Rua Reidh lighthouse near Gairloch

Most of the ones in NZ

I stayed in and worked in The Lazy Lizard, Moab (quite) a few years ago, I had a great time, a fantastic base for rides to various trails

Cat Bells camping barn is a basic fun pad for a group

I liked the Lazy Lizard, mainly because our car containing all our camping gear had been towed to a garage after the alternator went in Arches NP, the tow truck driver kindly recommended the hostel and then drove us there 🙂

Ambleside YHA

Really? I went last year and it was god-awful. My complaints would take considerable time to document here so I won’t bother but one thing that really came out of the experience was that the YHA have completely lost their way. For the same price I could have (and definately will next time) got a nice B&B.

At Ambleside the problems were still going on at 5am so I got up and left.

Mary Potter Nurses Hostel, Hyson Green, Nottm 8)

Hartington Hall YHA (particularly Bonnie Prince Charlie’s room)
Aqaurius Hostel, Byron Bay, NSW
Monriad, Marrakech (bit dearer than a hostel but not an hotel)

Black Sail – what a place to wake up – amazing location. Cracking dinner and breaky plus great staff.

Bushmills Hostel in NI – clean, great staff, cracking rooms – great place to stay for the NW200 races

The YHA “board” (trustees) are nominated and elected by the members. I wonder if any of the people who are so disgruntled with the YHA have got involved e.g. attending the AGM etc. Or do you want to treat it like a “commercial” hotel chain, in which case if that is what it seems to be evolving into it is perhaps no surprise!

Personally I’ve only used SYHA properties not YHA ones and generally had good experiences. There’s definitely been a culture shift since the 1990’s but generally IMHO that is positive. Perhaps there is less requirement for a collective body and the internet (as a way of communicating the existence, availability/booking etc) for independent hostels/bunk houses – whereas 20 yrs ago the “hostel book” was the starting point.

It would be tricky to pick a specific hostel as being the best. What would the grounds be? At both extremes luxury/comfort could produce a great hostel, but simplicity/basics could be just as good. And a brilliant hostel in a poor location would be worse than an average hostel in an amazing spot.

It would be tricky to pick a specific hostel as being the best. What would the grounds be?

You can decide those grounds and put them in your response, best is subjective and the topic title was open/general on purpose..

Some interesting responses and one can follow up some of these places/hostel names with a bit of research

Most welcome one – Truleigh Hill last year after 60 miles of the SDW. Oasis Backpackers Mansion in Lisbon was amazing. Best memories Bel Air in Cairns, Oz.

Have stayed in hostels all over the world, bit sad to think that some are on their way out. The only one in the town where I live is about to close.