presumably because of the novelty of sleeping in a shed.

I assumed it was the rustic feeling of no running water

We didn’t have things like camping pods / shepherds huts etc, which often deliver privacy and low cost.

I think it’s absolutely been the case that demand has expected more privacy, but of course YHA have been doing that by partitioning many of the larger dorms into to smaller rooms. I recall some branching out into Yurts etc some years ago too – however consistently this seemed to lead to more facilities, thus higher cost, thus killing their USP of cheap, basic accommodation for travellers. The other inescapable issue was the move to whole hostel hire – many hostels you simply couldn’t book a bed, or a room, anymore (often a precursor to them saying that a bed occupancy rate was too low to keep open)

Hotels chains such as Premier Inn and Travelodge have transformed the cost of accommodation and ‘everywhere is the same’ approach.

Except YHA deliberately shifted their model towards provision of city centre accommodation in 2005/6 (changing their constitution to do so) and taking on about £35 million in debt in the process – claiming that this would generate more profits and support the rural estate (many of which were gifted to them in the first place). Thing is, from the outset that put them in direct competition with Premier Inn, Travelodge & Holiday Inn etc. (who simply don’t operate in those rural areas), again, loss of their USP.

What seems to be remarkable is that with just 150ish hostels, they have 825 employees (525FTE)  – Which seems like a lot considering how many are restricted opening/rent a hostel, so you have to wonder what they are doing.

It makes me sad too.  I used hostels loads in the 80s and then when I had younger kids. They were good because they were there to support the sort of journeys and stuff I was doing.  They weren’t all posh like hotels and b&bs where you kind of had to be clean, you could dry stuff, cook, hang out in the evening and meet nice people.

But for me they worked best when they were well spaced out along routes you wanted to take, had beds when you needed them (weren’t always booked up) and preferably when you just turned up. The simple ones were the best.

I feel that they started to lose their purpose when most of the visitors were car based and using the hostels as a single centre base; like a cheap hotel, so it was hard to book and you couldn’t just turn up.  I guess it was inevitable given the change in people’s habits and demands.  If they were still like they used to be I’d use them more now, but it all seems more complicated than it used to.  I think I have replaced them by camping more.