Kinlay House Shandon hostel

I've been here for almost 2 years. Thank you for your hospitality. Every Ukrainian appreciates this. Thanks for your hard work. The volunteers who helped us in 2022 are holy people, I will not forget them. I love you with all my heart 🇺🇦🩷🇨🇮 And I won’t forget the Irish old man at the reception who gave candy to our children every day. He tried to help us as he can.

The hostel was on a secondary street, really nice and quite but at less than 10min wall from the city center! A great placement! There were not an elevator, that was the only negative point. Nice staff and easy check in. Room key was a card.|Breakfast was included, and they offer instant coffee, tea, milk and cereal, and bread to toast, with jam.|Good connection with the bus for the airport in Dublin, and for Dublin city. (That’s the one we took)|We had a double room with private bathroom, all clean and towels provided. Heaters turned on only in the evening, so I could get a bit cold in the room, but the bed comforter was really really warm! Good WiFi connection.|We walked all the time everywhere, really no need to take public transportation! Near the hostel, crossed the bridge, there is a nice big grocery store, and passed that, you’re in the center, plenty of places to eat and shops.|We really liked the place!

This place is fantastic! I mean, it's not a 5 star hotel. It's budget accommodation. But it's nice. The staff is friendly. It's very close to City Center (which is basically the Irish version of "downtown.") Private rooms and dorms available. It's Ireland so there's no A/C. I'm here in July and the days are 73°F (23°C) so that's really nothing to complain about. I will definitely be staying here again.

Stayed here with a friend as part of a larger stag group, the rest of whom were not staying at the hostel. We were actually located in a house just a short walk from main hostel reception. Room and private bathroom both spotless and of typical hostel quality. Hostel staff very friendly and helpful. Great location close to city centre and within walking distance of everything, weather permitting. Price was best available in Cork at the time. Maybe not ideal for a romantic getaway with the missus, but for a lads' weekend away it was perfect.

My husband and I loved Kinlay House. This was the only reasonably priced place in Cork at the time. We stayed in a private room, so I can't speak to the shared rooms. Our room was comfy, but nothing special. There's is a free breakfast that consists of coffee, tea, and toast with jam or butter. The staff was very friendly and happy to help with suggestions for pubs nearby and things to see. I would absolutely stay here again.

For the level that Kinlay House aims, this is top notch... double room top floor was adequate and clean, with good hot showers and we felt relaxed and in privacy, surprisingly quiet. The communal areas were clean, lock ups provided efficient, staff were very helpful at all times... a very pleasant budget place to make home for a week.

While the staff was friendly and the view out of the window was interesting, the room was fairly gross. The bathroom did not appear to be well-kept. The shower is the annoying push button style designed to save water and leave the showering patron using one hand to do standard shower tasks. Were one to look up at the upper mattress from the lower in my room, one would find a large, mysterious stain splayed across it. Likely would not stay again.

I stayed there two nights. Everything was clean and the hostel is very close to the city center. But what I didn't like is that you aren't allowed to use the kitchen until 10:30 am and the breakfast provided is very poor. Just toast and packed butter, packed jam. Lots of waste, why not use jam jars and regular butter... Also you can not control the temperature of the shower, it's very very hot and I've heated from people living here, in winter it's very very cold. Another contra is, that kitchen and sitting room are sperated which makes it hard to socialize. But the rooms are very huge, quite a lot of privacy for a 12 bed room because of walls separating the beds. I am complaining on a very high level but I stayed in better hostels for same money all over the world...

This hostel wasn't very memorable to be completely honest. It wasn't anything terrible but it certainly wasn't anything to write home about. The entry is very welcoming. It is decorated in a colorful manner that felt energizing. It really felt like what you would expect from a hostel. The employees were not the most helpful and seemed to get a kick out of messing with the American tourists. One of them was downright rude. We wound up having to go up and down from our room 3 times because they told us to pick beds and every time we did they told us to pick new beds because those were already taken. It was rather annoying. What was really annoying was that come midnight, there were still only 4 of us in the room and almost all the beds we had tried to pick were still empty! The rooms did include their own restrooms and showers, which was nice. There was also a decent view from our window and the beds were comfortable enough. Anywho. The kitchen was decent enough but the burners for the stove wouldn't light properly. There wasn't very much storage space available but at least the fridge wasn't a complete disaster. The dining are was ridiculously huge and come breakfast it was crawling with people from the hostel. If you have social anxiety or simply don't like people, skip breakfast.

Perched upon the hills of Shandon outside the central part of Cork, this hostel provides lots of privacy and ensures a good night's sleep. Yet, everything in the central area of Cork City is just a short walk away. The hostel also provides great views of Cork, and the building itself has a lot of character. It is not utilitarian as many other hostels are. The walls are painted vibrant colors and the architecture has a very rustic feel. As for the rooms...the rooms are spacious, the beds are comfortable, and the staff is helpful and friendly. You couldn't ask for more!

Great hostel! I brought my sister to Ireland in April 2014. I've been to Kinlay once before in a shared room and the experience wasn't fabulous. Very tight quarters. But two years later I was back. We stayed in a private room. It was like a separate apartment/condo. Modern, clean, and spacious! The location is perfect as well ! I'm glad I took a second chance, I would stay in that room any time I'm in Cork.

5 stars is a rarity for me but I must say: Location: great Rooms: great Staff: great Price: great Having stayed in some dodgy hostels, single rooms that would be better described as cells, the room I got and the view were excellent. For €35 I got a single room with bunk beds, sink, plenty of shelf space and a great view. The do give you some sort of breakfast up until 9:30 but I wasn't up that early. The place was busy, by the amount of people heading out on the Sunday morning, but I hadn't heard anyone while in my room - no paper thin walls here. When I travel somewhere I just need a place to sleep and this hit the spot nicely. I will definitely be coming back to cork and I will definitely be staying here.

This place was very difficult to find. There's no actual way to drive up to it, since it's kind of in a courtyard. The directions never mentioned that and you can't see that fish on top of the tower when it's night time, so don't rely on that. Street parking is available, even at 1 a.m. on Sunday. Wifi signal was super weak, which was disappointing. Everything else was pretty much average. It's a safe, not too shabby place to lay your head down & stay relatively close to the city center.

Have stayed in 1999 and 2009, couldn't fault the staff in the slightest in either century. Had no trouble getting in or out of hostel. As for cleanliness, Damp smell when I entered the room, everything spotlessly clean but smell was off-putting. Location is great in relation to city nightlife and thankfully not slap bang in the middle. Again every staff member was effortlessly helpful. This is a great option for doing Cork and it's surrounds on the cheap or for somewhere just to rest the head between sessions. Free Wi-fi. Also free tea and toast for early risers or hard partiers.

This hostel is very cute! My friend and I were able to get our own room with private bathroom that was nice and clean on our tight budget which was great! It's pretty dated and smells a bit musty but for the cost, the location, and privacy, it's really great!

This hostel was BRILLIANT as the Aussies I met there put it! My friend and I stayed in the mixed dorm with 10 beds for €14 a night. They provided security for our luggage while we took day trips and a breakfast of toast with jam and tea in the morning. The beds, showers and toilets were cleaned each day and the reception was more than helpful for any questions. This hostel included a free trip to Blarney Castle (which we did) and a trip to the Cliffs of Moher for €39. Both trips leave daily. I would stay here again.

I stayed at Kinlay House for one night (originally planned for two but booked a different place the next morning). The staff is friendly and everything was clean. The main problem I had with Kinlay House is the shower set up. On my floor there was a small hallway inside of the bathroom with 4 showers next to each other with clear glass doors. I am not very experienced with staying in hostels so don't take my review too seriously. The showers dissuaded me from staying another night. Also the electrical outlet did not seem to charge my phone over night. Overall my stay wasn't bad at all, I just had some issues with the facilities (the showers... Which I didn't use there).

The Kinlay House was my first EVER experience with a hostel... And I've gotta say, I'm a fan! For the price, it's a great place to stay in Cork. It's pretty close to the center of the city. Sure, the showering situation wasn't perfect (though it wasn't too bad!), and it was a bit cold inside... But for the price, it was just fine. My family and I split a 4-person room, so we had a semi-private sort of experience... So I have no idea what it's like otherwise. They provided free toast w/ jam and tea in the morning. Nice! The kitchen seemed fairly well stocked, and we made dinner in there one evening (pasta, nothing too complicated, but it works!) The staff & other people staying at the hostel were all very friendly, and it totally made me feel comfortable staying at hostels in the future. I would definitely recommend Kinlay, and I would look to them as a place to stay in the future! They have hostels all over Ireland, so check them out :)

Stayed here last week. The Staff were very friendly and always around to answer my annoying Questions! Thanks! Liked the Shandon area - it's the oldest part of the city. Hostel offers free Wi-Fi and a small breakfast free which was great. Beds clean and comfy Would stay again