Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel

I stayed at this youth hostel while attending the annual Meeting of the British Ecological Society, which was held in Edinburgh last week. I rented a room which had two single beds, a small round table, a chair and a closet. The room had its own shower room, toilet ans basin. I made use of the shared kitchen and dining facilities as well as the shared laundry. In addition to the above there is also another lounge come dining area where you can order a meal. They serve delicious coffees and hot chocolate, and you can also buy beer and lager on-tap!! I ate at this ‘mini’-restaurant a couple of times and really enjoyed the soup and the jacket potato. I’ll definitely stay here again!!

Good position, near the city center (walking distance). The hostel needs some fixing up. The room for two was spacious, but the bathroom was small. We slept well. Good aspects: luggage storage possibility, comfortable beds, possibility to have breakfast (additional payment needed).

We always find this a good place to stay in a private en suite room. There is a self catering kitchen and TV area downstairs plus a good cafe area at ground level for breakfast and meals on request. Book at least a triple if you are a couple and don't like top bunks. Central Edinburgh location

It's a bit of a trek from Waverley Train Station, however there is a much closer entrance which we discovered on the last day by turning left and going down a slight hill. ||We were disappointed with the room (207). We were expecting a double bed but got bunk beds and a single.||The fitted sheet kept springing off the mattress which was annoying. The curtain was half hanging off the rail. Not all the lights worked. ||It was just passable clean, but could have been much better as the walls were dirty and there was dirty on the radiators and along the edge of the room.||I found the shower too powerful and was difficult to use comfortably. ||Our room cards failed after one day and several others were having difficulties with their cards failing between the lift and entry to their floor. ||The staff was a mixed bag of happy and helpful, or came across not very interested.||The breakfast experience was disappointing. The tables are not cleaned. One morning they were all filthy and no where to sit (even the chairs were dirty). This issue was pointed out to the staff member there who cleaned us 1/3rd of one table with no smile and then disappeared. The chairs were too filthy to sit on so had to clean myself (after asking for napkins as none in sight).||Future guests were having to clean tables themselves or line them with napkins before they could even start breakfast. This is poor service and guests should not have to do this, especially when the matter was clearly pointed out at the time.||One morning there were no knives so had to use a spoon to spread butter and jam and one morning one of the toasting machine was not working.||The games room was out of action. This was exceptionally disappointing as one of the reasons we chose this place for our 11 year old.||The area on lower basement with a communal kitchen was good to use.||There's a luggage place available.||There is a communal toilet area, but you need to ask for a code to use.||Overall I would recommend this place if you're happy to take these honest issues into consideration.

Pros: excellent location downtown near MacDonald tram stop. Luggage storage room available although I did not use it. Shared kitchen available. Quiet private rooms available with en suite bathroom. Free chilled water station at the bar for refilling your bottles.||Cons: it's a bit of a trek from the train station and can be confusing if following Google map directions since the street layouts and names are not quite aligning with Google, plus there are no blue and white hostelling signs. The exterior and the posted advertisement make it look more like a restaurant than a hostel. Lastly the check-in staff did not once crack a smile or welcome, and I stood in front of them for quite a while before being acknowledged. The check-out staff, though, were awesome. Night and day difference! Being downtown you'll hear the tram starting in the early morning, but if you're used to city hustle and bustle it should not be very disruptive.

We had a four bedroom - two bunk bed - ensuite room. The room was clean, with two storage wardrobes, and a power shower. Beds were comfortable. Staff was very friendly - we arrived two hours early to store our luggage, and they were able to check us in! We didnt have breakfast or eat in the cafe but it looked warm and inviting. The hostel was very busy with loads of kids. Fantastic location next to tram stop and bus stop.||Really a 5/5 hostel experience. It was better than the hotel we stayed in earlier in the trip. Highly recommended for families or any other travellers on a budget.

Deformed/sagging mattress, no soap, one towel for everything, noise from other rooms, children running through the hallways screaming. The only "good" thing was the location. Very expensive for what it offers. Maximum $60 room/per night IMO

We had booked a private room and it was quite spacious however the beds were a bit small. Facilities were great however the water pressure in the shower was insane. I feel like being water boarded would hurt less. All my sins were washed away. Location is great and very central to the old town. Staff was very friendly and helpful.

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.