The Hostelz.com Review
If you're biking the Ring of Kerry and leave from Killarney, this is a great stopping place. The hostel has a sign on the east edge of town, and it is a very welcome sight (especially if your bike trip has been blessed with as much rain as mine was). Cahersiveen is basically a one-street town, and the Sive Hostel is on your right on the eastern edge. It's not a large hostel, so the friendly faces become familiar pretty quickly.
The dorm rooms aren't locked, but they'll give you a front door key. You can store your bike in the courtyard out back (but you have to bring your bike around a block to the back - they won't let you bring it the few feet through the hostel). No lockers or laundry facilities are provided, and no phone (!) or internet (there's an internet cafe a few more blocks into town on the left, with a catchy jungle motif and hit-or-miss opening times).
There is only one shower for the entire place (well, actually there are two, but they're in one room with glass doors, so unless you're there with a friend, only one person can shower at a time). Even with a half-full hostel, you can get long lines, which can be irritating (and it's hard to keep clean or stocked with toilet paper). The toilet is in the same room, but they have another toilet/sink upstairs. There's also a balcony upstairs, which is perfect for watching the sun set over the bay. The staff was friendly, but not particularly knowledgable or helpful about the sights in town (several old forts, castle ruins, and the architecturally odd 'barracks' - you wonder, did they mean 'castle'?), or the history (childhood home of Daniel O'Connell - 'The Liberator'!).
The dorm rooms aren't locked, but they'll give you a front door key. You can store your bike in the courtyard out back (but you have to bring your bike around a block to the back - they won't let you bring it the few feet through the hostel). No lockers or laundry facilities are provided, and no phone (!) or internet (there's an internet cafe a few more blocks into town on the left, with a catchy jungle motif and hit-or-miss opening times).
There is only one shower for the entire place (well, actually there are two, but they're in one room with glass doors, so unless you're there with a friend, only one person can shower at a time). Even with a half-full hostel, you can get long lines, which can be irritating (and it's hard to keep clean or stocked with toilet paper). The toilet is in the same room, but they have another toilet/sink upstairs. There's also a balcony upstairs, which is perfect for watching the sun set over the bay. The staff was friendly, but not particularly knowledgable or helpful about the sights in town (several old forts, castle ruins, and the architecturally odd 'barracks' - you wonder, did they mean 'castle'?), or the history (childhood home of Daniel O'Connell - 'The Liberator'!).
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
November 2004
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Sive Hostel Details
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Hostelz.com Guest Reviews
Lovely place and, most important thing, lovely people. Mary, the lady who runs the hostel, is just lovely, funny, and ready to help everybody. If you want to have a real Irish welcome, this is the place to be! Even if the town of Caherciveen is not the best place to have fun (it's rather a small town with a few pubs, a disco, and that's it), the best place in town is Sive Hostel. Please trust me! — Lizarazou (2006-07-30) I stayed here recently at the beginning of January 2005. I was greeted at the doorstep by the manager and offered a cup of tea and a tour of the facilities before I agreed to stay. The manager was very friendly and helpful. The place could do with the owner putting some money into it, but apparently she lives in Dublin and doesn't come down often. But what the place lacked in modernism was made up for by the staff's commitment and dedication to keeping things nice. I will stay here again and will not hesitate in recommending this to anyone who wants a home from home! — Sean (2005-01-26) Stopped here in May 03 while on a motorcycle tour round Ireland because the An Oige hostel was closed. A bit grubby and they didn't know I was coming even though they had acknowledged my web booking (half hour wait for someone to turn up). Adequate, if basic, but I felt a bit itchy after I left. However Cahersiveen and Ring of Kerry well worth the trip (it does what it says on the box). Better to stick with An Oige. — Old guy on a boxer (2003-07-23)