I’m panning a few solo weekends biking trips in the coming months and have obviously stumbled across various hostels. Never stayed at one before and am wondering exactly what they mean by shared rooms.

In my head I picture rows of beds like something out of a army barrack. How bad is it?

Or does anyone have any better suggestions for say a extra £10 or less a night?

At the moment am looking at edale and ambleside. I was looking at esthwaite but as I’d be using the train to getthere (windermere) am I also right in thinking wind-ambleside is easier to get to than esthwaite?

Thanks in advance.

Bunk beds from 6 up to 12 a room very basic, get into bike packing and cheeky camp close to hostels and just use the facilities 🙂

Funnily enough, the YHA website is good for this sort of thing

http://www.yha.org.uk/hostel-virtual-tours

I find YHA’s great, but it entirely depends on your attitude towards sharing rooms with strangers.

Generally they are rooms which sleep 4 – 8 people in bunk beds. They’re pretty basic but yha’s tend to be clean, well looked after and reasonably quiet. The shared rooms also give you the opportunity to meet like minded people of you so desire. For the kind of think you have in mind I like them a lot.

Edit, I have a feeling you can book private rooms in some for a small fee.

you can often book private room too, pricing varies though.

A room with bunk beds sleeping 6-12 people and possibly lockers……. That is what they are like…..

Not that bad, but that’s the general idea – it’s different from hostel to hostel – Ambleside is pretty nice, with 3/4 bunks per room, a little space, a nice bar and restaurant downstairs etc. The showers are down the corridor and it’s generally very comfortable, the staff are nice and there is a shed for bikes. The kitchen is clean and large.

I’ve not used esthwiate, but it could be slightly different – bigger rooms, not as recently refurbished etc. but none of the YHA premises are horrible. Pen Y pass in Wales has some pretty big rooms, and I’ve stayed in a large shared one in there before – someone was snoring, but that’s life.

I’ve stayed in a few on my own and never had any problems with them really – nicer than camping, cheaper than a hotel/B&B.

Take ear plugs and you’ll be fine. Hostels vary but at this time of year, they are more convenient than camping. Allow big miles carrying little weight.
Modern bunks tend to have their own individual reading lights and an electrical plug. A lot have free wifi too.

They are fine, take ear plugs if you are worried about other people being noisy, snoring etc.

Did the YHA shared room thing in summer at Torridon. The room was full of snoring geriatrics (4 bunks in room) that went to bed at 9pm and awful mattresses so quality of sleep was poor. That said the snoring geriatrics were good value and very friendly but couldn’t get their heads around the concept of a “mountain bike” or that we would be heading out into the hills for 6 hours on one!

Years since I had stayed in a YHA and was pleasantly surprised by the one at Torridon. The bloke that ran it was dead friendly and a good laugh and it was very clean and tidy with amazing views.

In hindsight I would have talked my tightfisted friends into stumping up the extra £80 between us to pay for single occupancy. At least then we wouldn’t have been subjected to the complete wierdo, solo cycle tourer bloke that kept walking around bollock naked in the room whilst starting conversations with you!

I had an email today about discounts on some single rooms at YHAs until August. Not a members only thing either, might be worth a look.

Thanks for the replies.

rich, good idea but unfortunately at the monent money is a problem and buying a tent and all the associated goodies isnt really a option. Will definitely be looking into this once I get on my feet though, would much rather go this route. Thanks for the cheeky facility tip :).

Cp, I did see that, but it looks like its more to showcase the more modern hostels and didnt know how wildly they would vary. I only realised last night that ambleside is a better option for me. I’l have a look now thanks.

Thats a good point lunge..im sure abit of company (…:0) would be alright. Didnt really think of it that way.

I enjoy youth hostels, people seem to be a lot more friendlier and you’ll get talking to all sorts. After a days cycling and a few pints you’ll fall straight asleep. Shared rooms come into their own when someone farts which is usually followed by a series of giggles BUT once someone farts everyone thinks it okay to do the same.

Ambleside has just been done up, and from the bit of it I’ve seen is very good. Shared rooms can vary, we have 2 x 3 bunk rooms, which are often taken by larger families, so the individuals go in 2 x bunk rooms when we are busy, if we are quiet we give private rooms at the normal shared rate. There are some bargain prices to be had at the moment, £10.00 per night for yha members. Take a look on trip advisor, we have pics of the bedrooms on there – Grinton Lodge YHA – we even have a stock of ear plugs, just in case!

Its not really the sound id be bothered with haha its more things like duirs’s last point, smelly feckers and the like. Nose/ear plgs and them eye cover things?! 🙂

St. Im going to see if i can find that now. Cheers.

Used to hostel a lot – the whole scene has changed a lot over the years, very much for the worse – the rot set in when they got rid of chores IMO, then really destroyed when they took the attitude that all hostels needed luxury facilities to attract a new clientele, and sold all the hostels with real character.

I snore like concorde, so don’t feel comfortable imposing that on other people any more – however most of them have a decent camping spot, and I’ve found they offer a great place to wash, cook dinner, chill and meet people then sidle off to your tent in privacy.

Stayed at ones in Inverness due to catching train home from bikepacking.
I snore a lot!
Can not get use to putting all my gear in a room full of strangers, More people joining the room later.
But cheap.

Ear plugs just in case.
If your unluck you’ll have to share with 6 blokes on a coast to coast, all over compensating on the protien recovery drink.
I still feel sorry for him.

Grinton is my fav so far, but dales bike centre is closer to the pub.

Sorry for my ignorance..if you are camping nearby/onsite do you have to pay to use the facilities? If so roughly how much?

Tadpole, thanks.whats the riding like around your way? What time of year are you normally more peaceful? Im thinking edale march time and amble/esth april/may.

Check out the independent hostel guide website too. It opens up a lot more possibilities

YHA’s are awesome, mainly due to the locations

It’s a charity as well that does good deeds and isn’t just a corporate.

The price for camping at ours varies according to time of year, think its about £8 in peak season. You get to use the showers and toilets, and the ground floor facilities, drying room, kitchen, bike shed etc etc. always best to check that particular yha,s do camping, and that they have space, as we have to limit the number we take, so that the facilities don’t get over loaded.

Thanks the tips. Alot of food for thought. Cheers.

£8 is very reasonable, may have to do some maths and see if buying a cheap tent and sleeping bag would out weigh two weekend trips using the shared rooms. I wiuld get away with just a sleeping bag and tent? Or am i overlooking anything?

The ambleside YHA is ace, accomodation right on the lake for under 20 quid a night? splendid. The one at derwentwater has a massive waterfall out the back so you can open the window and hear the water splashing, awesome if like me you live in a city.

Just had a proper look at that ambleside one and it does look very nice…not looked at derwent will have a look. Dont live bang in town but with the idiots that live in my block of flats I may aswell.

I haven’t been to a yha for years. Partly the arrival of kids but also I cannot stand the idea of inflicting my snoring on others. I went to the alps a few years back and there were complaints about it from two floors up in or chalet as well as the other end of the corridor 20 feet away.

I always liked the whole hostels thing meet some interesting and plain odd people.

used them a few times a year probably, ideal, cheap digs with self-catering facilities, can meet some good characters in them. Then again sometimes people just want to keep themselves to themselves, which is cool too.

They charge £1 to use the shower and have been fine with me using the drying rooms to dry kit whilst having food and the odd pint!

Beer is expensive mind!

I do find them to be full of odd bods:-)

Some have camping pods in the grounds but these aren’t very economical if you are on your own. I am in a similar position, planning a Cairngorms trip but my usual ride partner has dropped out.We had intended to get a cheap cottage for a week but That’s going to be too dear for me on my own. People say there are lots of good hostels in the area but I don’t want to share with 17yr old lads on their first trip away or older weirds.