Belford Hostel

It’s a shame that our stay here had to be ruined by the unfriendly, unprofessional and frankly plain rude staff. The location and facilities of Belford hostel are great, however the way I have been treated as a paying customer is appalling. I would love to know if the owner is aware that their business is being run into the ground by a bunch of clowns. They get drunk every single night in the common room and scream like toddlers keeping the customers awake at all hours of the night. When entering the common area you are greeted with eye rolls by the majority of the staff. There is never a staff member at reception, the ‘back in 5 minutes sign’ is their constant excuse, and if you can summon the courage to ring the bell, you’re eventually approached by a staff member who looks as though they would rather you just leave (excluding Seamus and Tara). I have never felt like such a burden when simply trying to pay to extend my stay. The way the manager, Tas acts is as if he wants to run the place broke. After years of experience working in the customer service industry, including in hotels, I am embarrassed for this company and feel horrible for the owner. P.s the hallway smells like sewerage.

A great historical property which is not too far from the main roads. A converted church, so voices tend to carry. Great for solo travellers because you can get a room for one person. Bathrooms have all amenities, but could use a larger floor mat outside of shower, floors were a little slippery. Inside main quarters, beautiful stained glass and ceiling features. Front desk was very helpful.

The staff was unprofessional and some where rude. The place was dirty and smelled. They charged for breakfast which consisted of cereal and toast

Booked into the Belford Hostel, through a third party booking site for the festival and arrived about 9.30 in the evening. During check in we were asked for ID and provided a local authority photo ID, the receptionist had to ask the “manager” if this was OK. Sad to say it was not, apparently it wasn’t part of “the policy” to accept them. Had to be government approved ID. They certainly need to get their act together and make this a lot more obvious, baring in mind how important it is to them, also, be a lot more specific about what exactly is government approved, especially if booking though an agency. All he could do was go on about “it’s not the policy”, a bit like a cracked record. He was arrogant, rude, condescending, completely intransigent, totally unable to provide any help or guidance, in a nutshell useless. Without proper ID i.e one that fitted his “policy” we would be refused entry. He did seem to be quite proud of this fact as he had done it before. Nice thought if you were a single traveller, kicked out onto the streets at night in a strange city. Did notice he was happy to pocket the money we had paid for the room though… Fortunately, some considerable time ago I had uploaded copies of our passports to an iPad and after much digging around was able to provide this, which seemed to satisfy him. The receptionist was able to complete our check in whilst he scuttled back down to his little office, no doubt fantasising over his dream job as a North Korean customs officer. It’s a pity that this one individual spoiled our stay, because the hostel it’s self is fine, an old converted church, very nice kitchen and communal area, comfy bed and a reasonable price. OK hot water in our particular bathroom would have been nice and we did sympathise with the staff who were pleasant enough but looked a bit glum, not surprising baring in mind this obnoxious jobsworth of a “manager”