YHA Black Sail

Long been on our bucket list to stay overnight after experiencing the warm hospitality at Black Sail twice before whilst walking C2C and what a fantastic experience we had. Fabulous location as we already knew but just an amazing place to stay as night draws in, chatting to fellow guests from all over the world whilst enjoying a great meal and friendly banter from Steve our Warden for the night. Although we needed to leave before breakfast he made sure we did not leave on our days journey without something we could prepare to eat ourselves. Thank you Steve and our fellow guests, we loved meeting you.

We’ve been a few times over the years and it’s always a thrill to walk over the fell and see Black Sail again. It is everything everyone says it is: Unique, special, beautiful, an experience. It is just wild enough to feel like an adventure, but the comforts provided by the excellent wardens make it easy. The shower is hot, food excellent and bunks and bedding are comfortable and immaculate. We hired towels for the first time. Nice, especially as we were there for 2 nights. You have to hire a whole room now, which makes it pricey for a single person, but if you can afford it, do. It’s an unforgettable experience. ||Black Sail attracts people from all over the world and we have met wonderful characters on each visit, which really adds to the atmosphere. This time it was a joy to meet some Canadian coast to coasters and discover that they were Olympic rowing champions and wonderful company. Steve, the manager, was outstanding. His cooking was the best we’ve known and his cooked breakfast set us up for the day’s walking. We will remember this visit for a long time. Thanks, Steve!

We love Black Sail YHA. I have wanting to go for 40 years and it didn't disappoint. Incredible place to be in the middle of amazing hills. The warden, Jon, was really helpful and rustled up some tasty dinner when we arrived late, catering for my veggie daughter as well. It was warm and cosy. The beds were comfy and we even managed to mainly dry our wet gear. It is great that the hostel remains open through the day with an honesty box cafe. This is our favourite hostel.

Unquestionably the most spectacular location to stay in the Lake District. No cars, few people, fantastic hiking up the Pillar, Haystacks and Windy Gp. Lots of rain! Just three rooms, with a friendly and homely feel. Hearty food or cook your own. Same for breakfast.

Was greeted by the most rudest worker with awful attitude, absolutely ruined the atmosphere and whole stay for us. Claiming his job is hard work (a lot of people would love that job). We were late and proud of the walk we achieved when we finally arrived. Instantly the worker had a horrendous attitude with us. We were told we should have rang to inform we would be late, which we did and we left a voice message. This man seemed to really hate us for some reason (maybe because we were 40 minutes late? I don’t think that is justified). There was absolutely no reasoning with him, as trying to talk he claimed we were arguing (he was most argumentative in his tone and attitude from that start) He was so awful, I was happy to get away from him. We are very reasonable people and very rarely have interactions like this. Absolutely shockingly appalling behaviour!

If you love the lakes then you need to stay here , yes it's remote but the location makes it an absolute must if you have the opportunity to stay here,we had booked for one night and we hadn't stayed here in over 5 years but very little had changed,the warden met us and showed us our room , a 8 bed room and we all settled in after our walk here.|We had food already prebooked so we ordered beers and had spaghetti amd pasta with garlic bread followed by a choc brownie sat in the dining/living area, we were all very happy with the food there were a few other groups staying and it's a nice relaxing atmosphere followed with a few beers and whisky.|We all had a comfortable night even with 8 men snoring 😴 |Breakfast was a full English and a choice of cereals,all packed we said our goodbyes and set off on the final day of our hike.

Awesome Hostel only accessible on foot for guests. Small, cosy and comfortable stay. Warm welcome from the hosts. Beds surprisingly comfortable, the weather outside was awful, lovely warm and dry inside 😃

I just want to thank the legendary guy who was running the place last Tuesday. He managed to fix my bent and jammed trekking pole. He also let me completely overstay my welcome during the bad rain and wind. This is truly an amazing place. I hope to be back on a dryer and calmer day.