Britain

Specialist Reports Holiday by Accommodation Hostels and Budget Accommodation Britain 

The Youth Hostel Association (YHA)

Trevelyan House, Dimple Road, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3YH
Customer Services (0870) 870 8808; reservations and renta-a-hostel (0870) 241 2314
yha

The British organisation, operating 230 hostels in England and Wales, and making increasing numbers family-friendly - currently a reported 107 out of 230. Around a quarter of the family-friendly ones welcome under 3s.

All properties are clean and well run with facilities often including grounds, games rooms, a drying room and laundry facilities, plus a restaurant, possibly offering packed lunches. 90% of hostels have access to a self-catering kitchen and all hostels will heat babyfood and bottles. Some properties now have licences so you can have a drink with a meal. The properties also function as BYO with meals, and most managers will not object to a quiet drink unless there is a very religious group in with you. Properties may well be able to cater to special diets.

Staff are almost universally both helpful and patient. They are no longer allowed to ask for help with anything although there is an unwritten rule that you drop off used bedsheets when you leave, and in smaller hostels the old spirit of offering a hand is encouraged - though nothing that would require any equipment to be used.

Local files are kept with information on short walks, maps. The managers may give out walking maps, and a note of ‘what to do today'.

A Family Breaks brochure focuses on the properties most suitable for families. In these Family Bunk Rooms for four or six come with hand basin and sometimes en suite toilet or shower. Bed linen and duvets are provided, but not towels. Family rooms can be booked by the night and entitle you to eat the catered meals or provide your own in the self-catering facilities.

There is access to a family room throughout the day, regardless of whether the hostel is normally closed then, and to toilets and showers, and to facilities for making a hot drink.

Access to other facilities may be for limited hours but all hostels provide a lounge where you can mix with other guest and use the game, books and toys provided. Some smaller hostels can be booked entirely by larger parties.

A Rent a Hostel brochure details the 86 youth hostels in England and Wales available to groups, families and friends for sole use. The scheme runs between September and Easter at smaller properties in country, town and rural locations - though the largest in this scheme is Langdale in the Lake District with 90 beds. Bookings can be for weekend breaks or longer, with full use of facilities and a key to come and go as you please. Some sleep as many as 30 people which can make them particularly good value for multi-family breaks or family reunions. Prices start from £220 for a two-night break.

City properties are b&b with some en suites, particularly in new properties, for example in London and Manchester.

Camping Barns offer self-catering accommodation for between six and 24 people in six networks of barns which are good bases for exploring Exmoor, Dartmoor, the Lake District and North Yorkshire. Prices are around £3.75 per night. Accommodation might include a shower, adjacent lavatories and a microwave for cooking.

A Making Tracks programme suggests seven long-distance walks using pre-booked bed and breakfast accommodation in hostels along the chosen routes. An example is the Super Little Lakes Hostels walk, a 60-mile circular route through the Lake District, the price for overnight accommodation with breakfast around £86, with packed lunches and evening meals also available at most hostels.

YHA membership costs ?26 for two parents and children under 18, ?13 for one parents. A four-bed room costs around ?39 per night. Alternatively non-members can use the hostels, paying an extra £3 per head per night.

Scottish Youth Hostel Association

syha
RentaHostel
The RentaHostel site provides information on prices and 29 hostels available for exclusive use, together with photos of the hostel facilities at each location. Prices start at £50 per night.
The hostels are reported popular for family gatherings and even wedding receptions. ‘Jewels in the crown' are Carbisdale Castle and Rannoch Moore - Loch Ossian Hostel, where there are no roads and the local stags provide the only company.
Accommodation is guaranteed clean, safe, comfortable and while all have self-catering facilities, some can provide meals. All kitchen equipment (crockery, cutlery, tea towels etc) and cleaning materials are provided, with heating and lighting included in the hire charge. Bed linen is provided at all except remote hostels where you are asked to take sleeping bags.

Highland Hostels

PO Box 7018, Fort William, PH33 7YF
(01397) 712 900
highland-hostels
A small marketing company for a group of independently-run bunkhouses, hostels and bothies, mostly set in remote parts of Scotland. At around £7 a night they could hardly be cheaper and come with their own kitchen for self-catering. They have not responded to a query about suitability for families so it is to be assumed that they do not offer anything.

An Oige (Irish Youth Hostel Association)

irelandyha
RentaHostel
A group of 32 hostels through Ireland. 11 are bookable on the RentaHostel site for exclusive use.

St Christopher's Inns

161-165 Borough High Street, London SE1 1HR
(020) 7407 1856
st-christophers.co.uk
Backpacker accommodation run by Interpub with a growing chain of properties including in London in Shepherd's Bush, Camden, Greenwich, and Borough High Street SE1, plus outside in Edinburgh and Newquay. More are planned including Bath and Paris.
Accommodation ranges from two to 10-bedded rooms. Prices are £12 to £25 per person per night depending on the size of room. Properties are gutted when taken over so they are particularly high standard, the key words being ‘safe, secure and clean'. Rooms vary from two to eight beds.
Hostels are largely aimed at young people with a chillout room, open air hot tub and internet caf? among facilities, plus a bar or coffee shop (American diner style) offering food and drink. The most suitable for families is the Newquay property while in London they would recommend. the one in Borough High stree above a coffee shop rather than a bar.

Lakeland Camping Barns

Moot Hall, Market Square, Keswick CA12 4JR
(017687) 726 45
lakelandcampingbarns
Run by the Lake District National Park Authority, offers a chance to stay in one of its 14 barns, converted from stables, corn stores and cattle byres to provide simple accommodation but including sleeping, cooking/eating, and washing areas. Most provide mattresses on a raised sleeping platform, tables and benches plus a slab for preparing food and cold running water, but you need to bring utensils and a camping stove, plus good sleeping bags. Most now have hot showers, plus at least one flushing toilet and heating from a log fire or stove, or a heater for hire - but not all have all facilities and one barn doesn't have electricity for example. Most are within the National Park and sleep between eight and 18.
A barn sleeping up to eight might cost £32. Sole use booking is required for families with children under five and pet owners.