Yes, it was lovely when you could. I suppose the moral to this story is that youth hostels have one value as a travel option for those on low incomes, but another as property. Sad really.
YHA Selling a Third of its Hostels
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Yes, it was lovely when you could. I suppose the moral to this story is that youth hostels have one value as a travel option for those on low incomes, but another as property. Sad really.
Tanners Hatch I like that one as I always ( used to) camp there, rather than use the inside. A nice hostel just a few miles outside London & easy to get to. It is the only one left now thereabouts. A nice place to have a week end away. I just look at the website for Tanners Hatch. IT IS NOW ONLY RENT THE WHOLE HOSTEL. What on earth is the YHA thinking of. Lee valley seems to be private rooms now . Now there is NO WHERE close to London! It makes me wonder what their business model is whether they deserve to have charity status any more. They certainly do not satisfy their founding principles about travelers with limited means....
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PaulSB
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
The first reply is from a volunteer warden and I don't have much problem with it.
The second one is like a lot of the posts on here, from me and from others - misty eyed memories of the old days (sheet sleeping bags, chores, jumpers for goalposts, isn't it). Fings ain't wot they used to be. And then blaming greed and self-interest for the sale. Whose greed? It's not like the YHA have been taken over by asset-strippers. They just seem to have failed to make a go of it in changing market conditions and run out of money.
I hostelled for many years, but seeing the way things were going; more family groups which frequently meant youngsters charging noisily round the hostel at all times, fewer and fewer folk using the members kitchen, table served meals in the 'restaurant', prices going up and up, less and less availability of accommodation at the places I wanted to stay, I cancelled my membership a couple of years ago. 
grldtnr
Senior Member
The same goes for me, I resigned my membership in protest.
I don't mind that youngsters being at hostels, but they ought not be allowed to run amok.
What I do object to is the fact an ordinary card carrying member can not easily get a bed for the night,it seems priority is given over to groups or families, if a school party is staying there is no hope of getting abed for the night, school parties insist on whole building occupation.
More a case single adults are more at risk from students staying than a bona fide member, that's my belief not a statement.
I pity those who took out lifetime membership, many of my friends did.
Unfortunately times & situations change, Foot & Mouth & the recent pandemic hasn't helped.
But perhaps the YHA shot themselves in the foot. ,by relaxing regulations , and dumbing down to allow family groups who have the means to afford 'hotel' facilities.
That's not to say they ought to be excluded, but being there excuses those who are of a more genuine need,and have actually travelled by independent means and not by expensive private cars. I accept sometimes I did drive to a hostel, but it was always on a car share basis, I either walked or cycled to my next hostel.
My arguement is Hostels were set up for those of limited means to enjoy the countryside, or those who chosen to travel by independent means, closing down Hostel that will make a handsome short term profit is not within the remit, you cannot enjoy the countryside from an urban townscape.
Perhaps I come across as a luddite, but the lifeblood of the hostel movement is the membership wanting to enjoy country pursuits,, not those who want a cheap fun weekend away
I don't mind that youngsters being at hostels, but they ought not be allowed to run amok.
What I do object to is the fact an ordinary card carrying member can not easily get a bed for the night,it seems priority is given over to groups or families, if a school party is staying there is no hope of getting abed for the night, school parties insist on whole building occupation.
More a case single adults are more at risk from students staying than a bona fide member, that's my belief not a statement.
I pity those who took out lifetime membership, many of my friends did.
Unfortunately times & situations change, Foot & Mouth & the recent pandemic hasn't helped.
But perhaps the YHA shot themselves in the foot. ,by relaxing regulations , and dumbing down to allow family groups who have the means to afford 'hotel' facilities.
That's not to say they ought to be excluded, but being there excuses those who are of a more genuine need,and have actually travelled by independent means and not by expensive private cars. I accept sometimes I did drive to a hostel, but it was always on a car share basis, I either walked or cycled to my next hostel.
My arguement is Hostels were set up for those of limited means to enjoy the countryside, or those who chosen to travel by independent means, closing down Hostel that will make a handsome short term profit is not within the remit, you cannot enjoy the countryside from an urban townscape.
Perhaps I come across as a luddite, but the lifeblood of the hostel movement is the membership wanting to enjoy country pursuits,, not those who want a cheap fun weekend away
matticus
Guru
Sure, that objective is desirable - but how do you propose to finance that?
Did you read Dog's post:
The whole issue revolves round people's tastes and expectations changing over the decades. Partly fuelled by clever marketing on the 'want not need' basis that sucks in too many folk's so called aspirations, it's been the death knell of many business enterprises over that time.
Reading 'Eighty Years of Youth Hostelling' and 'The Spirit of the YHA', it's easy to see how much has changed beyond recognition in order to try and compete in the ever changing accommodation market.
Camping has seen a similar 'upgrading' e.g., 'glamping' with provision of cookers, DVD players, flat screen TVs, heating, sound systems and the like, simply in order to attract potential customers.
For me, the pleasure of hostelling / camping is just having the basics so what you have at home is appreciated and looked forward to on the way back,
not having a 'home from home'. 
Reading 'Eighty Years of Youth Hostelling' and 'The Spirit of the YHA', it's easy to see how much has changed beyond recognition in order to try and compete in the ever changing accommodation market.
Camping has seen a similar 'upgrading' e.g., 'glamping' with provision of cookers, DVD players, flat screen TVs, heating, sound systems and the like, simply in order to attract potential customers.
For me, the pleasure of hostelling / camping is just having the basics so what you have at home is appreciated and looked forward to on the way back,
not having a 'home from home'.
OP
OP
presta
Guru
It varies, I've had kitchens (and hostels) all to myself, but I've cooked in plenty that were chokker, queueing to use a pan, three sharing a hob, fridges so full that everything falls on the floor when you open the door etc. Something in between is best.
Same here, my favourite hostels were the very simple ones with bags of character and an interesting history, in places where nobody else would get planning permission.For me, the pleasure of hostelling / camping is just having the basics so what you have at home is appreciated and looked forward to on the way back,
grldtnr
Senior Member
I blame social media , everything is 'upsold' by the media darlings, we cannot see the wood for the trees.
Life was so much simpler before the likes of faceache ,folk actually talked to each other rather than sit side by aside texting each other by.
We are losing the simple pleasures in life,purely because it's being dismissed
OP
OP
presta
Guru
There used to be an interesting TV series quite a few years ago now in which people swapped holidays.
Two families who'd each booked holidays would swap places and go on each others trip, commonly the swap would be between an active outdoor hol and a beach/resort hol. What was really interesting is that the active family would come back from the resort saying never again, and the consumerist family would start off moaning like a drain, with the kids complaining there were no shops, and by the end of the fortnight they were having a whale of a time, saying that would do the same again next year.
The price of everything and the value of nothing....
Whilst on a bus back to Bakewell recently, a family of two adults; mid thirties and a lass aged about ten got onto the bus, sat down and all three promptly got their cellphones out to start browsing.
Likewise. My favourite being Winchester Mill YH. The bathing facilities were; put your swim cossie on, grab one of the thoughtfully provided ropes and jump into the millrace - !
grldtnr
Senior Member
Likewise. My favourite being Winchester Mill YH. The bathing facilities were; put your swim cossie on, grab one of the thoughtfully provided ropes and jump into the millrace - !
By the time I got there, they had simple showers and hot water, but there were plenty of photos showing the old days of the hostel hung around.
Stayed there twice, last time was the solar eclipse , a few months before it was closed.
The hostel that is!
I have many favourite hostels, unsurprisingly all of them have been closed, but one or two are operating as independent hostels now, so perhaps still ' open' In that sense, top dog I suppose is Stepsbridge in the Sw. Badby I liked that one,not too far to get to, I got to stay at Woody's top, Jordon's is another, Tanner's Hatch is still open ,by only just.
There's a theme running here they were/ are all simple Hostels , basic simple places, a refuge for the night, in a rural location.
Were they closed because they were expensive to run / maintain, or was it on the basis of the lease, if the lease had run out ,fair enough, a good reason.
I suggest the current disposal is due to poor management, through incompetence, or due to realized asset stripping, either way, it isn't right to ask for membership, then offer a reduced network and restricted opening 'cos you can make more lucrative deals through sole building occupancy, that is very short term ideology.
