| THE
HOSTEL |
LOCATION
Superbly situated for walkers, ideal for a circular to Scafell.
The Woolpack Inn is only a couple of hundred yards down the road
and Dalegarth Station for the Ravenglass and Eskdale railway is
about 1.5 miles away. Beautiful, quiet and tranquil this hostel
gets a 'SUPERB' top mark rating of 10 for location - a great place
to relax.
|
10
|
THE
HOSTEL BUILDING
& ATMOSPHERE
Impressive looking purpose built hostel with pleasant grounds at
the front. |
8
|
| CLEANLINESS
and TIDINESS |
8
|
THE
ROOM
The 2-bunk room allocated was extremely
small and at the rear, so we were deprived of the frontal aspect.
No noise from traffic or noisy pipes, but the bunks were a bit uncomfortable
and creaked badly - not a great night's sleep. Good size sink and
mirror provided. Hot water supply was also good, but it needed the
taps to be run for some time before it arrived. Good overhead reading
lights for the bunks. A couple of hooks and coat hangers supplied.
A cupboard that was crammed into a small space at the end of the
bunks was almost useless as it opened the wrong way. |
6
|
SHOWERS
AND TOILETS
The showers and loos were quite
acceptable. |
7
|
CAR
PARKING
The
hostel wasn't full when we arrived at about 5.30pm. and only
one
obvious parking space remained in the small car park.
Now,
there are a number of things in this world that seriously annoy
me - inconsiderate parking is one of them. Looking around it could
be seen that three fellow hostelers had contrived to park their
vehicles into a space that should have comfortably held four! Parking
space at hostels is often at a permium so fellow hostelers should
take note: put your brain into gear when parking. |
6
|
|
SHOP
FACILITIES
A small range of goods were provided.
This could be improved. A drinks vending machine would also be
very useful.
|
5
|
| |
|
| STAFF
& MEALS |
3
COURSE EVENING MEAL
A good choice was offerred and
the soup came with a hot fresh roll - a very nice touch and a good
start to the evening. Both of us enjoyed the meal and considered
the 3 courses to be well prepared and to our liking - very good
value at £5.10. |
8
|
BREAKFAST
I
like a good solid meal before starting out for a day on the fells.
I ordered the traditional English fried breakfast and my partner
opted for the vegetarian equivalent. We both agreed that it was
poor value at £3.50, the portions provided being more suitable
for children, and the toast didn't surface until half way through
the meal. On the plus side the freshly brewed coffee was excellent,
much better than the normal rubbish provided by the drinks machines
in some hostels. |
6
|
FRIENDLINESS
OF STAFF
Eskdale scored highly on this, the staff
were friendly and helpful but as in almost all other hostels we
have experienced, a welcome drink was not offered. It was good to
see that the local weather forecast was posted on the board at 8am,
in time to digest it over breakfast. Some other hostels would do
well to take note of this point, We have been to some where the
local forecast still hadn't been posted by 9.00am which isn't much
use if you're planning an early start. |
8
|
| |
|
| ADDITIONAL
FACILITIES |
| TELEVISION |
0
|
| INTERNET
FACILITIES FOR USE |
0
|
| |
| ESKDALE
YOUTH HOSTEL |
72 |
|
WOULD
WE RETURN TO ESKDALE? -
YES, We consider 72 is a good mark for a 2 star hostel and we
look forward to a return trip, hopefully next time we'd have a
room with a view. The cost of the room for two adults was £24.50,
which we considered to be very good overall value.
|
|
|
