The Hostelz.com Review
When choosing a hostel in Edinburgh the locations right in the old town are not necessarily the best, as a stay at Edinburgh Nights Hostel will show.
The Location
Located just ten minutes from the train station and about fifteen minutes from the old town, it's close enough to everything really plus you get a fabulous view of the fairytale-like skyline of the city from near the hostel door. It's also located on bus routes and near some fabulous shopping and eating districts including a few good pubs.
Rooms and Bathrooms
There are a number of rooms over several floors, you can choose from a female-only dormitory or smaller, more intimate dorms with their own bathroom.
Common Spaces
The hostel is generally quite full during the summer and a lot of people congregate at breakfast and after dinner in the kitchen/dining area. It's a good place to meet and mingle. The breakfast is one of the best things here -- a help-yourself kind of buffet with cereals, toast, and juice that are all freshly procured, plus you can help yourself to tea or coffee at any time of the day. They also allow access to the kitchen so you can make your own meals and save a few extra pounds each day.
Summary
Everything is cleaned meticulously every day and the owner, a traveler himself, goes to pains to make people feel welcome. In fact he might invite you to watch TV with him in the office, or you can check your email free using the Wi-Fi service. The staff are generally other backpackers and, given the communal nature of the place, you will definitely make friends pretty quickly.
The Location
Located just ten minutes from the train station and about fifteen minutes from the old town, it's close enough to everything really plus you get a fabulous view of the fairytale-like skyline of the city from near the hostel door. It's also located on bus routes and near some fabulous shopping and eating districts including a few good pubs.
Rooms and Bathrooms
There are a number of rooms over several floors, you can choose from a female-only dormitory or smaller, more intimate dorms with their own bathroom.
Common Spaces
The hostel is generally quite full during the summer and a lot of people congregate at breakfast and after dinner in the kitchen/dining area. It's a good place to meet and mingle. The breakfast is one of the best things here -- a help-yourself kind of buffet with cereals, toast, and juice that are all freshly procured, plus you can help yourself to tea or coffee at any time of the day. They also allow access to the kitchen so you can make your own meals and save a few extra pounds each day.
Summary
Everything is cleaned meticulously every day and the owner, a traveler himself, goes to pains to make people feel welcome. In fact he might invite you to watch TV with him in the office, or you can check your email free using the Wi-Fi service. The staff are generally other backpackers and, given the communal nature of the place, you will definitely make friends pretty quickly.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
November 2010
Their Description
Edinburgh Nights Hostel Details
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Edinburgh Nights Hostel Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
The Worst hostel I've never stayed in. Arrived About 9pm to check in to be told no room despite having booked thorough hostel world. only response from the rude, arrogant person on reception was 'I give you deposit back'. I explained that I didn't want my deposit back, that I wanted the room that we'd booked and when I paid that deposit we now had a contract where he had to provide me with a room. argued for a good 10 minutes but he refused to do anything about his mistake so had to leave and find alternative accommodation. the fact it was fairly late on a saturday meant all we could get was an apartment for 160 quid and we were lucky to get that.and from what we saw of it, the place was a hovel. We ended up sorted eventually, but if that treatment had happened to a young backpacker, maybe didn't speak english that well, I dread to think what might happen. Avoid. a terrible place with awful staff. — mills , England (2011-09-11) Great experience! Very friendly and accommodating! Edinburgh Nights was a fantastic hostel choice. My friend and I arrived in Edinburgh prior to the check-in time, but the owner was very accommodating, letting us in, showing us to our room, and offering us free breakfast and the ingredients to make sandwiches for later. The staff was very friendly, creating a comfortable, laid-back atmosphere. The room and bathroom were great, too; no complaints there. And the location was perfect -- not far at all from all the major sites. Finally, after we checked out, they even stored our luggage (at no extra cost) so we could enjoy our last day in Edinburgh baggage-free. — Kate , USA (2010-01-23) Hovel! The worst hostel I've ever stayed! This hostel was not at all what I expected. The location was convenient but the hostel itself. Broken toilet, broken lockers, noise. Guests are made to feel privileged rather than welcome. The staff (Aka Beavis and Butt-head) were rude and spiteful. The big disappointment! — mordehaj1931 , Poland (2009-11-20) Brilliant! Have to say, me and four friends came back from this hostel on 15/11/09. Had a fab time. Nothing like the film Hostel -- always a bonus! clean and the staff were friendly (and one or two yummy). would stay here again, cant wait until our next trip there! well done folks! — Natalie D , Scottish (2009-11-17) Great this hostel surprised us from a very beginning. El chefe and his brother welcomed us very nicely and even carried our heavy bags to room. There were eleven of us and we were all put in the same room which we hadn't manage in previous hostel. It's clean and bathrooms are more than satisfying. There is no kitchen, though, but El chefe has invited us always in his small kitchen where we could make sandwiches and there was refrigerator where we could put our food. We were also able to use the internet from el chefe. They arranged us transport till airport and a ride al way to Loch Ness. If I ever come back, i will have this hostel at my mind. — ivana_zagreb , croatia (2009-09-17) More host-hell than hostel! This place is an absolute disgrace! A couple of days before we went to Edinburgh I called up this hostel to book a room. I talked to a friendly woman on the phone and she took my details to confirm the booking. These details also included my credit card number! When we arrived at the hostel at 11:30 p.m. we were welcomed by an angry and rude bloke in his tracky bottoms. First thing he said when we walked in: "What do you want?" Then he took out a bit of paper and told us that there is no booking under my name. In fact there was no booking at all. At that stage I was a bit annoyed as I just arrived after a fifteen-hour journey with thirty kilos on my back and now had to deal with an unwilling asshole that clearly had no interest in the whole situation at all. But (unsurprisingly) there was plenty of space and we had a place to sleep. However, I was still worried about the fact that some woman took my credit card details without actually securing us a room. When I brought this up our "friendly" night porter's exact words were, "How is this my problem?" After a long discussion about how exactly this is his problem he still seemed none the wiser and in fact didn't even seem to know the woman I was talking to on the phone. Temped to just walked back out and call him all the names under the sun we decided to stay the night and talk to someone a little more responsible in the morning. So we gave him the money for the night and proceeded up to our "tastefully decorated room." After unpacking our stuff I wanted to use the one bathroom on the floor which was clogged. So I used the one downstairs which wasn't a problem but when it came to taking a shower the next morning the toilet was still clogged and the smell was revolting. Even though the other two bathrooms didn't smell as bad they were mold-infested and the plastering was coming off everywhere. Seeing that the floor was dirty and moldy I couldn't bring myself to stand in there barefoot so I ended up showering in my flip-flops. As soon as we had our stuff packed up again we went to check out and get the whole thing cleared the guy at the reception turned out to be just as helpful as his the guy from the night before so I decided to just leave it. I will definitely make sure that there's has not been a penny taken off my account. The whole thing was incredibly dodgy and I can only recommend you to avoid it at all costs! We are now staying at a bit more expensive hostel but the bathrooms are spotless. Make sure you book a hostel that's been rated by lots of people or is in one of the city guides. It will save you a lot of hassle and nerves. — Stefanie , Austria (2009-06-10) 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. — Claire Gowland , English (2008-05-27) 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. — Neil Langshaw (2006-09-16) 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. — Brid (2005-09-18) 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. — Bridget (2004-11-17) 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. — Alan (2004-11-02) The toilets flood and get overcrowded. There are too many people sharing one toilet. The manager is rude, as well. — Sussie (2004-10-24) 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. — Tony (2004-10-07) 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! — Avalon (2004-06-30) It was great! Edinburgh is an amazing city. I really recommend visting here! — Mel Coate (2004-06-07)