Indeed, if the yha can’t make enough on them to keep their charitable commitments going I can’t see a franchisee managing it.

I’m conflicted by this in that most of the YHAs I’ve stayed in over the last 40 years have been crap and staffed by borderline sociopaths …. but the idea that kids/young adults have somewhere cheap to go is still very noble. Sadly they’re no longer cheap places to stay and haven’t been for at least 10 years.

£850k for a building that big in Streatley?
Bargain

The covenants on the sale will be taking a lot more than that off the price. Of course fighting the enforcement of them is likely cheaper than getting them removed.

YHA lost its way years ago, tried to become more corporate, tried to make more money – a lot of those old buildings cost a fortune to maintain and heat – and tried to lose it’s old fuddy duddy cycle tourist image. At one point, I’m fairly sure there was a rule or at least an acceptance that you arrived by foot or bike.

Problem is now in the internet age you can find accommodation and book a room in seconds including places that would never show up in any tourist brochure or travel guide and they never got their heads around that. Covid didn’t help obviously but their aim of block booking for schoolkids put a lot of people off as well.

I remember a group of us staying in the Ambleside hostel the night before the Fred Whitton (cos it was the only place that could accommodate about 8-10 of us from the cycle club) and we got zero sleep due to the place being overrun by hordes of little shits delightful schoolchildren setting off the fire alarm and running along the corridors.

It is a shame that they wont be there any longer but not completely surprising. I tried to stay in one in the Easter holidays with my kids and it was cheaper to stay at the Premier inn down the road.

Another conflicted one here.

Through uni and the 90’s I used Youth Hostels a lot. They were great – affordable and usually in nice places. Being able to cater for yourself was a winner.

Through the late 90s and 2000’s we tried to use them – but fell foul of a few issues.
– a growing lack of self awareness such as one set of hillwalkers getting up at 5am and putting on the dorm lights as they had not packed the night before, or the time when a group of kids was running wild around a group of parents.
– prices increased. A lot. Particularly for a family of 5 we found self catering cheaper.
– struggling to book due to their popularity – seems in the 2000’s a new generation discovered them.
– just a lack of comfort in some. Plastic mattresses, creaky beds, cold showers etc all wore thin, and we wondered if camping might be better.

I *do* think there is need for hostels – but I wonder if the old buildings that most have are so expensive to run, and building new low energy, smaller roomed and more flexible spaces might be economically and environmentally better.

I am speaking at an event with someone senior from YHA next week – I will ask her about it all and get her take.

I’ve tried booking YHA hostels on and off lately but been thwarted every time either because the hostel is closed or it was fully booked, presumably by a group, it’s a pity, and I’m sorry to see the network being dismantled through these sales, especially hostels outside the more popular national park areas, where YHAs might bring in a few folks locally, and certainly do help for those doing long distance walking or cycling, the latter actively now being promoted by CyclingUK (and other) off-road bike-packing routes such as KAW etc…

So yes, alas it’s a Premier Inn for me and my son in Buxton in a week’s time, as opposed to a YHA, which I would have preferred for our pootle around the White Peak.

To also add: there are some private hostels and most campsites rammed with guests and making a profit. I am puzzled how an organisation such as YHA cannot make hostels like Hathersage, Minehead, Patterdale etc pay…

Indeed, if the yha can’t make enough on them to keep their charitable commitments going I can’t see a franchisee managing it.

SYHA closed a number of hostels a long time ago, some of them are run quite successfully as backpackers hostels.  They are generally a bit scruffier, and the staff are young dreamers rather than grumpy outdoors people – but the right hostel in the right location can make it work.  Energy costs must be crippling them now though.  Still they seem to have high occupancy levels.

They aren’t cheap for a family, especially as their child protection rules will stop young kids sharing with strangers, but for a solo traveller actually they are still a good option.

The Atherton’s could buy Corris – it’s only about 5-10 minutes away.

I’ve still got a few of the old Tim Woodcock “MTB touring” books – Lakeland Loop, Coast-to-Coast off road etc – and in the back, scribbled in pencil, are the prices of the various hostels. £6 a night type stuff. That was mid 90’s.

Definitely some fond memories but from mid 2000’s onwards stays became more miss than hit. I don’t think they ever got that balance of “basic accommodation for the tired and weary traveller” vs “some actually decent accommodation for the more discerning person”. Seemed to be prices of the latter but standards of the former.

I was assistant warden at Eyam in about 91. The decor is still the same as when I was there (and it was dated even then)..

Anyone remember the “doing chores” part of it where each room would be allocated a task to do in the morning before you were allowed to check out?

Yeah, that one wore thin pretty quickly…

The YHA sold off three in mid Wales quite a few years ago – Dolgoch, Tyn-y-Cornel and another (name eludes me right now). The first two there were taken on by a bunch of enthusiasts who formed the Elenydd Hostels Trust, and have run them pretty successfully ever since. But it’s a big commitment for the trustees, and there’s a fair amount of organisation and some quite big costs in bringing the accom up to scratch, and maintaining the properties and their access tracks. Dolgoch at the time was still lit by gaslights, as I recall.
From what people above are saying, it sounds like many of the ones on the current list would involve similar levels of ongoing expenditure. Eeek. Good luck to whoever takes them on.

Make sense to do some housekeeping.

Staffing was also an issue when we stayed in the lakes last year.

As a parent with 8 and 13 yr old daughters, YHAs have been great for us as a family. Areas such as the lakes really lack reasonably priced family accommodation – it’s all b&bs which are expensive and awkward or holiday cottages which are overkill.  YHA (pre Covid) offered them the freedom to make friends and develop independence.

They are blooming expensive now though I agree.  I think that’s the reason the carparks are full of Audis – where else do you stay for an active family break?

We wanted to stay at Robin Hoods Bay recently and couldn’t get in at all, so ended up in a Haven Caravan which was substantially cheaper!

I haven’t stayed in a YH for about 7yrs the last ones I went to were Glen Nevis and Grinton Lodge. Both were nice and still cheaper than other local accommodation

To be honest though I can see why the Howarth one is going . Howarth used to be a nice ish place but now it’s not somewhere I would want to stay as it’s morphing in to part of Keighley

MrsMC and our youngest are having a midweek break at one one of the Welsh hostels this week, and are at the York one on Saturday night as it was the cheapest accommodation they could find.

Both booked well in advance mind.

Also conflicted, such a great concept but delivered poorly in many places, and the age and style of buildings in some places doesn’t help

thought this might be of interest:

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/jun/29/cost-of-living-crisis-prompts-yha-to-sell-off-20-of-its-150-hostels

seeking your hostelling memories too!

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/jun/29/share-your-memories-of-staying-in-yha-hostels-in-england-and-wales