City Centre Guesthouse & Hostel

Avoid at all costs
Not only did we not get what we had booked, the managed made us pay for a bed that had someone else in it. he was aggressive, rude, and threatening. To top it off, he took more money off my debit card a week after leaving the hostel. He refuses to talk to me and I am having to dispute through bank to get a refund. I am going to forward to police. Do not stay here.

When my friend and I booked this hostel we didn't have much experience under our belts. When we finally got here (a month into our trip) we were stunned by how bad this hostel was. First, the hostel website does not feature pictures of the hostel (repeat -- the pictures are not of the actual hostel). Second, no breakfast offered. Which isn't a problem when there is a kitchen. Third, no kitchen. You have to buy all your food. Fourth, no lounge, which means that late at night all the people who have been out for a night on the town come into the room to continue their party: really obnoxious. Fifth, there are (at my estimate) upwards of thirty beds per floor and each floor has only one toilet. There are only three toilets in the entire hostel. And there is a shower in the room as well, so if anyone is showering in the morning you cannot use the toilet! A horrible experience, and the hostel realizes this as well. Witness their refund policy. When we checked in (2 p.m.) we decided (after paying in full and looking around) that we did not want to stay in the hostel so we asked for a refund. They told me that you have to check out before 10 a.m. if you want to get a refund. The next day at 9:45 a.m. I went to get my refund and I was told that there is a forty-eight-hour cancellation policy. Essentially, we had to stay for the next two nights if we didn't want to waste our money. We wanted to leave after ten minutes in the place, but because of their (nearly) fraudulent policy we ended up having to stay for three nights. Worst hostel we stayed in. We ended up switching to another hostel.

I booked the City Centre Guest House and hostel for a short break in Edinburgh recently. I had stayed in hostels before so I wasn't expecting much. We checked in on a Friday morning and paid in full by credit card. On Saturday we went out in the evening and returned at 10 p.m. to discover somebody else in our room. When we inquired at reception we discovered that our belongings had been randomly dumped into bags (wet stuff thrown in with electrical items, etc.). The night manager had to retrieve some of our belongings still in the room. He told us there was a problem with our booking and asked us "Who booked you in?" We answered, "You did." He then informed us that we weren't meant to be in that room for Saturday night even though our paperwork stated that we were. When we checked in, I asked if there would be a room change and the answer was no. The night manager then told us he did not know anything about the room change and we would have to talk to the owner who would be in the next morning. We left exhausted and checked into another hotel. The following morning we returned to the hostel to talk to the owner. The person at the reception informed us that he would not be in until 2 p.m. At that stage he checked the booking on the computer and told us that we were down as a no show, contrary to the paperwork they had which stated that we were booked into the one room for three nights. We returned at 2 p.m. to talk to the owner who was still not there. After waiting an hour we left a message asking him to ring us. We left. He never rang. After ringing twice on Monday we finally talked to the manager who informed us we would be refunded. We found out later that two different credit cards had been charged the full amount. For 70 sterling per room per night the kettle didn't work, the TV didn't work and the bathroom had rising damp. It was a "different" building than advertised on the Web site. Even without experiencing our horrific ordeal the accommodation was substandard and extremely poor value for money. One week after this ordeal we were refunded, but they could not refund the time and energy wasted, and a ruined holiday.

This hostel is the worst place I have ever stayed in. The staff and management were unfriendly and difficult to deal with. It's definitely not worth the price. All you are paying for is basically somewhere to sleep. The showers don't even work properly, and it takes at least 20-30 minutes to have a "quick" shower. I decided to give the place a chance and stayed for two nights. I left on the third day to find somewhere else to stay. Definitely avoid this place.

This is a bad hostel compared to the other hostels my friends have stayed in. The toilet was dirty and you can hardly get to use it. Search for other hostels that will give you better facilities for the same or a cheaper price. There are many around in Edinburgh.

The toilets flood and get overcrowded. There are too many people sharing one toilet. The manager is rude, as well.

Avoid this place at all costs! The management is so bad they put more than ten people in a ten-bed dorm. I had to share a bed with my mate! The manager was rude when we asked for a refund, and he refused. The showers were not appealing, either. The water pressure was so low that it took at least 20 minutes to wash up. The floor floods as well and the toilets are always full, considering you have about 15-20 people sharing just one toilet! Edinburgh was great but this experience spoilt it for us. Don't let it happen to you, too.

Nice and clean, and the staff were really nice. Only one bathroom per floor, though, and there was a lot of people (my room alone was a ten-bed dorm) so there was a very long line for the bathroom in the morning!! I would definitely recommend showering the night before! Also, there is no kitchen and no common area, so you have to go out to eat, which is expensive. Other than that, this was a nice hostel, and Edinburgh is great!

It was great! Edinburgh is an amazing city. I really recommend visting here!