All Around Best Hostel I've Been To…read more I would like to start off saying my mom and I are at the end of a 32 day backpacking trip through Europe and the UK. Out of all the hostels we've stayed in this trip, and ones I've stayed in on other trips, this was my favorite and most accommodating. It was the best on SO many levels. When we got there, they were incredibly friendly and welcoming. We screwed up a bit in the booking part and they worked with us and helped us out tremendously. Once checked in, we got a great tour of the facilities. -They have a great TV area where people can watch Netflix, use their computers or just hang out -They have a nice open kitchen with 2 sinks for convenience -A cool dining area next to the kitchen that has a pool table and foosball table along with seating -You can wash and dry laundry for a small charge -The rooms are large! Great size! (We stayed in both the 4 and 6 bed rooms) -They have included breakfast, which is always a plus It had a really great and comfortable vibe. If you just wanted to meet people and hang out, you could. It was in a killer location, a short walk to everywhere you want or need to go. I really couldn't speak or think any more highly of this place.

Compared to other hostels, this one is just ok. They only have 5 showers in the entire hostel so if…read morethe hostel is fully booked during your stay it's a bit annoying to have a wait or wake up ultra early just to shower. The water was always hot though so that's a plus. Also, it's not super dirty but it's not clean either. It's like it hasn't been vacuumed in a solid 4 months but they probably sweep once and awhile. I also got sick just from sleeping there so thats always a rough sign for me. On the plus: the staff is very helpful but there is only one person working at a time so they can only help for so long. The free breakfast was nice and the game of thrones tour leaving from the hostel was nice, just be prepared to walk a lot...like really a lot....like miles and miles. But still, it was beautiful. I personally wouldn't stay here again but it's not a bad choice for a quick stay.

Fantastic! By far the best hostel I've been to! Staff are caring and helpful -we arrived an hour…read moreand a half before check-in and were exhausted after traveling 45 hours with only 5 hours of sleep. Shout out to Paul who, after seeing me sleeping in the waiting room, got us settled into a room quickly. Further, due to some health troubles, we had to extend our stay 2 days, which meant leaving on a very popular local holiday. Paul went out of his way to ensure our comfort and to help arrange transport to the airport. The hostel is in a wonderful location. The walls are not thin, the room was comfy with a bedroom and bathroom that were not cramped (unlike other hostels). There was a fantastic cafe downstairs with amazing food at good prices. Further, there is a coin laundry room, television room, library, and kitchen for guest use. Across the street is a lively bar that gets a little loud sometimes -but we personally felt it was charming. The hostel is about a 10 minute walk from the Europa bus station and was within walking distance to many of the sites. I'm so glad we chose this hostel and got to meet the amazing Paul! Thank you for an extraordinary stay -I cannot adequately convey my appreciation during what was a painful and stressful time for my husband and myself.

I stayed here a night since it was way cheaper to catch a flight to Iceland from Belfast than…read moreDublin. The location is convenient, near a university, about a 15 minute walk from the bus station, about a 20 minute walk to City Hall. This is a big hostel with a library, TV lounge, several floors, a lift (elevator), and a lounge next to reception. The wi-fi only works on the ground floor. The kitchen is opened 6am-11pm, and no food is allowed after midnight. The adjoining Causeway Cafe is open 7:55am-12pm. Unfortunately the shared kitchen didn't have any common ingredients like oil during my stay. The 23-bed all female dorm had an ensuite bathroom. It wasn't even close to being full so it didn't feel cramped. And it was cheap by UK standards, only £12.50 for the night. Each bed has its own light with storage underneath. But there was no way to lock the bin. There are electrical outlets nearby if you're on the bottom bunk. The showers are push button which means you have to push the button to get water, but at least you can control the temperature. No hooks nor places to put your towel in the showers though! No hand soap nor towels next to the sink either! The luggage room is actually secured, something I find rare in hostels. Meaning they actually tag your luggage and give you a number to retrieve it. Most hostels just put your luggage in a room and let you retrieve your own luggage. Anyway, decent place to stay in Belfast with all the basics.

Quiet hostel with a modest breakfast spread in the mornings. Decent location.read more

Best hostel ever? Quite possibly! I stayed in September 2009 for a long weekend visit to Belfast…read more This might have been the most fun I've ever had whilst traveling alone! Everyone here - both the staff and other travelers - was super nice! Whether it meant hanging around in the common room of the hostel, or going out for a night out - everyone was great. Staff works hard to ensure you have an AWESOME time. I met friends whilst staying here that I'm still in contact with today. If you're traveling through Belfast - highly recommend a stay here for a good time!

I stayed here in May 2009. I really have to break it down into pros & cons because for the price, I…read moreguess this place was okay, I just wouldn't want to stay here again. Pros: Cheap (£12 for a 6 bed) Good location- you can walk anywhere No lockout (you get en exterior key) Free wifi Easy to find even though it's the only Paddy's I came across not painted entirely green. Cons: Understaffed The few people working were rude and unhelpful. Cold showers are uncool when you're already freezing Reception closed at 8pm (better not lose your key or want to do laundry after then!) Standing water in and around the bathrooms (WHY!?) I had to wash my clothes in the sink No lockers Unlike YHA hostels, these cons seem to be a common problem among Paddy's hostels, even though each one is run differently. The one in Belfast wasn't very clean at all & smelled very dusty. I'm sure there are better options as this is one of the worst hostels I've ever stayed at.

Only a couple months later than the last review and I have to say, I am far more satisfied. There…read moreare new staff here and people are very helpful. The shower was cold the first day, but it seems as though there is a water tank and not endless hot water because the second day onward had plenty of hot water (the first day I showered after a bus load of other hostel-goers.) There is a laundry service for £5 a load, so perhaps the staff here has paid attention to the posting. I was pleasantly surprised that cereal, toast, coffee, and tea breakfast is included in the price (and I booked on Hostelbookers for about £7 a night.) Beds were clean and comfy. Compared to the hostels I have stayed in around the world, this place is clean and comfy by a mile. I would definitely stay here again. I am also really happy to take the tour operated by the same people, leaving from the front door here! And having WiFi for free is fantastic (using it right now.)

I stayed here for a week. The hallway is white and room doors are orange. The view from my window…read morewas a parking lot. They can store your luggage in the office but I don't think they do housekeeping between guests because the bed smelled like cologne. There is a vending machine with crisps, Malteases, and Snickers.

Farset International has 38 en suite bedrooms. I was at a conference here and found it to be a good…read morevenue for such an event. There are three conference rooms here, which can cater for various sizes of groups, up to almost 300 people. The conference room I was in was clean, bright, spacious, modern, and well equipped for presentations. The staff were very accommodating, and the buffet was pretty good, considering some can be a bit hit-and-miss. It's not the first place you would think of for conferences, but it definitely does the job and I'd be happy to attend/host an event here.

This place was horrid. After having a wonderful hostel stay in Dublin, I really experienced the…read morebest of the best then the worst of the worst here in Belfast. I stayed in a ten person bunk bed room with only two other people (so I thought).The sheets were cleaned but had some light stains on them. There were also dead bugs underneath the bunk bed. I could deal with that. I knew staying at a hostel wouldn't be a 5-star experience. I was prepared to deal with disgusting things, people's hair clogging up the drains, and so on. I'm traveling on a budget... I can make due. However, what I experienced here pushed me way too far past my limits. I went to bed very early since I had a trip planned to the Giant's Causeway the next day. I put in my ear plugs and went to sleep. Little did I know, I would be woken up four times during the night because for some reason, this place lets you check in at ANY point in the day or night. So every two hours, some random person would slam open the door talking loudly, turn on the light, drop their suitcase in the middle of the room and start going through everything. One of them had a drink in their hand and dropped it on the floor, spilling all over my suitcase. The wi-fi didn't work the entire time I was there. I kept asking them if they could try to restart the router and the lady working there said she would do it but then conclude that the internet "broke." I even offered to help her because I am proficient in computers but she insisted I did not go behind the counters whatsoever. So, I had to go to the McDonalds or Belfast Coffee for wi-fi, which isn't really safe to walk to at night with twelve year olds dressed as hookers roaming the streets screaming at the elderly. The only thing I liked about the place was that you needed to enter a specific code to get through the front door. If you didn't have a code, you could ring the buzzer. That meant that creeps couldn't come in here and cause trouble. The lockers to put your valuables are smaller than my high school gym lockers...probably 1/3 of the size of one. It wouldn't fit my laptop at all so I asked the front desk lady if she had a safe or something. She told me I could give her my laptop and she could hold onto it? That sounded very very sketchy... so I lugged my computer with me everywhere I went-- meaning I hiked up mountains and climbed the Giant's Causeway with my laptop. I guess those extra pounds gave me muscle but I sure could've done without it. Will not ever recommend this place nor come here again. I'd rather splurge a lot of money on the Europa Hotel-- which has been bombed 30+ times since the 70s.

It used to be a Linen making building…read more This was a cheap hostel and you get what you pay for. I got a bunk bed with the worst mattress in all my hostels experience. All lumpy and creaky. Slept in a room with about 10-18 strangers. It was decent for one night stay. I couldn't imagine staying here longer.

Backpackers' inns are perfect for a traveler like me, so sleepovers at the YIA are something I try…read moreto avoid like the plague. Hanging out with a bunch of co-ed's traveling on Dad's dime doesn't appeal to me. Plus, the YIA hostels are always so sterile and just not a great experience. YIA in Belfast came close to *almost* changing my opinion about YIA. It's a good location for most major tourist attractions in town, plus the staff is great at helping get you to where you need to go. They have an organized walking tour we went on and enjoyed, and the cafe (when it's open) has some mean soda bread. Our private room was adequate and came with a sink- always a treat when staying in a hostel. Still, the hostel was just okay. I can't really say more than that. It was big, had hint of character despite its sterility, but it was noisy, and just... okay. One thing that happened here (whether it's good just for the novelty factor of it or not, I'm unsure of) was an interaction with a middle aged Iraqi man. BF and I were playing War with a deck of Terrorist Most Wanted cards (the irony of what we were playing just hit me, ha). We noticed a Middle Eastern man huffing and puffing next to us as we played, but ignored him. Once he heard my American accent, the huffing turned to yelling. I had a very hard time convincing this man that as a 21 year old girl I had nothing to do with the war and had no pull with the politicians back home. I couldn't even vote when Bush was elected, mind you. Diplomacy can only go so far- I finally snapped at him that we were both clearly on a holiday and if he had nothing nice to say, he should say nothing to me at all. Or something to that effect... ahem.... BF and I ended up leaving ourselves, though, because I didn't want to offend the guy anymore. When recounting this story to some Australians in the morning, all of us giggling, the man walked in, shot daggers at me and huffed out.

Me and three friends lost our deposits totalling £120 for being 20 mins late checking out…read more Facilities clean and good location.

Overall: Vert happy with my experience here!…read more Bed/room: Beds were comfortable. Room was very dark in the morning even while it was quite sunny outside by 5am. Beds have curtains that wrap around the entire bed. Plenty of privacy when desired. Lockers available in rooms. Facilities: Plenty of showers available. Areas to chill with other guests were nice. Kitchen was clean. Wifi: Very reliable in the room and common areas. Speeds around 40Mbps. Security: Each room has a code needed to enter as well as the front door of the location. Staff: Conner was very helpful during the check in process and showed me plenty of places to visit in the area. I ran into him at the pub that night and had a couple pints with him; all around good guy. In the morning, David the Scottish cook, told me all about Scotland (my next destination) and was happy to answer all my questions. Another very good experience. Laundry: I dropped off my laundry in the evening and it was ready for pickup the next morning. No complaints!