Oliver St. John Gogarty Hostel is located in the Temple Bar area of Dublin, upstairs from Oliver St. John Gogarty Pub. For those unfamiliar, Temple Bar is a very active restaurant and pub area of Dublin and you can't get any closer to the Temple Bar action than Gogarty's. It is not uncommon to find bachelor and bachelorette parties, and many young folks at Gogarty's, but families also seem to be welcome.
Since most of the social action is outside the hostel, there is not much activity within the hostel in the evenings. They have a good-sized TV lounge (which is closed down and turned into extra dorms when the need arises) and self-catering kitchen and dining area. Breakfast of toast, cereal, tea, and coffee is served every morning and is included in your nightly rate and served in the dining area. Added bonus if you can survive on a light breakfast. A drawback that we found with the kitchen is that it is closed at eight p.m. so if you're out sightseeing, don't plan on cooking late.
The down side of being so close to all the action is that if you plan on trying to sleep before closing time at the pubs, it's best to bring earplugs or be a very sound sleeper. It also seems that the ensuite dorm washrooms are not attended to on a daily basis which can get grimy with eight to ten folks sharing the space. But each shower is equipped with its own automatic water heater so hot water is never a problem. Additional toilets and washrooms are available on the lower floor.
As far as additional amenities go -- no internet (lots of internet lounges around Temple Bar), passport/wallet sized lockers, very limited luggage space with spillover allowed in the lobby in front of the reception desk and sky TV in the lounge if it's open. Gogarty's is a great place to stay if you're looking to party it up in Dublin and just need a place to crash.
-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
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