Page No. rh0043


The opinions expressed on the merits of the various hostels are those of myself, with some input by my partner. Don't take the comments too seriously, depending on my general demeanour and well being I might, on another day, reach different conclusions. Occasionally my partner and I may disagree as to the relative merits of a particular point. When this happens, what I say goes - tough I know, but as I do all the driving I have the final say!

A low mark doesn't necessarily mean that the hostel isn't a good one, it may well have scored excellently in areas that you consider important, whilst not scoring points for facilities that you don't require.

 


YHA - York

Yorkshire - Rated as a 3 star hostel by the YHA

All reviews are based on booking a private room for two adults.


December 2003
We'd been to this hostel on two previous occasions so knew pretty much what to expect. This one night stay was booked 10 days in advance, just in time to do some late Christmas shopping in York. There had been a light overnight snowfall and the weather was fair.

Room tariff for 2 people: Breakfast is included at York so the £37.00 tariff equates to being £30 when compared to most other hostels.

THE HOSTEL
LOCATION
Youth hostels almost always score well on their location and York is no exception. It's a about a mile from the centre of the city. Quiet enough to be peaceful but close enough to enjoy a lovely riverside walk into its very heart, and the inspiring York Minster Cathedral and National Railway Museum.
10
THE HOSTEL BUILDING & ATMOSPHERE
This is a large international hostel with over 150 beds yet manages to convey the atmosphere of a much smaller hostel. A large Victorian house once owned by the Rowntree family it is centrally heated and carpeted throughout. The annex is an add-on that doesn't quite have the architectural merit of the rest of the building but don't be concerned if you are allocated a room in it, I've been in both and been happy with the accommodation. The Dining room is extremely pleasant, part of it overlooks a small garden and we especially enjoyed breakfast, whilst viewing the birds feeding at the tables and observing the activities of a squirrel foraging for food.
OPEN ALL YEAR
Opening Hours: 07.00hrs to 22.30hrs.
24 hour access with security guard.
10
CLEANLINESS and TIDINESS
 High standards, it would have scored 10 but I've already rated the Buttermere hostel at the maximum and felt it had the edge, but only just.
9
THE ROOM
plus points: Television, perhaps the purist hostelers might not approve but I certainly do. It even had teletext and a remote control! During a long winters night having a tele to watch is a big plus, and is this reason I've given an additional point over the normal maximum of 10.
Beds, rather than bunks, very comfortable. The bed was already made-up and there was no requirement to hand in the linen at the end of the stay.
Plenty of coat hooks and some clothes hangers.
Full length mirror.
Good size room.
Welcome tray with kettle.
Excellent contol of raidiator and room temperature..
negative points: The window was very difficult to open, but it did work - a minor critisism.
11
SHOWERS AND TOILETS
 Small but clean. The water was just about hot enough but the strength of water supply left something to be desired. By no means the best of showers, but certainly not the worst I've experienced.
7
CAR PARKING
We've visited the hostel three times and never had any problems, but the impression I have is that if the hostel had been full there could be some difficulty.
7

SHOP FACILITIES
 Indoor confectionery vending machine with a good range which included my favourite Rolos. A vending machine just outside the hostel entrance also had a good range of drinks available with cans available at a very reasonable 60p.

8
   
STAFF & MEALS
3 COURSE EVENING MEAL - £5.10
 Starter choice of:
Cream of Tomato Soup, Mixed Salad or Fruit Juice.
Main Course choice of:
Fish Burger, Minced Lamb in a Yorkshire Pudding, Cheese Brocoli & Potato Bake or Mushroom Stroganoff. All served with Chips or Minted Potatos, Sweetcorn, Garden Peas or Baked Beans.
Sweet choice of:
Baked Lemon & Cherry Sponge with Custard Sauce or a selection of cold sweets. With Tea or Coffee.

I went for the Tomato Soup, Minced Lamb and a piece of cheesecake with cream. ' Er outdoors' opted for the Mixed Salad, Cheese Brocoli Potato Bake followed by Lemon Meringe.
Verdict: With the hostel not being particularly busy and the main kitchen closed the evening meal was served to the table.
We were both pleased with our starter but er outdoors whinged on a bit about not having any bread with her salad. Being a generous sort of guy I allowed her a small piece (very small) of the very nice warm roll provided with my soup. We were both very pleased with our respective choice of main course.
Unfortunately the hot Baked Lemon & Cherry Sponge sweet wasn't available. A slight dissapointment this, as we would have both chosen it. I still enjoyed my substitute choice of cheesecake. My partner said her Lemon Meringue was OK.
This leaves us with our choice of a drink, a coffee to finish off the meal. When we saw that it one of those infernal multi-coffee machines we should have guessed that what was coming. Neither of us could drink more than a token sip of this foul concoction - I won't say that it was the worst cup of coffee I've ever tasted, but it came very close, it really was disgusting.
9
BREAKFAST (included in price at York)
At York breakfast is included in the price.
Despite the awful coffee on offer I've awarded a mark higher than the normal maximum as this was some way in front of any I'd previously experienced at a hostel.
A choice of 2 starters from a choice of:
Cereal, Youghurt, Fruit Juice
 There was a choice of healthy Continental rubbish or a proper '10 item cooked English Breakfast'
Bacon, Sausage, Fried or Scrambled Egg, Hash Brown, Black Pudding, Fried Bread, Beans, Tomatoes, Mushrooms and Toast with Tea or Coffee.
11
FRIENDLINESS OF STAFF
Very helpful and cheerful staff but no welcome drink was offered - perhaps, after what I've said about the coffee, they were doing us a favour ! ! !
9
   
ADDITIONAL FACILITIES
TELEVISION
 Good size television in the lounge with remote control.
5
INTERNET FACILITIES FOR USE
2 machines, both working well with very good 56k connection. In common with other hostels a charge of 50p is made. I don't have any problem with a charge but I do feel that hostels could offer better value and provide more time on line for this.
5
 
YORK YOUTH HOSTEL
99

WOULD WE RETURN TO YORK - We already have, this was our third visit in just over two years of membership. As a staunch Lancastrian it causes me a bit of a pain to admit that the white rose county has a real jewel in its City of York, and it is matched by the quality of its Youth Hostel. The YHA accreditation shows this as being a 3 star hostel. We think they've got it wrong and rate York as being an excellent 4 Star, only two points short of the magic 101 points that would make it a superb 5 Star hostel.



YORK YHA CONTACT INFORMATION
Telephone: 0870 770 6102
E-mail: Click-Link
Web Site: Click-Link


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