Cycling UK Forum

I'm hoping to spend a few nights in Cornwall next month. I've not stayed in a Youith Hostel for many years - just wondering what the accomoodation is like and whether it's worth joining up? (Now 55 and single).

Nigel

You don't have to be a member to stay, you just pay £3 more per night than non-members.
I stayed in a hostel last year and it was a huge improvement on my previous stay about 10 years previously. There are fewer hostels these days, but the standards (and prices) are higher.
I suggest that you check where you intend to stay to make sure there are beds available. That will also let you see the cost and you can compare against B&B.

I've stayed at Lands End and Penzance YHA's both very nice, but both very individual buildings. The format hasn't really changed, make up your own bed etc, great for meeting other folk, the only down side I think is that theh meal protions are a little on the small side, but thats just my own opinion.



this is LE from the back and a similar view to a post card that is on sale, the differance is in the post card there are goups of people sat at the benches, on the second bench from the left the two people are 1st Rachel our eldest and 2nd me then my bike a great souvenir for my first LEJoG

Why not try an independant bunk house as well as the YHA prices are pretty similar, although it's in Devon Betty Cottles is excellent. and not far off the A30.

diapason0 wrote:I'm hoping to spend a few nights in Cornwall next month.

There are very few counties where that is now possible in a youth hostel unless you stayed in the same hostel.

horizon wrote:

diapason0 wrote:I'm hoping to spend a few nights in Cornwall next month.

There are very few counties where that is now possible in a youth hostel unless you stayed in the same hostel.

Sadly thats quite true, or the hostel is only available where it is student accomodation, and not available term time. One other advantage of YHA membership is discounts to certain venues or in certain shops, we used to have a Millets in Stockport and I could get a percentage off for YHA membership, so it's worth looking into.

Malc

Check out the YHA website.
http://www.yha.org.uk/

The main problem reported is getting accommodation during school hol's and at weekends.
Quite a few YHA,s take mass bookings from groups and have been known to cancel individual bookings at a late date.
Mid-week should be O.K,?

Many thanks for the advice. Plan A (if other things work out) is to take the train down to Falmouth and ride to Coverack for the first night, then on to the Lizard for a night and a final night in Penzance before catching the train back. There are plenty of B&B's as alternatives if the hostels are booked. From past forays, the hills will be challenging methinks!

Personally I would stay in B&Bs. The price difference isn't huge when you include breakfast. The advantages of youth hostels (common room, drying room, members' kitchen, cycle shed, other cyclists) only kick in on top of what was a cheap rate. They lose some of their attraction if you are paying the same as a B&B to share a dorm with eight other people. My last stay (at Burley) cost £18.40 for the night, £3.00 for membership and £4.85 for breakfast. Throw in the noisy TV in the common room and a car park full of cars and there's not much left. As a dyed-in-the-wool youth hosteller this is hard to say.

They certainly seem to have changed - probably for the worse - since I last stayed in one. Those were the days of arrival on foot or by bike (we got special permission to bring a minibus for the youth club who stayed for the weekend) and chores before you leave. I'm looking at several options including B&Bs.

N

Have a look at the independent hostels website too. They are growing in number and include one or two former Youth Hostels I think. There are several in Cornwall, including one in Penzance.

http://www.independenthostelguide.com

Many thanks, Karen - these look perfect. One of the hostels is on a farm where I have camped before just outside Falmouth and there are several near Penzance. They sound much better than the YHA hostels, many of which seem to have moved too upmarket and are often block booked by school groups. My break is looking much more do-able, especially as I have been unwell for some time and arranging anything is stressful

Thanks again,

Nigel

Pleased to help Nigel. Our CTC Group uses these independent hostels more than YHA these days. No membership needed either (YHA Group membership has gone up a lot recently).

You won't find a better view than from the Lands End YHA, especially if theres a good sunset. Fantastic short walk down to the cove as well. If you want beer they have locally bottled, and a lockable bike shed.

I'm definitely up for Tregedna Farm and another near the Lizard. LE is a possibility

N

The YHA deserves to die. It really has lost its way. Use an independent hostel if you can, or a B&B.
One potential upside to the YHA is the interesting people you can meet, but the YHs I've stayed in recently have been mostly empty. I also like the characterful buildings, but they seem to be the ones that are being sold; and each year the bigwigs sell off more of their valuable assets to cover shortfalls (where does that lead?). How is it they can't make money? I met a misery-guts of a warden at the weekend, who seemed to be upset that an assistant warden had, err, been of assistance to me. I can only liken it to some charitable version of the Civil Service, wasting money and not delivering.
The original purpose of the YHA was to provide cheap accommodation, particularly for young people, to enjoy the outdoors, wasn't it? But I don't think ~£20 just to sleep (if you can) is a particularly attractive prospect for someone unwaged. I've stayed in an independent hostel for £8, and seen B&B for £10. I don't reckon there is any YH that could match that. I wonder whether most people who do still use Youth Hotels do so out of sentimentality for the glory days of their youth. I think that might be why I periodically give them a try. I don't see many young people in them being independent---there are those who are taken there by school, or scouts, or are with parents.
Just to highlight YHA incompetence, their website is not just bad, it is wrong. You would have thought someone might have checked. Not all entries provide a grid ref (I mean you wouldn't want to go there, would you), but of those that do, there is no consistency. Some use six-figure grid references, one is 8-figure (must be a small youth hostel), some provide the two-letter grid square code, others use "GR". One has a four-figure grid ref, and a significant fraction are 5-figure because someone has loaded them into Excel as a number and an initial zero has been lost. You can't see where all the hostels are on the map, but have to select the region you want to look and if you scroll out of the region, there are no more hostels. Strangely prescient of them, I reckon.