YHA Canterbury Reviews

I have booked an en suite room for 6 persons for my family visit to Cantabury. I must say that it is extremely value for money! Room is large, clean and quiet. However, the staff there are not very helpful. They cannot give me any information or advice when the on site car park is full. In addition, the reception was still closed by 10 am which made all the guests very confused when everybody checked out by that time.

I stayed in a large 'family' room that had 2 x bunk beds and 1 x single bed. The en-suite consisted of a shower, wc and sink. Plenty of sockets and free WiFi. The kitchen had everything you needed and there's a large, lounge, dining area and rear garden where you can easily meet other guests. All areas were very clean and the staff are friendly and very helpful. There is limited parking at the front. The nearest supermarket is a short stroll away as is the centre of the city.

Need to have a serious look at fire safety at the hostel, and staff conduct - very worrying! Heard a member of staff moaning on her mobile while she’s meant to be sorting a potential fire issue “I’ll be late back because the f*cking fire alarms gone off!” Clearly staff are more bothered about leaving early than the safety of others - making it clear that not having a 24 hour reception is a bad idea - most YHAs are 24hrs this one isn’t! The staff here were a mixed batch. General rule of thumb were that the male staff were fantastic - friendly and knowledgable. But the female Members of staff were mostly uncaring and ignorant. (Bar one lady who actually knew what she was doing.) At 11pm on our last night the fire alarm went off, shockingly the two female workers appeared to have no idea what to do! They seemed pissed off and didn’t tell people what was going on for quite some time (despite everyone else doing the right thing and coming out of our rooms and meeting downstairs). We were eventually grunted at that this had “never happened before” and that the alarm was stating there was a fire in zone 10 - the kitchen. We had been asking for a while for someone to check the kitchen, but it took a long time for them to think of that (meanwhile ignoring us). The young lady went into the kitchen and was up in seconds, barely checking anything properly. I was so concerned that I went down there after her and properly checked everything was off - as it was clear she hadn’t properly checked. Eventually we found out from another person staying at the hostel that there was apparently a leak in a toilet that supposedly set the alarm off - and so the staff had then SILENCED THE ALARM. Which meant we had NO FIRE ALARM ALL NIGHT. We were quite understandably shocked by this. We checked the following morning and could see quite clearly on the system that the alarm was silenced - still showing a fire in zone 10 (the kitchen). It is disturbing that the staff clearly just wanted to go home and so silenced the alarm, didn’t apologise for the loud noises late at night, didn’t appear to check things properly, didn’t inform everyone what was going on nor check if everyone was okay. And then still as we checked out that there wasn’t a fire alarm active in the hostel as they had turned it off - meaning if there was a fire no one would know. Safe to say I didn’t sleep well that night knowing the lack of care shown. I will not be returning and wouldn’t recommend.

We were riding the Cantii Way on bikes and so stayed our first night in Canterbury at the YHA. We stayed in one of the outer buildings which are self contained and excellent. as with all YHA places they are extremely clean, comfortable and excellent value for money. Given that they are expecting cyclists the overnight storage is in their secure bike shed. They are situated within easy walking of the centre of Canterbury where there are plenty of places to eat and drink. The staff are extremely helpful. We would certainly recommend the YHA in Canterbury if you are cycling through.

Very welcoming.super helpful receptionist that made the big building feel like a breeze to find the brilliant self catering kitchen and laundry room!! After hiking all day it’s was so good to be able to clean my clothes. Great bunk beds with power and reading lights. The shower was clean, spacious and lovely hot running powerful water pressure. An amazing spacious communal lounge area too. As an avid hiker my YHA experience provides everything I need and more . Thanks for always making my stay a restful happy one

The best to spend our Christmas with our enormous family. I would definitely recommend for all the amazing features of this property. From lovely room to the amazing cabins, very spacious kitchen and canteen, cozy living space and an amazing service. Thank you

Seems like a lovely hostel, common areas were clean and spacious. Unfortunately we did not get to see our room as we arrived after reception had closed, due to a catastrophic train delay. When we called the emergency on-call YHA number, they told us someone would be able to let us into our room, but no one was around. Spent the night in the lounge. When staff arrived in the morning they were brusque and unsympathetic, shooing us away without listening and refusing to let us into the room we had paid for even though we still had hours before check-out time.

Good clean dormitories and great value. Very friendly staff. The breakfast was fine and also good value. For an overnight stay with friends whilst walking the North Downs Way it was ideal. Small amount of parking plus easy walk intro town to eat.

Stayed here as a multi generational family of 6 and had a wonderful time. Staff were kind, friendly and helpful and went out of their way to make our stay enjoyable. Facilities were clean and had everything you need. Would recommend to all, particularly families who need more than 4 beds!

The staff were friendly and accommodating, good location just outside city centre but easy walk, parking was available, rooms were better than expected and fairly clean. Checking in and out was easy and could pay on the day. I only wish there were tea and coffee available.

I really enjoyed my stay at Canterbury youth hostel, very clean building, very good breakfast and lovely friendly staff, would definitely recommend a visit there and it is easy to find the hostel, it is on about three different bus routes, I really enjoyed my stay there and would definitely visit again.

I very much enjoyed my stay with the ease of locating the hostel, parking onsite, very clean environment in and out, basic but good value bedroom facilities although didn’t realise towels are not provided in hostels and therefore had a shower in the clean and well maintained shower room with no towel. The cooked breakfast and dining facility wasn’t good value for money but otherwise the stay was.

It's difficult giving YHA hostels a star rating as the hostels are generally great, but there are nearly always some guests who are inconsiderate and make it impossible to sleep. This place was the same. The hostel is in a grand old house on the outskirts of Canterbury. Our room for 6 was big with showers and toilets nearby, although it faced onto the busy road, which was noisy throughout the night. Daniel on reception was friendly and helpful. We were able to park easily in the hostel car park. Unfortunately, there was a large group of German teenagers staying, who decided to pratt about outside our room late at night until I told them to go somewhere else. I wish YHA would do more to enforce their original ideals of consideration and respect for other hostellers as people talking and banging doors at night has been a problem in almost every YHA hostel we've stayed in. Overall, this hostel was a handy stopover on the way to the Eurotunnel, but didn't allow a good sleep before a long drive.

Good location in a very nice building ! We had a nice short stay in a private room (very large). The cathedral and the pubs are within a 10min walk. Worth staying longer in this beautiful city ! We will be back !