Haystack Hostel

We absolutely love this place! We’ve been coming here three years in a row for the Fringe Festival, and it never disappoints. The kitchen is fully equipped and amazing, making it easy to cook meals just like at home. The location is perfect—peaceful and quiet, yet only a short walk to all the festival action and local attractions. Booking can be tricky because it’s so popular, and we haven’t been able to reserve for 2026 yet, so we’re really hoping to return for a fourth year. The value is excellent, especially considering how expensive everything else can be during our visits. The staff are friendly, welcoming, and always go out of their way to help. The room is spotless and comfortable—not huge, but cozy and perfect for relaxing after a long day of festival fun. The atmosphere here feels warm and inviting, making it a real home away from home. We can’t recommend this place enough and hope to keep coming back for many more years!

I love this place - it's small, clean, quiet and has very friendly staff. But best of all it has 2 women's dorms, so it's a lovely place to stay as a solo female traveller.|They don't organise pub crawls, and the lighting in communal areas is low from 12am. So it's very calm and chilled. There's are plenty of 'party hostels ' in Edinburgh, but I go there to visit family and need to rest at nights. So it's just perfect.|Rates are good, especially as it's so clean, and it's less than 5 minutes walk from the station exit to the hostel door (3 flights of stairs up though!) So it's very practical. Also pretty much every bus route in Edinburgh can be reached in 5-10 minutes, from princes Street. Also they're very good at leaving spare dry food in clearly marked baskets - so you don't need to buy a whole bag of pasta, rice, or soy sauce when you want to cook. Or there might be cereal to use up. I like that attitude to waste prevention.

stayed a total of 3 nights at this hostel, it was clean, well looked after with spacious rooms. The location of the |hostel was ideal with the main station being across the road and most attractions being a short walk away. The stairs we read about in the reviews weren’t bad at all as we expected much worse, just a little steep but nothing major. Only negative was the showers which lacked some water pressure but apart from that a really good stay!

Superb hostel, would recommend. Has options for staying in all female dorm, super friendly staff, great convenient location right in the city centre. I accidentally left my necklace and they posted it to me right away. Wonderful!

I was welcomed by the friendliest staff ever (6 stars). The shared bedrooms are spacious and have plenty of storage. I was able to leave my suitcase before check-in and after check-out, which allowed me to explore Edinburgh for almost two days, as the location is perfect for that. I highly recommend visiting Calton Hill at sunset, as it's only a 5-minute walk from the hostel. Kitchens and showers are also perfect. And again, very kind and helpful staff!

I stayed in haystack hostel this past week. I was supposed to be there 7 nights in total however, I had to leave after the fourth night due to them being infested with bed bugs. First I will say once I complained they helped move me to a different room and helped me with my laundry and everything. However I also believe they knew about it and didn’t tell their guests. I received a text from them the morning before I found the bugs, Monday, saying they were doing maintenance work in my 12 bed room Thursday and Friday and that I had to be out of the room 10 am to 3pm both days. When I went up to reception that night to tell them I found a bed bug the man working told me that the maintenance work was for the bed bugs. So they knew and still had me and 11 other women stay in that room. They did give me a refund after I asked for it. Overall the faculties were nice enough, the bed had curtains which is nice and a good kitchen, but the bed bug situation was awful to deal with.

Our stay at Haystack hostel was excellent! This hostel is the tiniest in Edinburgh, giving it a cozy vibe. The dorms and living room reflect this coziness, giving ample opportunity to rest in between your travels. The toilets and showers are squeaky clean and (not unimportant): there is warm water! However, the highlight to our stay was undoubtedly the kitchen. It has everything you need and more! Fridge, cutlery, pots, pans, ovens, a microwave and tons of freebies left by previous visitors. To top everything off, the staff are friendly and welcoming. They accompany you to your dorm and give an extensive tour. Additionally, they are knowledgeable about the city and give good tips on the best places to go out!

Great place to stay if you need to be close to central areas! I’m not a huge hostel person but this place was quiet, clean and so lovely. The staff are friendly. Bedding is comfortable and the showers are clean/wide spaces. Kitchen is really nice and clean. Loved it.