Smart City Hostel is situated in an ideal location, just off the Royal Mile and in walking distance of all the city's attractions. It's so new you can still smell the paint, but this shows in other ways too, with exposed wiring around the place, and a few kinks still to be worked out. For instance, the swipe cards used to enter our dorm room stopped working four times in our two-night stay. Fortunately reception is open twenty-four hours, so we were never stranded, but it is an inconvenience to return to your room at 2 a.m. and have to traipse back downstairs to have your swipe card reset. The reception staff we spoke to were nice enough, but had disappointingly little knowledge of the local area.
The hostel is well-equipped, with free internet access, either from multiple terminals located in the lobby or via wi-fi. There is a coin-operated laundry, individual lockers in the dorms (bring your own lock), as well as two showers and toilets located within the room for an eight-person dorm. Being so new, the bathroom facilities are clean but lack thoughtful details -- there is no place to hang towels or clothes or shelves to put soap in the shower rooms, so everything gets nicely soaked on the floor.
Breakfast is not included in the room price, although the café downstairs offers well-priced meals throughout the day, as well as a bar with cheap drinks. There is also a reasonably well-equipped kitchen for self-catering.
This is a large hostel and the most important thing it lacks is atmosphere (at least during our stay). The hostel also seems to cater for long-term international student accommodation. Smart City Hostel is not a bad place. As hostels go, it is clean, secure, and comfortable. But just because a hostel is new and modern with plenty of facilities doesn't mean it is a great place to stay. There are plenty of hostels in Edinburgh, and at the price they charge per night for an eight-bed dorm not including breakfast, this one may not offer the best value for money.
— Recensione esclusiva Hostelz.com
May 2007
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