Outstanding hostel in York that has a good location (about a 10 minute walk from the train…read morestation), excellent customer service, comfortable beds, and wi-fi that worked well. Other amenities they have are laundry (5-6 pounds as I recall), a bar, free coffee/tea all day, UK adapters at the front desk and a decent breakfast for 1 pound donation to charity. The price for this hostel is good and if you go to their website directly and click on special offers they had a an additional discount. Minor negatives are no lift/elevator and they did not have someone at the desk 24 hours a day. Overall, an excellent hostel that I would recommend.

We booked a suite. It was great, spacious, clean and quiet (apart from the Minster bells on…read moreSunday). Two bathrooms both with showers and very hot water. A kitchen with milk in the fridge for our tea. A bedroom with a view of the rooftops. Not even 5 mins walk to the Minster and every shopping delight York has to offer. You would think it would be noisy, we were up 3 flights of stairs (which was tough) but no, only pigeons cooing outside. We dropped our bags with Bobby in the bar next door at 9.30 am (they are part of same company). Rebecca, part of the Fort Team was just arriving and assured us everything was under control. When we checked in at 2.00pm they had kindly taken our bags up to the room for us. This was a great experience all round, service, price, location, noislessness and one we would repeat.

Hostel? More like our own lovely pied à terre in town…read more This place was brilliant - we were a bit nervous about staying in a hostel but I'd go back in a second. Six of us booked the superior six bed dorm, so we had it to ourselves. A lovely living room with big sofa and TV, a table, a big and well-supplied kitchen, shower room, loo... Really, it was great. The bedroom *is* a bit of a tight squeeze, with three sets of bunk beds, but it was fine. It was perfect because we had it to ourselves, but would be fine to share too. Right in the middle of town, it's above (and related to) Kennedy's bar, but still quiet. Checking in in the pub at 9pm on a Friday night was a bit odd but the manager, Matt, is fantastic and made us feel welcome right from the start. You get 20% off food in the bar, and the breakfasts are great. So - fab. I might just go back and move in.

I stayed here during my time in York in June and enjoyed the experience quite a lot. The card-form…read moreroom keys were easy to use and hard to misplace and I loved the gardens adjacent to the beautiful yet aged building. Sadly, the beds were rather uncomfortable and the shared bathrooms not exactly the best. I'd have preferred an en-suite to the standard sink and mirror in our rather small bedroom, and the showers were just little boxes behind doors that were a little confusing to operate. I thought the idea of 'Breakfast Tickets' and other meal tickets was highly convenient as we didn't want to spend every meal time there. It's placing was extremely great as it was literally a few minutes walk from the York town centre so my group of friends and I could enjoy the novelty of the Shambles, Ghost Walks and such, practically right on the doorstep. I would stay here again, possibly if they removed the rule of not being allowed to wear shoes in some of the places within the hostel. To conclude, even though I was there for only two nights, I liked the YHA and was quite satisfied with their facilities.

A lovely place with lovely people, lovely rooms, lovely decor and in lovely surroundings too…read more In one word ... excellent !!

The hostel is clean and comfortable. The location is quiet and peaceful. There is good free car…read moreparking and the hostel is only a few minutes walk from the town centre with its shops and bars. The dorm room that we stayed in conveniently had en-suite toilet and shower. However you need to vacate your room at 1030 and you are not allowed back into it until 1700 (due to no staff during the day). There is a breakfast included (but no bread). Bedding is included for an extra 5 pounds in the smaller dorm rooms (but no towels). There is a computer with free internet (but no Wi-Fi). You can use the kitchen which is clean and has plenty of utensils (no meat allowed). There is a living room (but no TV). Overall I would say our stay was a peaceful, pleasant but somewhat spartan experience. It is operated more in the spirit of youth hostels of old rather than the comfortable backpacker hostels that are ubiquitous in popular destinations worldwide. And with the policy of 1030 kicking out time Mama Wierdigans is indeed aptly named.

I'm frugal. When I went to visit my friend in England, I wasn't sure I could afford an overnight…read moretrip to York. Then I found out about the hostel. This was back in 2004, but I remember the experience very well. The price was decent for us staying in a room we'd share. The bed was like a cot on top of a table, but after walking around York all day, I could've slept on the floor fine. I don't think the tv in our room worked, but that's not really important anyway. If you're ever in York, take cabs. Or have a good reliable map with you. As I have already mentioned, I am cheap, so no cab, and the map... not too reliable. It took us about 2 hours to walk from the train station to the hostel, when it should've taken us maybe 30 minutes max. It was cold and rainy, and I already had bronchitis. It didn't help that the people we asked for directions were completely incompetent. I digress, one thing that was really nice was their cafeteria. They hired culinary students, I believe to make some food. For around 5 or 6 pounds, you got a three course meal PLUS dessert. It was delicious! (The English CAN cook, and the food in England is very edible) Also, it was priced well. It wasn't in downtown York, but it wasn't that far either. It was very safe, and cute, and I probably would've loved it even more had it been sunny.

I have stayed in hostels before but none as disappointing as this one. Honestly the only positive…read morethings about this place were the location and the breakfast. Other than that I felt like I was staying in a pigsty. The rooms were impossibly small and the beds tiny. I am barely 5 foot 2 inches and I had trouble getting comfortable in them. I also got a terrible rash from the bed sheets. I question whether or not they had been changed at all before my arrival. The bathrooms were despicable. There was hair of every color in the showers and the floors were disgusting. I honestly felt nauseous while taking a shower. I wanted to disinfect everything in there it was so gross. Additionally you had to pay for Internet. I understand that many places in the UK charge for Internet use but this has never been the case in any other hostels I have stayed in. The breakfast was adequate, but nothing to write home about and the employees were surly and rude all except one. The only outstanding thing about the hostel was that they were kind enough to pack us breakfasts for our journey back. This was much appreciated but did not make up for all the other shortcomings. The location of the hostel isn't bad but could be better. It is about a 20 minute walk into York, but the walk is gorgeous, and goes right along the river Any excuse to get out of that hostel was a welcome thing to me.

I have been deraling with Jays Properties for the last 5 years and would highly recommend…read more Thanks

From the owner: Welcome to Jay's Properties we offer accomodation for family's and the homeless, established in…read more1986 for the purpose of providing accommodation from 'single person to family's in need'. We are committed to treating individuals with dignity and respect. Jay's is determined to offer individuals the opportunity and the support necessary to encourage and enable personal growth and self-development, regardless of their; gender, marital status, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, religious belief, disability or political allegiance. Our aim is to encourage individuals to develop the necessary skills through a programme of high support and educational opportunities, which will enable them to move into independent living and successfully sustain their own accomodation. We have the largest hostels in the Blackburn area, as well as move-on flats, Houses and Bedsits. We are one of the largest organisation in East Lancashire who provide friendly and safe enviroment to live.

Great hostel.Staff are great and will go out of their way to help.I am amazed how quick my time has…read morepast here and if you work to the hostel rules you could be moved on to your own place within 8 to 10 weeks. If you treat the hostel as though you are still prison and keep yourself out of mischief you will have no problems. For some people it is hard to intergrate back into society but the hostel staff will support you all the way. Be prepared to do certain tasks through Manchester College but its only a couple of mornings a week and it is for your own good and not for the good of the hostel. Rooms are adequate for your needs and they are a lot better than been stuck in a prison cell. All in all a good experience and a much good place to help you on your way to a positive and crime free life. Good luck to all the residents Graham P

While driving, I found this place on Expedia only a couple hours before we were going to arrive. So…read morewe were pretty much in a time crunch. That was kind of the point of the experience we were looking for, to find something random and unplanned. We were definitely lucky to find this place, though! It was a bit complicated figuring out everything when we first arrived. When we got there, the door was locked and closed. We were about to walk away, but luckily I double checked Expedia, and they sent us a message for us to knock (usually this is frowned upon; there was even a sign saying not to do so). It was a bit more difficult for us, because we didn't have access to the internet, and the wifi device I used wasn't always reliable, so it took a minute for that to function properly. Technically it was after hours, but the proprietor was kind enough to wait for us. PROS: -Tidy, neat rooms with plenty of space for two. -Near the downtown area, so within a couple blocks, you'll find pubs and restaurants. (Easily accessible and within walking distance.) -Very affordable accommodations, starting at £45 per night (for double occupancy). -Very accommodating proprietor, who stayed late to ensure that we were able to check in. -Super quiet, so though I know there were other people around, I didn't really notice, other than the occasional slamming of doors. -Free wifi is included... And it actually worked! Woohoo! -Free tea and coffee included in the rooms, though we didn't end up drinking any. Still a nice addition! CONS: -Limited open hours for the office (from 4-7pm). You have to buy ahead, and make sure the owner knows if you're going to be late. -Each door has a sign on it to shut it slowly, but I honestly kept forgetting at night (when the lights were off), and I slammed the door several times on accident. :( THE VERDICT: The room was simple: double beds, a small desk, sink and mirror, and a window. No air conditioning unit, which is pretty common in the UK, but we cracked the window and that was sufficient to keep the room cool. Since this is arranged more like a hostel or guest house, bathrooms were located on the floors for communal use. It was a simple, bare bones place, with a generous and polite proprietor, neat, clean accommodations, and quiet, too. I found myself thinking that it was the kind of place I would easily stay for a few weeks, because of its proximity to interesting place downtown, the cleanliness of the rooms, and the kindness of the owner. I tried to add the website, but it wasn't approved by Yelp, so here it is: http://www.kingswood-stockton.co.uk/