Cillian I.
Yelp
Myself and a group of friends from all over Ireland were having our annual meet up and decided that Kilkenny would be the spot we'd stay.
Rather than us all stay in different locations, we decided to try and book the same place and would look into staying in a Hostel, luckily The Kilkenny Tourist Hostel had enough room for us all.
I dealt with Angela mainly, mostly by email, but we chatted over the phone a few times too. She was extremly friendly, and always very helpful.
The Hostel itself was a great size with plenty of rooms. Due to the size of our group, we each had to pay a €20 deposit each, but we received this on check out again. The rules for the deposit were fairly simple, no smoking or drinking in the bedroom, don't lose your room key, don't be making loads of noise late at night which effects others in the hostel.
The room I stayed in myself was "The Green Room" which had 12 beds (6 bunk beds). One thing that some may have an issue with is the room had windows on both sides, the front side had indoor shutters to block out the light, but the rear side windows didn't, so the room was fairly lit up when the sun came up at about 7am or so. This didn't really bother me, but just something to consider if you struggle with sleeping.
The hostel had everything we needed, we didn't use the kitchen though, but it looked to have everything you'd want. The bathrooms and showers for us weren't ensuites, I'm not sure if they have rooms with ensuites, but it didn't bother us at all. The bathroom facilities were well maintained and clean. The hostel also had free Wifi which seemed to be a decent speed also.
Security wise the hostel felt very safe. You can't get in the main door without the entry code which supposedly changes regularly (but is written down on your pass so you wont forget). At night also there is a doorman also.
Check out was at 10am, but you can hang around the hostel if you are waiting for a bus later in the day for example.
The location is great too, and there is a fantastic pub across the road named "The Pumphouse" which has a pool table and an open fire, so you could easily pass away a few hours here.
Overall, every one of us in the group were happy with the hostel and would have no problems staying here again or recommending it to a friend.