Kinlay Hostel

Everything was very clean and nice, the staff were very friendly and the breakfast was also good (porridge, cereal, soda bread, raisin scones, butter, cheese, yogurt, various seeds, jams, even options for those with gluten intolerance, plant-based milks, juices, coffee, cocoa and tea). The kitchen area for preparing your own meals was very pleasant as well. The location was excellent, close to the train station and the main street. The price was great for everything you get. Definitely recommend.

Way more than I’ve come to expect from a hostel, especially at this price point!! Very clean with nice bathrooms and showers, good kitchen facilities, and easygoing staff. The pub crawl was super fun and an easy way to meet other folks staying here. Would happily come again.

I had a fantastic stay at this hostel! The kinlay is located right in the heart of the city, making it easy to walk to all the main attractions. The rooms were so comfortable and very clean. The breakfast was delicious, and the service was impeccable. 
The staff was very friendly and helpful, going above and beyond to make sure my stay was enjoyable. Roberto and Brian, the managers, were always happy to answer my questions and provide recommendations. I would definitely recommend this hostel to anyone!

An excellent hostel! ||Dorm beds are comfortable with privacy curtains, light, power socket and USB. Showers are very good, with hooks for hanging items and shower gel provided. And finally a hostel that doesn’t charge or require a deposit for towels - fantastic! ||There is a large and pleasant communal area, with a pool table and piano. The kitchen is large and has everything you need, plus there are lots of fridges and freezers. Free tea, coffee and some fruit is available 24/7 which is just brilliant, and there are even some free daily afternoon biscuits. The free breakfast is very good. The hostel is very clean throughout with everything well-maintained. WiFi is excellent. Staff are very friendly and super helpful. ||Note that Kinlay Hostel is operated by the same people as Snoozles Hostel, which is also superb. I strongly recommend both.

Stayed in Kinlay about 10 years ago. The place is 10x better now.. Super location yet very quiet. Have stayed in numerous hostels over the years and Kinlay Galway is the best. Really clean and modern showers toilets with everything working as it should. Even simple things like the free towels, free luggage room and complementary biscuits are a nice welcoming touch which other hostels should take note.

Clean well appointed hostel. We had brought a large group of teenagers and the hostel felt safe and well located. The rooms on second floor have en-suite bathrooms. Some of them have all bunk beds, while others have a double bed and one bunk bed. The different room layouts are great for having choices whether you are travelling as a couple, a small family, or a group

Just spent two nights here and there were a lot of great points to this place. Location, discount parking, staff, clean bathrooms, pub crawls. A couple suggestions though, the rooms are so warm and stuffy. The halls feel great and then you melt going into the room. There’s a fan, but even on high it’s barely a breeze. Having a mini fan in every bunk would make so much sense and would make people more comfortable temperature-wise, I’ve seen it other places and it’s great. Also blocks out noise from people coming in late at night. The cage you put your suitcase in isn’t great; it’s so loud when you go in and out of it and mine was under a ladder and a fellow bunk mate had to help keep top open so I could shove suitcase in. Also, love the idea of breakfast, but it’s all carbs! And you’re not allowed to use the kitchen during breakfast time if you wanted to make eggs or something. Wish they’d serve even hard boiled eggs or let people in kitchen somehow.

I had a great sleep the hostel we stayed in was AMAZING so clean had everything you needed so much different options for breakfast, brilliant set up. And the room and beds were so neat and comfortable. Diverse, calm, relaxed ,efficient, lovely staff. Couldn't have been any better.

This was my first time hostel experience and I was pleasantly surprised after staying at Kinlay. The staff was very friendly and the hostel was very clean and well kept. The bathrooms were always spotless and there was plenty of showers and space to get ready. The hostel hosted a pub crawl and my friends and I met a great group of people who we hung out with even after the pub crawl ended and met up with for breakfast the next day! I would definitely stay in this hostel again and this made me feel much more comfortable to stay in other hostels in the future!

Kinlay Galway is the best hostel I have been in Europe! Clean room, friendly staff, terrific breakfast...Staying in a hostel may be an ordeal in most cases, but staying at Kinlay was an enjoyment even in a shared dorm! Each dorm room has its own sink and shower room with toilet, even though the hallway has separate toilets and shower rooms as well, so I never had to wait to use the toilet or the shower. Each bed also has its own privacy curtain, reading lights, and power outlet, so you are like living in your own pod! If you are in the Galway area, I highly recommend choosing this hostel! Not only it's a terrific place to lay your head, its city centre location by the train and the bus stations makes this hostel a great base to explore Galway and the areas around! *Padlock is available for rent with a refundable deposit, and towel is available for rent for 1 EUR. You may need to bring your own toiletries

No airflow in the rooms makes it extremely hot and humid in the summer months. People don't care for the quiet hours so it's loud constantly. Unless you NEED a cheap room and are willing to take the gamble on your roommates not snoring or waking you up, find somewhere else. Won't be coming back.

Pros: + Pretty much in Eyre Square, off to one corner. Then again, everything is local in Galway. Easy walk from hostel to the local indoor mall next door. You also have The Skeff a couple of shops down the block. + Friendly and accommodating staff. We got everything we needed. + They have a secured room where you can stash your luggage after you check out but haven't left town just yet, free of charge. + There's a makeshift café on the first floor. + Because it's a hostel, you're getting hostel prices, which are great. + Nice lounge room and kitchen space. Cons: - It's a hostel. Bathrooms were particularly annoying as they have a push-button water system, so you have to keep pushing or the water stops. Am I overreaching? - On the grand scale of hostels, this is right in the middle.

This place gets 3 stars from me because of the shower situation. They have one of those press a button timers in the shower which forces you to stop what you're doing and keep pressing the button everytime the water shuts off! I understand you're trying to conserve water and all but it doesn't really stop me from staying in there until I finish getting what I needed to get done, done. I swear it was set to 60 seconds. Find me someone who can wash their hair in 60 seconds! Rather than taking a quicker shower, I just emerge 5 minutes later than I would have and 10x more annoyed! Showers are supposed to be a relaxing experience, not a chore. Everything else was pretty average for a hostel. Nice selection of outlets on each bunk for charging. Convenient luggage storage. Average hostel breakfast. Nothing really stood out to me as being amazing and I have stayed in some amazing hostels! This place does the trick though.

As hostels goes this is as good as it gets. Super friendly staff, very clean, great kitchen, big shower, comfy beds, central location. I could keep going, It was really great and I would stay here again for sure. The reason it is not getting 5 stars is because the staff walked in without knocking when I was in nothing but a towel, NOT OKAY. If that had not happened it would be a 5 star rating without a doubt.

Not a huge fan of this hostel. It's cheap and centrally located in Galway. That's about where the positives end. The night I was there, a group of about 40 college age kids were there and getting drunk and loud in the lobby. The problem is that all the walls are paper thin, so that made it almost impossible to sleep. My other major complaint is the lack of wall outlets. I was in an 8 person room and there were only 2 plugs, meaning most people didn't get to charge their cell phone overnight. So that was annoying. Finally, they charge you €5 if you want to use a towel to shower. I am cheap and opted not to shower instead. It was good for what it was (a cheap bed for one night) but I don't think I'd go back.

Such friendly and helpful staff!! From the moment I came to check in till I left they were all so kind and informative! Answered all my questions about places to go, tours where to eat etc! Free wifi and computers in the hangout as well as the ability to have them print things for you free of charge! Clean place as well from the main area to the rooms to the bathrooms all nice and clean! Not many outlets in the rooms but I used the computer to charge things while I booked my future trips so it worked out. They have a free breakfast with toast cereal and coffee every morning and they have a kitchen to prepare your own food as well. There's pool tables and couches in the common area where the computers are. This place is nice and secure as well which was great! They give you a key card and a security card. The key card opens your form room and the security card gets you in the hostel after 10. This helps to ensure that no one who isn't staying there gets in and I felt better about my things being safe! The location is wonderful! Just off The main square close to all the shops and pubs and a quick walk from the bus station(where I came from) which also is the starting point to many day excursions like the cliffs of mohre etc. it's in a very nice and safe part of town so regardless of when you come in or out it's no worries! They have a special floor just for coffee and tour information where I asked the guy a ton of questions about the Aran island tours and the area in general and he was super nice and helpful knew tons of great info which made for a great experience! All in all a grand experience overall!

The best hostel experience I have had since coming abroad, the Kinlay House is an outstanding accommodation for a great price. The staff is incredibly helpful and even let us stow our luggage 3 hours before check in so we could jump right into exploring gorgeous Galway. The kitchen was nice and spacious, had my group of friends and I been staying for more than one night, I'm sure we would have taken advantage of it and cooked a few meals. I was stoked to learn about the complimentary breakfast and even more so when I saw the delicious array of pastries, cereal options, and yes...filter coffee! The space was also incredibly clean: the bathrooms, the common areas, the bedrooms and the pillow and duvet covers all spotless and in great condition! Finally, there was a really neat sense of community which I think made the experience. The common areas with pool tables and plenty of sitting room provided the perfect atmosphere for striking a conversation and I even noticed that the staff had programmed events in the evening. On the day we checked in, I saw a sign-up sheet for guests to go out on the town for dinner and traditional Irish music with one of the staff members. This seems like a great way for guests to not only see Galway, but also meet some fellow travelers along the way. I couldn't wait to visit Galway and finally see the city that inspired Ed Sheeran's latest hit, who knew I'd also have the best hostel experience to date?!

My sister and I decided a weekend at the Galway Arts Festival would do us good, but hotel rooms are very feckin' scarce this time of year. We opted for a twin ensuite room in Kinlay and were only delighted with what we got. It cost us €80 for the night, very reasonable. The room was clean, nicely furnished with two very comfortable (on the hard side) beds, a wardrobe and drawers, and even a towel. The bathroom was spotless but did ming a little after a while if the door was left open, but I think the smell was actually the cleaning product used. The shower was great, nice and hot, good oul' power from the showerhead, and there's even a soap dispenser is there. Towels were also provided, but we had brought our own anyway as you can never tell with hostels. There was a sink just outside the bathroom so to wash my hands after using the loo, I'd use the shower liquid soap. The window was the type you could half open or open completely, useful on a humid night like the one we spent. The staff are lovely, real gentle chatty Galway types, even the foreign-born staff! Galway is that kind of place, you stay long enough, you become assimilated, and that is just the nicest thing about the place, Galwegians both native-born and blow-ins are so lovely. There is luggage-storage, a decent-looking kitchen and the general environs of the reception/first floor area is be-couched, perfect to relax and chill with a book or have a chat with new friends. There are Internet computers there too, currently €3 per hour. I really liked it. Terrific location (just off Eyre Square, a two minute walk from the station), great prices for what you get, clean, comfortable, well-kept and kitted out, and lovely staff. All I could ask for more is a mini-fridge and a travel kettle but that would be pushing it! I highly recommend this place for a visit to Galway, it covers all the basics and covers them well.

Close to the train/bus station and centrally located in Galway. Expensive for what you get, but probably cheaper than most all hotel options. There is also a kitchen if you are on a budget and want to cook your own food. Free wifi is also available in the lobby/ kitchen area. While not filthy, the whole place had a dark/dank basement feel to it. I would only recommend staying here if you are on an extremely tight budget and can't do better, are only in town for a day and don't mind skipping a shower, or you're an 18-20 yr old college student backpacking around Europe. I was in the second category, and the best part about staying here was leaving and taking an insanely hot shower in a real hotel. Galway is the least friendly place I've visited in Ireland with a fairly pretentious and uppity feel to it. While cheaper than Dublin, it is less hospitable, and this hostel added to it.

Excellent hostel, probably the best in Galway! Friendly staff, good atmosphere, and excellent facilities. Every time I go to Galway, Kynlay is my favourite option.

Excellent hostel, free breakfast, WIFI, Close to all the bars and site seeing areas. Rooms were clean and berthing area was quiet and secure. Good atmosphere, will stay again if I make it back to Galway.

Incredible hostel. I've never stayed in one before, and this was my first experience, and it set the standard sky high. The staff was so friendly and accommodating, the main area was open late and was a welcoming space for friends to gather, and there was free breakfast in the morning. The rooms were extremely clean and comfortable, too. I stayed in an all girls 6 person dorm style, and we each had privacy curtains, multiple outlets and USB ports, and our own bathroom, shower, and sink en suite. The front desk attendants gave great food and drink accommodations too! The best part about this hostel is that they take their security very seriously- there is a door code past 10pm, and a security guard that checks your cards on each floor. I felt welcomed, safe, and very pleased. The location is extremely central, and many great bars and restaurants are within very short walking distance. Brittany and Jordan at the front desk were exceptionally hospitable, and even gave me a FREE postcard! 5 stars all around

I booked a private double room with ensuite and was very disappointed. I understand it's a hostel so I wasn't expecting the Four Seasons, but based on the photos I at least thought it would be clean. Not so! There was hair all over the bed linens and bathroom and in general the room was filthy.

I've stayed in a lot of hostels but this one is top of the class. Reasonably priced, comfortable beds, pleasant staff and a common room which stays open till 4am.

COMFORTABLE, CLEAN, SAFE, FRIENDLY, CLOSE TO EVERYWHERE YOU WANNA GO. I stayed here in May of 2013. When we got arrived the guy checking us in asked us what we were planning to do that night. I told him I didn't want to go on any pub crawls as we (a girl friend & I) were there to meet locals. He pulled out a map & suggested three or four different places and showed us how to get there. One of the places he suggested was called Tig Coili. We went there after Buskers and I ended up meeting a local guy named Daire. He happened to be moving to Toronto a week later. I went back home to Austin, TX after my vacation but we kept in touch. Eight months (and many trips back and forth) later we are living together in Toronto and very much in love. I can't remember the name of the guy who checked me in(if I heard it, I might remember) but I do want to send a sincere thank you to him & everyone else who works at the Kinlay Hostel for always being so kind & helpful. We extended our stay (I was obviously enjoying myself and not yet ready to leave Galway) and even though they were very full the girls at the front did everything they could to accommodate my friend & I and were able to get us into another room. Coming in late at night they'd ask for our name & room number and if your name wasn't in their system you weren't allowed in which made us feel very safe. Free (good) wifi in a comfortable living area and breakfast every morning. They helped organize for us to go on a tour to the Cliffs of Moher which was one of the best parts of our trip. Thank y'all so much, those few days in Galway obviously changed my life forever and y'all were a part of that!