Find the Cheap Hawsker-cum-Stainsacre Hotels

The staff were absolutely fantastic, nothing was too much trouble and so friendly

YHA Whitby's location is stunning - right by the 199 steps, St Mary's Church, the Abbey and with beautiful views across the river and town. It's a beautiful historic building with an absolutely lovely private garden. The table football was also much enjoyed! Abbey entry is free for hostel guests which was a bonus. However, it feels like it is coasting on its location and exterior, and was a disappointment compared with other YHA hostels. Firstly check-in is 3-10pm, despite the YHA website saying it's 24hrs (hopefully they will update this). There's also not a 24hr reception, again contrary to the YHA website. There's a sign directing you to the cafe out of these hours, but it was a big contrast to other hostels where there's usually someone around to ask for info, provide key for the luggage room, answer qs and deal with any issues even if you can't check in yet. Definitely not a warm welcome. The room was decent but the shower leaked all over the floor - a sign said to leave the showerhead pointing down to avoid floods, but the bath tap stuck out so much this meant you couldn't get under it and the mixer tap was awkward. I doubt that any of the management have tried showering in it. The bathroom is looking tired. No binliners in bins, and no storage in rooms either (they have changed completely from the TripAdvisor photos which are from 2016!!) Loud music from the kitchen underneath us at 730am on Monday morning. Overall, the hostel could do with some TLC - and will need it if features like the beautiful conservatory, where grass is now growing through the glass panes, are to last. The cafe is haphazard and the breakfasts a shambles - no trays, cutlery running out, coffee running out, juice running out (and not being speedily replaced as happens elsewhere), bits being left off the toast machine so the toast falls on the floor, etc. They seemed to only cook 4 eggs at a time and have no queuing system so we had to wait a long while for cooked breakfasts while others came straight in and were served immediately. Some staff were friendly but others were completely uninterested. We wanted to mention these issues quietly to reception as we left, but guess what... shutters up again and no one around.

If you *love* loud house parties and drunk people—this is your place! The smell of fresh paint just *barely* covers up the reek of cigarette smoke wafting in the open windows. On the plus side, there’s a busy street right outside and no parking. If you simply have to stay in the heart of Whitby, you probably could do worse, but you’d pay a lot less than £125 night. The room is nice enough, clean and fairly well-appointed. But you’ll be trying to sleep over a very noisy bar that appears to be very popular with the gauntlet of smokers you’ll have drag your bags through to check-in. Caveat Emptor: I am a woman travelling alone and I really didn’t feel the access to guest rooms was sufficiently secure. The only reason I stayed after realising that guest security wasn’t a priority is that I’d pre-paid.