Aberdeen Youth Hostel, gray and made of granite like every building in the city, is large and institutional but provides comfortable accommodation at very affordable prices. It is also the only hostel in Aberdeen. Located in a peaceful, upscale neighborhood on Queens Road, the hostel is quiet and slightly secluded.
An easy ten-minute walk down a single street, however, leads to Union Street and the plethora of bars and restaurants that litter this central artery. For those people less inclined to walk, the 14 and 15 buses stop on the street directly outside of the hostel three or four times every hour (until 11 or 12 at night) and carry passengers to any stop along the length of Union Street for about 2 pounds.
A reception desk on the first floor of the hostel is manned (or womanned as the case may be) twenty-four hours a day. There is a pay phone in the reception area and a host of maps of the city and the surrounding areas. A TV and sitting room lies adjacent to the reception where internet can be accessed for a price.
Lodgers are given a key code to access the rest of the hostel, and through this security door one finds a very large, superbly equipped kitchen complete with cubbies for food storage and a long dining room. Continental breakfast is offered each day for a small price. A quiet lounge near the kitchen is perfect for reading peacefully or working on laptops. Laundry service is available for a price in the basement, and a luggage locker there can be used to store gear that doesn't fit in the room.
Bedroom sizes vary but are not cramped or overly crowded. Rooms are well kept and very clean, and smoking is not allowed in the building. Bathrooms on each floor have several toilets and several showers. Overall, the hostel is very international and hearing five or six languages spoken in the kitchen during dinner time when everyone is busy cooking is not at all unusual. The social atmosphere can be fun if some effort is applied, but language barriers may inhibit the interactions. It is also not surprising to encounter families residing in the hostel temporarily or people of a wide variety of ages.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
August 2006
Location/Contact
3.2 Average from 5 Ratings
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