BUG review
This grungy hostel has a funky party atmosphere and is painted with lots of murals. Common areas include the 'cave' lounge with table football, a TV room and a dining room with Internet access.
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Overall I'd give this hostel 3.5+ stars. Its above average and is one of the few in Edinburgh that I found advertising Private rooms.My wife and I stayed here for about a month in one of the Double Rooms (Room A). We found this room a little noisy (being next to the Toilets and entrance way), but nothing unbearable. The room itself was great. Id describe it as cosy and comfortable, though half the ceiling was missing, which detracted from the overall feel a bit. The bed was extremely comfortable and it was well furnished, which was really handy.The staff were all extremely friendly and helpful. There seemed to be quite a few long termers staying here, and I found most of them fairly cliquey, though Im a fairly introverted person myself, and married, and staying in a private room, so it was sort of to be expected.The facilities are great! HUGE collection of videos/DVDs to watch if you ever get sick of exploring Edinburgh and the TV room was great to chill out in. The kitchen was probably a little too small for the number of people using it, but this wasnt a big deal. Security was OK. The street entrance was poorly lit, and I found that you got a few people hanging around it. But if anyone trekked up the 77 stairs they had to get by reception before getting into the Hostel proper. The room we were in locked, but I dont know how security in the Dorms was.
9 of
12 people found this review helpful
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Canadian Lisa
Mb, Canada
great places to stay if you're looking for a good time 18 October 2003
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Canadian Lisa
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(4)
Atmosphere
(4)
(Review ID: 4809)
The price is actually 11 pounds a night with the 7th night free. As well, on Sundays there is a free dinner, usually served by 7 o'clock. Very friendly people, always looking for a drinking buddy. Besides the 77 steps you have to walk up to get to it, it is a pretty cool hostel painted by past guests. It may look a little dodgy but if you can look past the surface it is a great place to call home for a day or week or month, for some even a year!!!
8 of
10 people found this review helpful
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Nick
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Home away from home 26 June 2003
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Nick
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
(Review ID: 4810)
I found Princes East by total fluke in November of 2001 and I expected a sterile HI-type thing where I could lay my head down for a couple of days until I found a flat in town. Instead, I found a really lively place with a lot of long-stay backpackers who had decided to form their own weird little family.I ended up staying all through Christmas and New Year's, which was an absolute blast. I thought I was going to have a kind of sucky holiday season, being overseas away from my family and all, but we had a full-on Christmas dinner with turkeys and veg and wine, for FREE!! How good is that? Actually, they do free dinner every Sunday, so you really get to meet people that way.I suppose there a few cracks in the paint here and there, but it's clean where it counts and I've never had such a great time in my life. I saw another review here that said the dining room, kitchen and tv room were in a closet, but that doesn't make any sense. Princes St. has a huge dining room, a full kitchen with two stoves and two different TV rooms in other parts of the building. Maybe they're thinking of the place on the floor below in the same stairwell? (By the way, that's so weird. Why is there another hostel in the same place?)So I'm back again from travelling, and living in the hostel, and somebody said there was this review page, so I thought I'd put in my 2p worth. In the end, that's really kind of the thing about this place. People keep coming back from months and years ago to visit or live here again.
8 of
16 people found this review helpful
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Ariel
PEI, Canada
Welcome Home 26 June 2003
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Ariel
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
(Review ID: 4811)
77 steps was not exactly what I had in mind when I arrived in the wee hours of the morning. But after the gruelling climb I reached the summit and was greeted by fun, friendly, intelligent, well-travelled people.Because so many people here are long-termers, it feels like you're staying at a good friend's house. Everyone immediately opened their arms to me and I appreciated that so much after so many hostels where you sleep, but never meet anyone.The facilities aren't the best in the world, but they're always being improved upon. The room was comfortable, and I met some really good people there. the showers are warm and have good pressure, there's free coffee!!! The TV room is huge and piled with couches. All in all it was and is great. And oh so cheap!
9 of
16 people found this review helpful
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Sarah G.
Nova Scotia, Canada
I found it safe 6 January 2003
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Sarah G.
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(4)
Atmosphere
(4)
(Review ID: 4812)
I found this hostel friendly clean and safe. As a single female traveler this was important. I got an all female room and didn't worry too much about not having luggage lock up. I just put my padlock on my backpack zippers and hoped for the best. If your desperate there are luggage lockers around the corner at the coach "station" they start at 2 pounds for 24 hours so they're expensive if you have a lot of luggage and are staying for a while. This is a great place to meet people and seem to have a huge amount of long term clients. As with most places in scotland that I visited people were friendly and didn't seem as concerned about theft as in london. which was nice.
8 of
12 people found this review helpful
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Anonymous
Canada
Fun fun fun! 23 October 2002
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(4)
Atmosphere
(4)
(Review ID: 4813)
I agree that this is a place you don't want to leave! The people are so much fun and friendly. Anyone who likes to meet new people or the lone backpacker should really enjoy this place. Ok, it may not be the most conventional place, but that's the beauty of it: it's LIVELY! Painted walls, tons of rooms and every service you could need (internet, kitchen, music, tv room), it is also close to everything. The only downside: the beds could indeed be a little better. But it's a very minor drawback considering the great atmosphere is and the price. I would go back anytime!
9 of
13 people found this review helpful
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Gary
Hull, England
The Hotel California in Scotland 20 October 2002
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Gary
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
(Review ID: 4814)
I can't praise this hostel enough. I went for 2 nights initially, but ended up staying 6, and then only leaving with great reluctance. The value is brilliant. There's an awesome atmosphere, you will soon get to know heaps of people, many of whom seem to have been unable to bring themselves to leave too. A dead friendly place. But, be warned ; if you stay here, you may never leave!
3 of
12 people found this review helpful
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female traveller
Canada
there are safer hostels in Edinburgh 31 August 2002
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
female traveller
saw things this way
Maintenance
(1)
Cleanliness
(1)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
(1)
(Review ID: 4815)
The staff was great. They are helpful, nice, outgoing, and really friendly. BUT, the hostel itself is not so good. The hostel is not in the best neighbourhood, and the entrance is on a small dark street. The couple of nights that I was there, there were people who didn't seem to be from the hostel just sitting on the front steps really late in the night. The corridor leading to the stairs do not have lights and is quite dark even in the daytime. The dorms don't have locks on the door or lockers in the room (small valuables can be left at the front desk). The dorms were crowded and not clean at all. It was not a horrible experience, but I didn't feel particularly safe in the hostel. Overall, I just think there are many better hostels in Edinburgh.
14 of
25 people found this review helpful
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stu
Perth, Australia
I love this place!!! 7 September 2001
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
stu
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
(Review ID: 4816)
Every so often whilst travelling I find a hostel that I just don't want to leave. This is definately one of them.A sign at the bottom of the stairs warn you that you have to go to the top floor. There is another unconnected hostel on the floor below which recently opened up, and probably catches a lot of people heading for the one above. I spoke to someone staying there and it sounds awful..small, more expensive and lots less facilities!I nearly went there too, because the stairs are a killer, particularily with my backpack on. An elevator is desperately needed! On arrival, the staff were very friendly and relaxed and gave a whole lot of information (too much?) before showing me to my room.The room had six beds, and has obviously been recently painted. The beds could do with some work, though. The best thing about this place, however, is it's plain fun. The walls are all wonderfully painted with murals, there is a pool table, jukebox, excellent selection of videos(new releases)and even a cd player so I could play my own music. The video room is dark, and has all lounge chairs, and is strictly only for movies...no TV(I like that), you can watch tele in 'The Cave' where the pool table and cd player are. The kitchen has everything you could want and is clean. Theres also free tea and coffee, which I truly appreciate at any hostel. The dining area has nice big tables so everyone gets to meet each other, and it has heaps of books which they don't mind you taking. Theres a shop (and cheap beer) and everything goes 24 hours...its paradise I tell ya...and best of all, its the cheapest hostel in Edinburgh (thats why I stayed there!)
8 of
18 people found this review helpful
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star
Too squshy 5 September 2001
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
star
saw things this way
Maintenance
(2)
Cleanliness
(2)
Facilities
(2)
Atmosphere
(2)
(Review ID: 4817)
Good showers. Rooms are way too crowded, a cupboard acts as the kitchen/dining/TV room. Helpful staff.
