The Hostelz.com Review
Avalon House is a large, four-floor dormitory style hostel that is centrally located in the heart of Dublin’s old city, and is within walking distance of many of the city’s primary attractions, including Trinity College, Dublin Castle, and the Guinness Storehouse. Connected to The Bald Barista, a popular coffee shop, Avalon House has a lively, energetic atmosphere, and caters to groups and the solitary traveler alike.
The Location
The hostel is situated just one block south of St. Stephen's Green, and is about a two-minute walk from Grafton Street, Dublin’s pedestrian area. Buses run every fifteen minutes or so to nearby Kildare, O’Connell, and Dame Street from Dublin’s main bus station and the airport. Many buses also also stop at Heuston Station (Dublin’s train headquarters) before making frequent stops downtown. There is also a shopping mall with a full grocery inside less than a five minute walk away, and though the hostel has laundry facilities, there is a full launderette across the street.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The hostel has four floors of various size bunk dorms, as well as private rooms with two twins and an en-suite sink, all of which can be accessed by stair and elevator. A camp-style folded sheet and duvet are provided, and towels are included in private rooms. All the rooms have swipe locks, which are also necessary to gain access to the hostel itself. Each floor shares separate co-ed shower and toilet rooms, and both have full sinks.
Common Spaces
There are a variety of common rooms spread out over two floors. On the first floor is a continually staffed reception desk, which offers currency changing services, free maps, and directions, and they also have a variety of small toiletries and food for sale. Because the clientele at the Avalon House is primarily students, reception also organizes nightly pub crawls, game nights, karaoke, and shows a variety of movies in the basement lounge. Reception also rents out lockers for those who want to store their bags before and after check out.
On one side of reception is a full kitchen and dining area that is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., complete with snack machines and snooker tables. On the far side of reception is another lounge area with a number of computers available for use, as well as free Wi-Fi. The attached coffee shop is also open to lodgers, and is where a free breakfast of cereal, toast, and coffee and tea is served. Additional menu items are also available for purchase in the shop. The basement lounge below houses a TV screen, pool tables, video game consoles, and laundry facilities, which cost a small fee.
Summary
Overall, Avalon House is a busy, bustling hostel in a safe area that is ideal for those looking for efficient, well-run lodging close to the city center. While it lacks the intimacy of a smaller hostel, its cleanliness; amenities; and helpful, ever-present staff make for an enjoyable stay. Though it may seem slightly off the beaten path, Avalon House is ideally located for those looking to pursue Dublin on foot or by public transport.
The Location
The hostel is situated just one block south of St. Stephen's Green, and is about a two-minute walk from Grafton Street, Dublin’s pedestrian area. Buses run every fifteen minutes or so to nearby Kildare, O’Connell, and Dame Street from Dublin’s main bus station and the airport. Many buses also also stop at Heuston Station (Dublin’s train headquarters) before making frequent stops downtown. There is also a shopping mall with a full grocery inside less than a five minute walk away, and though the hostel has laundry facilities, there is a full launderette across the street.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The hostel has four floors of various size bunk dorms, as well as private rooms with two twins and an en-suite sink, all of which can be accessed by stair and elevator. A camp-style folded sheet and duvet are provided, and towels are included in private rooms. All the rooms have swipe locks, which are also necessary to gain access to the hostel itself. Each floor shares separate co-ed shower and toilet rooms, and both have full sinks.
Common Spaces
There are a variety of common rooms spread out over two floors. On the first floor is a continually staffed reception desk, which offers currency changing services, free maps, and directions, and they also have a variety of small toiletries and food for sale. Because the clientele at the Avalon House is primarily students, reception also organizes nightly pub crawls, game nights, karaoke, and shows a variety of movies in the basement lounge. Reception also rents out lockers for those who want to store their bags before and after check out.
On one side of reception is a full kitchen and dining area that is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., complete with snack machines and snooker tables. On the far side of reception is another lounge area with a number of computers available for use, as well as free Wi-Fi. The attached coffee shop is also open to lodgers, and is where a free breakfast of cereal, toast, and coffee and tea is served. Additional menu items are also available for purchase in the shop. The basement lounge below houses a TV screen, pool tables, video game consoles, and laundry facilities, which cost a small fee.
Summary
Overall, Avalon House is a busy, bustling hostel in a safe area that is ideal for those looking for efficient, well-run lodging close to the city center. While it lacks the intimacy of a smaller hostel, its cleanliness; amenities; and helpful, ever-present staff make for an enjoyable stay. Though it may seem slightly off the beaten path, Avalon House is ideally located for those looking to pursue Dublin on foot or by public transport.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
June 2011
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Avalon House Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
200 Euro fine for "noise pollution" Hostel is very tidy and perfect for a group of girls visiting Dublin. But a noise complaint was made about us when we came home from a night out, we literally walked back in and were talking in the corridor about who had the key card to get in the room. Then, absolutely knackered after dancing the night away, we went straight to sleep. The hostel took the full 200 Euro deposit money off our card with no warning or time for us to argue our case. We spoke to the manager the next day and she explained that as soon as someone makes a complaint they give them their stay free and take them for a meal. So someone had to pay!!! Put a downer on our holiday, if you want to stay in a 265 bed hostel you cant expect it to be deadly silent! — Anonymous , England (2011-03-29) Good and bad Good. The hostel is located close to the places we were visiting in Dublin. Housekeeping did clean the bathroom when we checked in and it was dirty. Bad. They could provide communal items in the kitchen such as clingfilm and tin foil. It makes life easier if you are in the hostel for a matter of days and it is not practical to have that stuff. I was VERY annoyed to be fined €5 upon checking out. Admittedly there was noise in the hostel at night but the front desk should have taken the time to knock on my door and see it was not me. — Ronald Grant , UK (2011-03-29) Overpriced 45 euro a night was way too much for this place! (Especially since I was there in March 2008, during the off season.) The people weren't nice, and the whole place was sketchy. "Breakfast" was bread and oj, and the showers were annoying -- no temperature regulation, just a button to turn it on, and it went off every two minutes. The common room was nice, but small, and there were tons of people. The only lockers available were at reception, and cost a euro a day. I wasn't impressed at all. I would avoid staying here again. — Mandy , United States (2008-06-01) Terrible Security! The good things -- Cheap, good location, free breakfast (well, the free part is a good point -- by breakfast they mean bread with a few toasters dotted around the common room). The very bad things -- We had block booked a room of twelve as we had a large mixed group and were assured that nobody else had access to the room and so felt safe about leaving certain items in the room. At 11 p.m. (ish) a random man walked into our room whilst only three of us were there (girls) and gave no explanation as to how he got into our locked room! The staff on reception weren't very helpful and blamed us saying we had not locked our room! Not happy customers at all. — Fliss , England (2008-04-05) Enjoyed it Large hostel -- well organized and well run. We got a private twin room. The room was very small. The bathrooms and showers are coed (that's one thing i couldn't get used to). However it's not unheard of to find both empty. The showers have curtains and then you actually have your own stall you can lock. I found the hostel pretty clean. The cleaners were always around changing beds cleaning the bathrooms. They have a pool table, a ping pong table, laundry facilities (although the dryer isn't the greatest). I did like the hostel but at night we could hear people outside the entrance way singing at the top of their lungs. We wondered why they weren't shooed away after a while. this was every night. But all in all it was alright there (we didn't spend much time in there, why would you when you're in Dublin?). — Sara , Canada (2007-10-05) Good! I liked this hostel. It was fun and clean for the most part. The bathrooms were a little funky, but what hostel's bathrooms are perfect? Lockers are big. The front desk was extremely helpful and it's in a good location. — Cory , USA (2007-08-17) Clean, Organized, Not that Social but very nice staff The first hostel we went to on our trip throughout Europe. We stayed in the huge avalon room (something like thirty bunk beds). It was very clean, well maintained, and the staff was very nice. Positives -- free sheets, cheap locker rental, free internet computers, helpful staff, cheap overall, nice part of town, free breakfast. Negatives -- not amazingly social, but that might just have been the people that were there at the time, the free internet kind of cuts down on the sociable factor. If you want a nice, clean, and safe place to stay, go here. — road trip 2007 , usa (2007-06-29) Really helpful staff (Irish people in general are really kind in my opinion). Rooms were clean, good location, good prices, a good travelers hostel. Breakfast -- ok, although the yellow jam is disgusting. Noise -- too much. And there is free internet everywhere, too many people with laptops busy in the relaxing rooms, really a bummer. — Tim, Netherlands. (2007-03-16) Common room was ok, breakfast as well (one of the best I had during my stay in Ireland), staff pretty friendly, but the kitchen was always crowded, with no clean cloth to dry the dishes (you can imagine how dirty it may have got at some stage, a soaked blackish piece of rug), old mushroom-green rotten food in the fridge, and a horrid smell day and night near the kitchen and above all in the corridors. Something in between foot smell and musty carpet. Dust mites probably ate better than we did. Definitely too expensive for what it is. We slept in a twelve-bed dorm and were currently waken up by careless arrivers (sometimes at 2 a.m.), toilets and showers not too bad. Well situated as regards the distance to Temple Bar and shopping in Grafton Street. Not too bad if you have little money but if you can afford a private bedroom there, pay the same price and get a B&B. — Mike, France (2006-10-02) A good hostel in a somewhat sketchy area of Dublin. Security was never a problem though. There is someone in reception 24/7 and they always ask for your room number/hostel pass. The rooms lock, but many of the doors will remain ajar unless they are pushed completely closed. The showers were plentiful, but small. Breakfast was toast, jam, a piece of fruit and tea. Not great, but free. There is also a kitchen for you to prepare your own meals, but there is a problem with food theft. When I told reception they apologized and said that they were aware of the problem and that they were looking into it (apparently there was a group of people staying there who would only eat food that they stole!). The hostel is big, and as such it felt a little institutional (impersonal) but once you get to know the people in your rooms (which were nice rooms) it gets a little better. ***You can earn a free nights stay (for us this was 18.50 euros) if you can do some sort of performance (play an instrument, juggle, dance, etc...). If you perform in the hostel for an hour they will refund you the cost of your room for one night. Ask at reception.*** — Neil Langshaw (2006-09-16) I really like that hostel. they are very professional and the staff is really friendly. there is a lot to do and free breakfast and internet is great!
I stayed in a 4 bed room and it was too small for four. the showers were a bit dirty. but still ok, i have seen worse. — Lisa (2006-08-18) Well run, with friendly staff and lots of options if you forget something like, let's say, a towel. Voltage adaptors. They have a currency exchange, two open area rooms with TVs, video games, pool, a huge kitchen, and I met a lot of cool people there from all over. It is rather large and therefore has an "institutionalized" feel, but I agree the third floor bathrooms are nicer. The shower heads are push-button style, and if you stay there long enough you'll get to learn which showers have a longer stream of water per push. The rooms tend to smell, so feel free to open the windows or bring some air freshener. — Christine (2006-05-15) Large and institution-like but clean with many amenities. If you stay on the first or second floor, use the showers on the third floor. They are much larger and nicer. — Rachael, USA (2006-02-18) This hostel was great. The rooms were nice. However, besides the lock off downstairs, there was no place to put luggage and personal stuff. So when many people share the room, it looked a little bit messy. I found it very clean and the kitchen was big. Staff were very friendly and you easily meet people. Breakfast was good but all day the same, and you get very good coffee there. — Carina (2005-09-01) An excellent hostel, all round. Security at this hostel was extremely good, possibly the best I've seen anywhere in the world. They gave you a key card and you had to insert it into quite a few doors before you actually got to your room — the threat of unwanted persons entering your room was therefore greatly diminished. My two-night stay at this accommodation was helped because of the very knowledgeable staff at the information/reception desk who provided a very good, large-scale plan of the city upon my arrival — far better than the tourist bureau were able to offer! From this easily accessible location, travelling around the city was quite easy. However, it was about a 10 to 15-minute walk from the main bus depot on O'Connell Street, but the surroundings and security of the place, as well as its affordability, more than compensated for this. Be warned though, I found shopping and eating/drinking out in Dublin to be rather pricey when compared with other European cities — so go prepared would be my advice! — Jon Lewis, Wales (2005-08-19)