Backpacker Hostel Ireland

The White House Hostel in Sligo is situated just next to the river, about 10 minutes walk from the bus center. It seems to consist of 2 buildings, so don’t get confused. For check-in ring the bell in the second building BEHIND the first one with the sign infront of it. If you are lucky, the toothless man will open the door for you (otherwise just shout and wait). The hostel has a kitchen, common room and a nice patio with comfy sofa and chairs. However, the whole place looks pretty old and rundown. Only one shower for the whole hostel doesn’t seem enough. The kitchen isn’t that great either. But at least the room was rather clean, just had no doorlock! 15 EUR per night is definately too expensive for this kind of place. One could expect a lot more value for this price like elsewhere in Ireland.

Clean rooms Quiet location Nice patio Free WiFi

Insufficient showers Kitchen & Bathroom Lacks character (rundown) No breakfast No room locks Too expensive

	Beds from EUR 15.00 Book here >

The Woodquay Hostel in Galway run by friendly Julie is a lovely little hostel, located in the heart of the city. Rooms and beds are OK, but don’t expect anything special. The bathrooms/showers could need some renovation and seem generally a bit insufficient. The large common room with sofa, TV and tables is nice. The kitchen is clean and modern. It would have been an even better experience staying here if they would have provided a few slices of toast in the morning along with some spread and jam. But at least you get some free tea and coffee here. Other than that we didn’t like some of the weird people who stayed here, especially the smelly guy in our room – apparently a long term tennant. The Hostel is now up for sale.

Great location Friendly staff Guest kitchen Free WiFi Free tea/coffee in the morning

No breakfast Insufficient bathrooms Some weird guests Too expensive

Beds from EUR 16.99 Book here >

The Hideout Hostel in Dingle is a very well run place. The room upstairs only had 2 bunk beds in it (bit squeaky though), was rather clean and even had an ensuite bathroom – not the most modern one, but very convenient! Downstairs there’s a very well equipt kitchen, a great living room, a small breakfast room (for free breakfast) and everything looks clean and tidy. Friendly Chuck (he’s NOT the owner btw.) is very helpful and seems to have an answer to every question you may have. Location-wise it’s also not too far from everything, just 5-10 minutes walk from the National Express bus stop near the port. We only found this hostel a little pricey with 18 EUR for the dorm bed – but hey, that’s Ireland.

Clean rooms & facilities Excellent kitchen Friendly staff Attached bathrooms Good location Good free breakfast Free WiFi

Bunk beds squeak Bit expensive

	Beds from EUR 18.00 Book here >

The Railway Hostel in Killarney is only 2 minutes walk from the busstation (Bus Eireann) and the railway station just behind it, and also only 2 minutes from the city center. The wooden interior of this place including floors, doors, cabinets, chairs, tables, benches and beds look all really nice and makes it quite cozy. The rooms not only have numbers, but also animal names, in case you can’t remember your room number… just remember the "Owl Room" (which is the 9-share dorm). Shelves, hooks, power points, trash bin and mirror are provided in the rooms as well – sometimes it’s about the small little things that count. There are enough showers and toilets available, they are generally clean, but the automatic taps (even in the shower) can be a little annoying, especially the ones that you need to keep pressing constantly (as they seem broken) or the ones that spill the water all over the place. There’s also a free breakfast between 7:30 and 9:30 with toast, jam, cereals, milk, coffee and tea, as well as free WiFi and Internet computers for 1 EUR per 20min. Lockers and bicycle rental are also available. All rooms have electronic looks with key cards. For the too low bunk beds that you keep knocking your head as you can’t sit upright, the melted toasters and the automatic taps (all minor issues) we deducted a half star, otherwise it would have been a clean 5 star rating.

Clean rooms & facilities Excellent interior Friendly staff Good kitchen Card access Great location Lockers & Bike rentals Free breakfast Free WiFi Reasonable price

Bunk beds too low Melted toasters Automatic taps

	Beds from EUR 11.00 Book here >

Sheila’s Hostel Cork is less than 10 minutes walk from the busstation and city center, sitting on a small hill at the end of a steep lane. The dorm room was clean, but very cramped (more beds = more profit), so there’s basically just about 8 square meters left between the 4 bunk beds for 8 people to move around (1 sqm/person). We would suggest only 3 bunk beds with 6 people in this room for more comfort of the guests. They also give you a bed number upon check-in, but beds in our room had no visible numbers at all. Free WiFi is available – however, the signal was just too weak to be used in the room (also certain internet services/ports are blocked). Very cheap internet terminals are available downstairs as well. Safety is good, rooms have electronic card access, 24hr CCTV is in operation on the premises. The place could need some maintenance here and there as well, but especially in the bathrooms/toilets/showers. The bathrooms and toilets are very small and seem insufficient for a whole floor, the spilling automatic taps can be annoying. The common room downstairs and the kitchen with seating area are good, shelves and food baskets are provided, 2 fridges and 1 microwave are available too.

We would recommend you to book your bed ahead as the walk-in-rate is 15 EUR instead of 13 EUR when booking online (this even guarantees you a bed). This is for an 8-share dorm, and actually we would have expected a breakfast included in this price as well – this is common in Ireland and offered by the hostels nearby for the very same room rate of 15 EUR. However, if you pay another 3 EUR, you’ll get your breakfast here as well. Apart from that, the staff was friendly and helpful.

Clean rooms Good/big kitchen Free WiFi Friendly staff

No free breakfast Uphill location Cramped room WiFi signal too weak Spilling automatic taps Insufficient toilets/showers

	Beds from EUR 13.00 Book here >