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Budget Backpackers

Edinburgh (Grassmarket), Lothian, Scotland

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Address
15 Cowgatehead, Edinburgh (Grassmarket)   Map
Price
£10(dorm), £12(quad),£16(twin) (low season) £11, £13.50 and£18 (high Season) Check Current Prices by Date Here
Location/Contact
Details
Their Description

Features

  • Kitchen
  • Lockers
  • 24 Hour Free Hot Showers
  • Pool Table
  • Washing Machine (laundry)
  • Lounge / Common space
  • Travel information provided
  • Gameroom
  • Free City Tours
  • Phones (public or in room)
 
The Hostelz.com Review
Edinburgh's Budget Backpackers is more than anything an awesome location in an awesome city. You don't even have to take one step from the hostel's door to get one of the best views of the famous castle and you can even see it from some common room windows. And being close to the castle by all means involves being close to everything you'd like to see and do in Edinburgh.

The hostel itself is even better than the location. The place is huge, however, so you might have a hard time when checking in and checking out if you get a room upstairs (no lifts, either). The whole place is very stylish, colourful, and with a great atmosphere. Everything is clean, the common rooms are huge, and even have beds for watching the TV or just lying around. The kitchens are very well equipped and even include some free food, and the bathrooms are very private and look as new as they can get. The dorms, however, could be a bit more spacious. If you don't get lucky and your room is full, you might have a hard time coordinating actions not to hit each other when getting out of bed and so on.

The place is very safe -- it's monitored by CCTV, and has a very smart entering protocol that makes it almost impossible for someone from outside to get in. Sometimes it gets stuck, though, when receptionists get too overwhelmed with work. They seem not to be enough to handle it all, so you usually have to wait for a fairly long time if you want anything else besides checking in or out.

-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review


Your Comments
This is an open forum, and unlike other hostel guide websites, we don't censor out the negative comments.
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Comment by Vera Schreiber, Germany
May 2007
It was a great hostel. The room was clean on arrival and you get fresh sheets at the reception. They have large lockers in the rooms, you could even put your whole bag in! Also the showers and toilets were spacious and I always had hot water. The kitchens were really new and big as well. However, they don't have many pots, plates, and cutlery. The location is perfect, only some minutes walk from the castle. You shouldn't expect a hostel with a cosy atmosphere, it's really big. But if you're only looking for a clean and comfy place to sleep, definitely recommend it!
Comment by Cat, England
April 2007
This was a great youth hostel, the location was absolutely brilliant -- you could pretty much see Edinburgh castle from the windows! The dorms were bright and spacious and the beds were comfy with their own reading lights. I never noticed any dirt and didn't even register that the toilets were cramped -- unless I'm just abnormally small?! We did have a problem finding a tin opener in our nearest kitchen but eventually managed to nab one from one of the other kitchens. It was pretty irritating that you have to wait to be buzzed in from the reception -- and the door keys which beeped but apart from that, no complaints! Join the free city tour and definitely go on the pub crawl -- Shag Tag is a must! Overall it was a fab hostel and my best holiday so far.
Comment by Josh
February 2007
Rooms were quite large with big lockers. Location was very good, close to lots of bars and restaurants. Price seemed good for what you get. Staff were helpful and nice. But streets outside are extremely noisy until about 3 a.m. Showers had non-existent water pressure and the toilets were placed so close to the wall you almost have to stand to do a sh*t.
Comment by Ned
July 2006
I stayed here for two nights. Rooms are pretty small, but have funky colors. Nice bedding, shower rooms are very clean. The staff is very helpful and nice. Free pub crawl and city tour. Good location right in the grassmarket area great pubs nearby. Not a bad place to stay for a couple of nights.
Comment by Jan
March 2006
I stayed at this hostel July last year. It was fantastic, great location. I think the hostel must be new as everything was immaculate and very clean, the staff where really friendly. I would recommend to anybody staying in Edinburgh. I think this must be one of the best hostel I have stayed in. Well done.
Comment by Matt
August 2005
Budget Backpackers is a good quality hostel in an excellent location handy to the Royal Mile and the Old Town. The beds are comfortable and rooms spacious. The kitchens are well fitted and modern, but severely lacking in cooking utensils and cutlery. Overall, very good value for money.
Comment by Anonymous
July 2005
A quite surprising find. Compared to all my mates who stayed at other hostels in town, i seem to be the only one who was satisfied with their choice. The hostel is cheap, the kitchens are modern, and the rooms were great. Possible issues with the cleanliness of the bathrooms, but your never gonna win them all. I've stayed in many hostels in my time this one was definitely one of the better ones. Definitely would book this place again if i was returning to Edinburgh.
Comment by Anonymous
May 2005
The location was good, right by a lot of the action in town — however, for the rooms on the first floor, this can lead to listening to a lot of singing and screaming all night long outside your windows, which can get a little frustrating. The bathrooms were rather messy, and the showers were kind of poorly designed — handheld showerheads instead of anything mounted to a wall don't quite fit under the "ultra modern" tag. Beds were comfy enough, but rooms felt a little crowded. One major annoyance was the door key system — every single time someone opened or closed the door, it made a long series of beeping sounds that kept waking everyone up and which echoed through walls up and down the halls. On the upside, the desk staff were very nice, and pleasant to deal with. Also, the Internet access was fairly cheap and pretty fast.
Comment by Sesame
April 2005
Very disgusting!!! The reception staff — nice except for one manager (He was very rude and selfish. I got some advice from him: "If you do not like it in here, MOVE OUT!!!" I have to say, what a really friendly bloke!) Bathroom — in my eight-day stay it was not even cleaned once. The receptionist's advice: "Have a shower across the road." Yeah right, running around in my towel! Shower — absolutely lowest pressure ever. Toaster — out of order. I reported it on the first day of my stay. It wasn't replaced. The receptionist's advice: "Use one from another flat." Kettle — out of order. Same advice from the receptionist. Tea towel — wasn't changed at all. Room — it was vacuumed only once, even though roommates changed four times. Door lock — I could open the doors without using a key. Kitchen equipment — one teaspoon for two flats, and not even one sharp knife.
Comment by Esther Spain
March 2005
It's a great hostel. Clean, safe, with friendly staff. The toilets are big enough for a normal size person. I was there in October 2004. If I go back to Edinburgh, I would go back to this hostel for sure.
Comment by Peter O.
February 2005
Not too bad of a place. Good staff at the front desk made for an easy check-in and three Internet terminals are provided for a charge. The kitchens are well stocked with new ovens and microwaves (as of Feb. 2005). You can keep food in the fridge but the honor system is in place and didn't apply to whoever took my lasagna meal. Otherwise the cooking facilities are nice with a TV in every kitchen. The bathrooms are co-ed but you will find separate bathrooms if you look. The showers and the toilets are a bit cramped but I managed to find a toilet that wasn't shoehorned into a space like all the others. The "Chill Out" room is comfortable but there seemed to always be people sleeping on the couches so I wasn't able to enjoy the large plasma screen TV. The rooms are nice and the comforter and the pillow are very comfortable. The rooms can be noisy with the crowds and the cars passing by but a pair of earplugs and eye blinders solves that problem. The only complaint I have is that there are no movies and no hostel activities provided. There is a breakfast if you want to pay extra for it.
Comment by Billy
February 2005
This is a brilliant hostel, one of the best I've ever stayed in! It's very safe, quiet and oh, so central! It has excellent Ikea furnishings throughout. It has well- equipped kitchens, and plenty of them. The bathrooms are well maintained, and there was always hot water! There are keycards for all the bedrooms, and lockers for each bed, big enough for all valuables. There's fresh linen, clean and new. I would thoroughly recommend this place to all
Comment by Shelly
June 2004
The hostel was safe, and somewhat clean (you wouldn't want to take off your shoes, and the bathrooms could be disgusting). The hot showers were not particularly hot, and there was no water pressure. The toilets are also ...interesting, as they were put in so close to the wall you can't sit down on them properly. The rooms are quite small, but painted in cheerful IKEA colors. The street below is quite noisy at night, although certainly very close to clubs and other bars. Simple but sufficient kitchens--shared between a few dorm rooms. Not bad, certainly budget hostel. They allow for co-ed dorms, but I probably wouldn't go back.
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