post by richardfm »

I camped at Okehamton YH last weekend. No problems booking.
I'm not a member, I don't use hostels often enough to make it worthwhile
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mjr
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Re: Recent experiences of youth hostelling

Post by mjr »

ElaineB wrote: 15 May 2023, 8:56pm Sadly the YHA had to adapt to compete with the Premier Inns and Travel Lodges. The rooms are very expensive now, as a solo cyclist I recently booked a four bedded room with en-suite all for myself at £50 per night, just for the room. The dormitory beds used to be £13 per night but quite a lot of Yha’s don’t offer them now.
Charging more than Premier Inn and Travelodge yet making less money per unit and being less convenient for many doesn't seem like competing very well.

While YHA's charitable aim still includes promoting health, their current 10-year strategy to 2030 includes no support for cycling and their strategic quantifiable measurements include nothing about health or physical activity. Only number of people, number of young people and whether they access nature, outdoors, culture and heritage while staying there. That's all. The claims about health are very woolly, like either the strategy authors don't really see how they can promote health in any direct ways or they've been told not to let it get in the way of visitor numbers and income.

Maybe they'll start to give a toss about sustainable and active travel after 2030.
[...] now you can book on bookings.com, [...]
Well, you can, but then you're encouraging a business which has been found misleading customers several times and continued doing bad things to both customers and suppliers. Other booking sites that haven't are available.
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Steve
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Re: British Hostels

Post by Steve »

It's true that very few of them now offer dormitory beds, perhaps only about 15 hostels in England and Wales, and it seems those which rely on volunteer wardens are the worst affected. I hope the situation improves as covid slips into history, but I ain't holding my breath.
Pendodave
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Re: Recent experiences of youth hostelling

Post by Pendodave »

mjr wrote: 6 Jun 2023, 12:02am
[...] now you can book on bookings.com, [...]
Well, you can, but then you're encouraging a business which has been found misleading customers several times and continued doing bad things to both customers and suppliers. Other booking sites that haven't are available.
If I find somewhere I like on booking.com, I just ring them up and book direct. There's often a saving, and the hotelier/b&b owner saves a lot of commission. Every little helps.
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simonineaston
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Re: Recent experiences of youth hostelling

Post by simonineaston »

The following doesn't answer the request for recent & relevant, but I'll say in passing that I miss the old YHA, its locations and its ethos. I first stayed in a YHA back in the early '70s, with friends when we went to the Lake District, which would have been one of my first trips away from home, as a teenager. My parents ony let me go on the basis that I would be staying at YHA hostels. And although the dormatory accom., basic food and the simple egalitarian idea that you did a chore along with everbody else, is way beneath the standards we expect for even the cheapest leisure accom. these days, the move toward different expectations doesn't necessarily represent an improvement, at least from the pov of a successfully civilised society.
For various reasons, I miss the old YHA and remember fondly some fabulous trips to places that would have been difficult for a youngster to access if it hadn't been for the presence of YHA hostels.
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
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