Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel

We stayed at Edinburgh Central Hostel with a large group. Our experience was excellent. There were some marked improvements compared to previous visits, especially the quality of the food and support for special diets. The staff were friendly, supportive and helpful. We felt well looked after throughout.

Everything is a bit outdated and dreary and could do with some TLC. No bedside tables, limited plug sockets and beds cramped in together rather tightly. Mattress and pillows were incredibly hard even for someone like me who likes a firm mattress. The staff were kind and welcoming, and its easily accessible to most facilities around. 4 coat hangers in a room designed for 3 people was a bit naff. Overall, it's okay if you need somewhere affordable to stay but I wouldn't want to be here more than a few nights

Wife and I stayed here for 8 nights. We didn’t spend much time in the room as we were either walking around town all day or driving around Scotland from the highlands or Glasgow. Nonetheless, we finished each day in the Hostel. During “quiet hours” (11p-7a) it was quiet and had no issues with noise. Immediately after 7a however, everyone suddenly was awake and banging on doors, running up and down the hallway. This was generally when my wife and I were leaving for the day though. My bigger “complaint” is the bed.. The pillows are the most uncomfortable pillows I have ever slept on, the bed is not comfortable by any means, the duvet and duvet cover are not tied together or anything so after a night of sleeping the duvet is lumpy and not comfortable. I am 6ft tall and when I lay on the bed I have to curl my legs because the bed is not long enough for someone my height (which isn’t very tall). All in all.. wasn’t the worst experience, the lodging was cheap so my expectations were equivalent to what I paid for the lodging. Worth staying here as long as you can navigate through the bed situation and being aware of the quiet hours. Staff were incredibly helpful and very friendly.

Please don’t judge this on the word hostel.||It is in a great location for the city centre, near tram and bus stops. It is on a busy road so there is some noise from that and the furniture and facilities are basic, but having said this, I would highly recommend it! ||Staff so friendly and helpful - nothing was too much. There is a bar and cafe open all day. A nice relaxed atmosphere and people of all ages and nationalities staying. ||Yes you could pay more for posher decor - but if you’re looking for fab accommodation on a budget - don’t hesitate to book this! ||It’s also important to point out that this is a charity, so your booking helps to fund trips away for those who really need this but wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity. So win win!

Thank you to the team here for an excellent stay for our family! The hostel is well-equipped and comfortable and we had a great time here. It was not noisy as some hostels are and our 6-person private room had a separate shower and toilet which was helpful with the kids.

Staff were very friendly and breakfast was good but the room was pretty awful and felt like u were staying in a hospital ward. No bedside table, no bedside lamp , no shelves. No kettle, no wall pictures. One wall was even bright orange! Whoever designed the rooms needs to be fired! One of the most sterile & basic rooms in a hostel I’ve ever stayed in. The double bed was also up against a wall so you have to crawl over your partner to get out. Silly layout

I'm really unclear on this being a 5-star hotel. We booked in here and it was fine for our purposes, but it was still a hostel at that time (2015) with shared areas for cooking and food storage. Great for visitors on a budget who need a place to sleep but are otherwise out and about. The location is good, not far from downtown, Calton hill, or down to the seaside area where the Brittania is/was parked. We had a view of Calton Hill and our first planned pub stop.

The room is just right for 2 persons. No aircon and heater in the room though. But all through our stay was comfortable. Walkable area to city centre.

6 of us stayed here in 3 rooms - the rooms were clean and tidy. Small breakfast worth it but not the big breakfast. Was a bit noisy due to large group of young people staying -but over all would stay here again- was nice place to simply walk And see the sights

I wish I'd found places like this when I was backpacking this time last year! It offers "5 Star Budget Accomodation", if that's not a complete contradiction of itself, or in other words it's just a cross between a very upmarket youth hostel and an ok hotel. I even spotted a conference suite when I was here, which surely isn't something that the majority of youth hostel cientele are going to need, and instead of a bar where you can order food they have a Bistro. Is that really necessary?! In fact, it's so ridiculously high-spec as far as youth hostels go that it's hard to find much to criticise about the place. It was really clean, it was modern yet comfortable, the staff were great and it wasn't expensive. So why only 4 stars? I think to call itself "Central" is a little bit of a claim and not really that accurate. Central would be in the Grassmarket in the Old Town, or around Princes Street like most of the other hostels in the city. Not in Leith.

It's more like a Hotel than a youth Hostel. Adam has it spot on, it's religiously clean. But those things don't really matter to backpackers, only two words can sell this place to you... HOT SHOWERS! The legends are true, they do have warm water in here. The staff are also quick to remove any trouble makers from the building, no junkies floating around the corridors late at night. I know it's subjective, but the people I met while I stayed were amazing. You will make life long friends!

I must start by saying WOW Edinburgh residents are far more friendly than (some) of those in London. As soon as we got off the train, the taxi driver that took us to the hostel was more than happy suggesting places to go out and sights to see. We were then warmly greeted at the door of the Central Youth Hostel and lead up to our spacious, clean and warm 3 bed room. Through out the whole weekend we were all very impressed with the location (very central) service, food at the restaurant and 24 hour reception which was great when we stumbled home at 3am and couldn't find our keys! Would definitely stay here again on my next trip to Edinburgh, beautiful city and we most certainly be returning.

I have stayed in plenty of hostels but this one takes some beating. Really clean, very helpful staff, great facilities and not that far from the main bits in Edinburgh.

Big, smelly and industrial. It is a cheap place to stay in Edinburgh. The dorms are swampy and unpleasant, but the double rooms are functional.