Travellers' Inn

Note: This hostel was previously called "Highlander Backpackers". It is now under new management.

This hostel is reasonably well located for seeing the sites. It's a 15 to 20 minute walk from the Royal Mile and the main tourist sites, but busses are just a block away.

The hostel has a bit of a run down feel to it but the it is clean. The interior could use a coat of paint to spruce things up. The beds in the dorms are quite lumpy and the doors are hard to close securely. There is a very nice and large community room with lots of seating and a TV. The kitchen is nice and modern and has both indoor and outdoor seating. The kitchen and sitting room get quite crowded in the evening. There is a small laundry room available. It's piled high with hostel laundry and quite cramped, but the machines work. The toilets are clean, but could use some sprucing up, and the toilet paper tends to run low more often than not. The showers vary tremendously from one to the next. The best showers are co-ed and the doors don't lock so you get both men and women walking in to check if one is available while you're trying to get dressed. They are a bit short of showers too. The single showers with locks have water temperature that varies so extremely they are almost unusable.

The hostel seems to try and attract long-term residents, for example students, and that makes for a different atmosphere than a hostel just for travelers. The long-termers have their own clique and don't have much interest in chatting with travelers. Overall it's a bit short on comfort but manageable for a couple of nights.

-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review