LAke District Youth hostels: Any recommendations?

[funnypeculiar]

Thinking of this for the May half term - will probably do two hostels. Haven't done any youth hosteling for about 20 years, and suspect the kids (6 & 8) aren't quite up to Black Sail yet .

Any suggestions? (did look in old threads but doesn't look like it's come up for a few years... )

TIA

Hi. We stayed at the one next to honister slate mine. Nice location but very basic. You had to walk through the lounge to get to the ladies loo. That is the only one I've actually stayed at in the lakes. We have been to a few in Scotland and Wales but to be honest it is normally nicer and cheaper to do self catering or B and B.

Really, workinprogress? I was thinking that the YHA sites would be a bit more flexible family friends. IN what way/s do you prefer B&B?

We have found youth hostels quite expensive - normal £75 ish for a family room with breakfast on top. For the money you can normally get a bed and breakfast family room, or for longer a self catering place. Some of the hostels are very basic and not always very clean ! They can be noisy too. They do vary though, some are really nice, and now the children are a bit older they enjoyed cooking tea in the communal kitchen last time. Some are child friendly but I get the impression core market is groups of hikers/cyclists. Having said that we have never had bad experience and it is an adventure !

Borrowdale YH is in a fab location overlooking Derwentwater and we would stay there again quite happily BUT I do agree with Workinprogress that the quality does vary. We stayed in another hostel (Yes, you St Pauls!) that was just filthy. I left with bites on my legs and back that occurred whilst I was in bed and the lack of security, esp given it's location, was shocking.

We found that overall camping worked out cheaper (and cleaner!) for us but you can still use Tesco vouchers.

We normally camp, serin, but wanted to do a reasonable amount of 'outdoors-y' stuff, and was just trying to imagine how hideous it would be if it rained for the whole week (which is entirely feasible in the Lakes!) Dcs will be 6 & 8 so not quite old enough to put up with constant dampness with a smile. Actually, not sure I am either. I thought Borrowdale looked nice, so thanks for that one.

Humm, perhaps will have a look at cottage rental too - had just assumed that would be much more expensive...

You would certainly be able to get a cottage on the fringes of the lake district for similar cost to a family room in a hostel for a week, even in high season. We stayed in Allonby in August for about £350. If you go for a place with one bed and a sofa bed then you may be able to get central lakes. Northern lakes are cheaper, Penrith is lovely and much cheaper.

We are looking at camping this year ( we've been given a tent), but I think this may be taking me out of my comfort zone !

The Derwentwater hostel has just been sold and reopened as a privately run hostel.

It is very nice but if you go there, take head torches - the energy saving bulbs they used when it was still YHA were so dim that it was not even possible to READ in the lounge in the evening ffs!
Hopefully the new owners will have sorted that out though.

Hostels have got really pricey of late; I doubt they are much cheaper than cottages if you go for a week.

I would seriously check out whether a decent B&B family room would be any more expensive. Nicer accommodation and a good home cooked breakfast saving the cost of lunch!

I haven't stayed there, but the one above Glenridding is in a fantastic location, right on the path up Helvellyn, and you can easily walk down to the village and Ullswater.

I agree with Workinprogress about the Northern Lakes. We've stayed in these cottages in the past which were good value and in a lovely area.

Right, on the advice of this thread we've been looking at cottages and somewhat to my surprise you are all right - for about £40 more we can get a lovely cottage at the bottom of Windermere.

I think it's a real shame though - I have fond memories of Youth Hostelling as a teen/early 20s - friendly, fun and safe way to start holidaying without family. But if it's that expensive, I can't really see why people would choose a hostel over a cottage...

We have found YHAs to be much better than B&Bs or cheap hotels for our dc, maybe cos we have 3 so we don't get great hotel family deals but YHA family rooms take up to 6. We had a lovely time in the Derwentwater YHA last August. We like YHAs for the space - often they have lots of common rooms, kitchens, games rooms, big grounds. Lots of freedom for the dc to make noise and race around. Hotels and B&Bs can be more restraining, we found.

I agree that if you pay full price the YHA isn't always the cheapest option, but they have a series of deals on family rooms so we paid £29 a night for a 6 bed room in peak holiday season. I've just booked for Feb half term for £19 a night. So it can be very cheap if you check their offers.

Yes, that was sort of what I was hoping for fennel. But for the dates we're looking, the rooms are £60-75 a night - which is just a bit too much to feel viable.

The special offers for last summer holidays only came out around June, so it might be worth keeping an eye open. We tend to book not that far ahead and that seems to fit with how they do their offers.

We've stayed in YHAs on several occasions for some winter family weekends and they have been great - comfortable rooms and really good food. We've been taking advantage of the special offers for family rooms on the website. I've asked a couple of the YHA managers whether the £29 offers will be available in the summer as well and apparently they may well be!! One of the managers also recommended I sign up to their monthly e-newsletter which keeps you updated on their offers and points you to the right place on the website to make bookings with offer codes etc.