OT:YHA

[Niall Wallace]

Never bothered to phone the hostel just looked at the website, but the
Tobermory hostel has been full at every point I could go since ealy July.

Yes I drive to the places with bike on the back and walking kit in the boot,
why?
Camping is a possibility but its not my favorite, Can't afford hotels
especially after paying for the petrol to get me from the Middle East of
Scotland up to the north West, the trains take all day by which point your
at a hostel that doesn't have a bike shed (Oban and Kyelakin don't) The only
other possibility then for avoiding the car is to walk all the way (I woudl
run out of holidays by the time i reached perth ) or get buses which
unfortunately don't normally have room for a bike.

And then the hostels I like are the small ones in the middle of nowhere,
about 50 miles of hilly terrain from the nearest railway station and chances
are it will be raining.

Basically its too easy to jump in the car, burn 100 quids worth of petrol
compared to cycling to the railway station one morning then sitting on 3
different trains then cycling in to the middle of Skye after dark.

Sad but true.

Niall

"Blonde" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I have never been a member of the YHA but I was going to join last
> year. However, after various unsuccessful attempts to book anywhere 6
> months ahead, because I needed to be assured of a bed after a 400k ride
> I was planning to do, I gave up and joined SYHA instead. I found I
> could actually book into the Scottish hostels! Of course, if you could
> actually get a bed in a YHA, you could use the SHYA card for that the
> same 'YHA members only' rate.
>

 

[David Martin]

Niall Wallace wrote:
> Never bothered to phone the hostel just looked at the website, but the
> Tobermory hostel has been full at every point I could go since ealy July.
>
> Yes I drive to the places with bike on the back and walking kit in the boot,
> why?
> Camping is a possibility but its not my favorite, Can't afford hotels
> especially after paying for the petrol to get me from the Middle East of
> Scotland up to the north West, the trains take all day by which point your
> at a hostel that doesn't have a bike shed (Oban and Kyelakin don't) The only
> other possibility then for avoiding the car is to walk all the way (I woudl
> run out of holidays by the time i reached perth ) or get buses which
> unfortunately don't normally have room for a bike.
>
> And then the hostels I like are the small ones in the middle of nowhere,
> about 50 miles of hilly terrain from the nearest railway station and chances
> are it will be raining.
>
> Basically its too easy to jump in the car, burn 100 quids worth of petrol
> compared to cycling to the railway station one morning then sitting on 3
> different trains then cycling in to the middle of Skye after dark.

Last time I did Dundee-> Skye I went by train and bike and was at
Camasunary well before dark. It wouldn't have taken much longer to be
at Glenbrittle. That was 3 hours from Kyle. I did get the 8am train
though - change at Perth and Inverness.

Last time I stayed at a Youth Hostel was Byrness which didn't have a
bike shed. I was the only one in the hostel that night so the bike
could go inside.

...d

 

[Alfred King]

There's me thinking that the button marked "Book Now" enabled me to make a
booking! What's the point in having an online booking system which does not
enable some one to see if accommodation is actually available? Might as well
ring the hostel to start with! So much for new technology.

Any one for burnt cakes?

"TonyK" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Jacki" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Thanks JohnB for the link on uk.rec.youthhostel!
>>
>> YHA's booking system is certainly bizarre. I stayed at the hostel in
>> Helmsley last week, but had I believed the online YHA booking system,
>> I'd not have even bothered to contact the hostel - it said (3 weeks
>> ago) that the hostel was fully booked.
>>
>> I emailed the hostel on the off-chance, and sure enough, there were
>> beds available. When I arrived, there was a notice on the door
>> indicating the only availability for that night was 2 male beds, 0
>> female beds and 0 family beds.
>>
>> The odd thing, there was a six-bedded room which was completely empty.
>> No wonder YHA's "occupancy" figures don't add up!
>>
>> Moral of the story, don't believe the online booking system ;-)
>>
>
> 'ello Jackie!
>
> FYI (and others) the online bed allocation is exactly that, an online
> allocation. It does not represent all the hostel beds. Reason for this is
> understandable as if you are taking bookings in person or on the phone
> there
> needs to be a buffer to prevent double bookings during the delay between
> the
> online booking and receipt at the hostel which is dependeant on the
> individual hostel retrievening their web bookings as frequently as they
> should. Whew.. long sentence... breathe(!)
>
>
> Tony
>
>
>
>
>

 

[Mark Thompson]

> The YHA has lost
> the plot when it comes to the independent traveller who wants to
> arrive by foot or bicycle.

Tell that to one I stayed in that had a several hundred pounds of brand
spanking new workshop quality bike tools for our use, plus lockable secure
undercover bike storage. Prolly not representative of the others thobut.