pete75 wrote: ↑6 Jun 2023, 11:27amI doubt what is happening to hostels is being caused by the YHA but by what is happening to the YHA, as a result of things like societal change, incomes increasing, changes in leisure activities, changes in vehicle ownership etc
Sadly, I think there's quite a bit of truth in this. I notice the comment in the film about wanting small simple hostels, and so do I, but it's a complete anathema to most people now.
For reference, this doesn't work on MS Edge, the instructions seem to imply it only works on Chrome.
I've never spent a night in Sabrina, but I recognised Bryn Gwynant, and Ingleton was my first ever hostel in 1969. (Bryn Gwynant is the only hostel where I've been kept awake by the sound of someone scratching his midge bites.
)
I was thinking about the YHA's policy on maintenance: what's broke stays broke. They just leave everything, then when the hostel's falling to bits they look at the books: if it's losing money they close it, and if it's profitable they refurbish it and start all over again.
I recall at Alston (before the YHA sold it), one of the two boilers broke, so the warden called a plumber who told him it was beyond repair and needed replacing. "Get another plumber" head office told him, so he tried a few more who all said the same. "Get another plumber" said head office again. By the time he'd been through every plumber in the Yellow Pages, head office still told him to find another plumber.
The cold tap in Hawes kitchen was a trickle, it took about a minute to fill a bottle, and there was a note on the wall above the sink: "Sorry about the water pressure, we're waiting for the plumber". When I went back several years later, the note was still there. The plumbers are slow in Wensleydale.
At Stirling, the room light wasn't working, so when I saw the Warden doing his paperwork at the reception desk I said "Are you aware that the light's ot working ing in room 7?".
"Nope" he said, without even looking up. I mentioned it to another girl shortly after: "Oh, he knows full well, it's been like that for ages". Even the cost of a light bulb is too much.
Duncan Simpson's website is an excellent YHA archive, with separate
files for each hostel including bags of detail, even bed-night data.