camping and YHA

[mercalia]

seems like they want to kill off camping on their sites. The seem to have increased the prices so that the price differential is now only about £2 from a bed inside. Goodbye YHA, Sorry I know when I am not wanted - or rather I know when you want my money

[meic]

I spent last night in Manorbier YHA, it cost 50p more to be in the dorm rather than camping.
I was the only person in the dorm and it was ensuite so I had my own ensuite room for £10.

The advantage with camping is that you can normally still get to stay the night when all the beds have already been booked.

[phil parker]

The advantage with camping is that you can normally still get to stay the night when all the beds have already been booked.

...and you've got your own space and you can snore as loud as you want without keeping anyone awake - except the person in the next tent!

[PH]

I just tried to book 4 hostels for a week in May (Not Bank Holidays or half term) couldn't get a single bed in any of them.
They're doing well, mainly out of school parties and though a part of me misses that I can't turn up and expect to get a bed, they are fulfilling the original objective of introducing the countryside to the youth who wouldn't otherwise get the chance. It's a shame that camping doesn't fit in with their plans, but in most parts of the country it's easier to find another campsite than another hostel. I might not like the changes, but I've stayed in enough three quarter empty hostels to see that it had to.

[horizon]

They're doing well, mainly out of school parties and though a part of me misses that I can't turn up and expect to get a bed, they are fulfilling the original objective of introducing the countryside to the youth who wouldn't otherwise get the chance. I might not like the changes, but I've stayed in enough three quarter empty hostels to see that it had to.

They're not really fulfilling that objective in any meaningful way now (not the way it was originally thought out). The last YHA I stayed in (Cardiff) had air-conditioned rooms, large screen TV in every dorm, a bar promoting (not just selling) alcohol, it's located on an awkward-to-get-to business park and I was the only cyclist/walker - everyone else was getting ready for late night clubbing in the city centre. The founding fathers must be turning in their graves.

But, yes, I've picked a city centre hostel that used to be a chain hotel (and probably a bargain for the YHA). So, yes, OTOH you can find a small hostel in the middle of nowhere that exemplifies everything that the YHA stands for (or says it does). Where it falls down is probably in allowing itself to be taken over by the motorcar - the plan is you get there by coach or car. That doesn't help young people, it just reinforces their lack of independence and mobility. The YHA markets its services to customers, it fills its beds and sells its beer: it's a morally, politically, socially neutral body that has no intrinsic aims of its own; as one frustrated warden (sorry, manager) once said to me - we're just competing with Travelodge now.

Having said all that, like you, I understand what they've done, why they've done it and appreciate the fact that it's quite successful. They've even managed to retain many of the traditions of hostelling: card stamps, members' kitchens, cycle sheds for a new generation. A profitable Cardiff underpins that (as city centre hostels always have and as school parties do).

The most unsettling thing about it is how it mirrors almost exactly the long, slow and painful route that the CTC is taking to rebrand itself as a marketing-led business, serving customers and identifying profitable niches. Its history (like that of the CTC) serves as emotional brand reinforcement rather than a real pointer to what it should be doing. Its ethos is lost.

But I will say that I'm not offering an alternative course of action: both the YHA and the CTC will retain lots of good things and we live in a changing world.

[hamster]

It's amazing when you did a bit deeper how much the YHA has changed over the years; particularly between the 1930s and 1960s - many, many hostels opened and closed.

It continues to evolve in line with people's needs. We all have a view of the YHA, usually tempered by when we first encountered it...and we all think it's gone downhill since.

The city centre hostels are very different to the rural ones and targeted at very different (and much younger) clientele.

[horizon]

It's amazing when you did a bit deeper how much the YHA has changed over the years; particularly between the 1930s and 1960s - many, many hostels opened and closed.

It continues to evolve in line with people's needs. We all have a view of the YHA, usually tempered by when we first encountered it...and we all think it's gone downhill since.

The city centre hostels are very different to the rural ones and targeted at very different (and much younger) clientele.

All true. What we would look for though is those changes which have retained what was essentially good about the YHA and those that haven't. Change happens, for better or worse. My own experience of the YHA and the way it has affected young people is through cycling. When I took my own daughters hostelling and later when they tried to go on their own, the YHA network simply wasn't there any more to make a viable trip (apart from the appalling state of the much vaunted cycle sheds). For my own part, like meic, I've found excellent value mid-week hostels. The change from member/volunteer to customer could also be argued about, but I think we've done that already on previous threads. It really isn't all bad though - as long as every discussion about the YHA doesn't end in "That's just nostagia".

[axel_knutt]

It's amazing when you did a bit deeper how much the YHA has changed over the years; particularly between the 1930s and 1960s

It's interesting how much hasn't changed, too. If you read this, many of today's arguments were raging 65 years ago.

[horizon]

I suppose the principles of something like the YHA are worth arguing about so that's why we do it. It then gets even more interesting when the principles come up against social and financial reality: what do you want to save, and how do you save it?

[simonineaston]

I had a Heyday of YHA usage back in the '90s, I think, when more were open and they still had the feel of the ethos that was summed up by the motto, 'a bed for travellers who arrive on foot, by cycle, horse or canoe...', but had dispensed with the daily chore! Although I was past the first flush of youth, a friend, a decade younger than me, persuaded me to splash for the Gold Card. I can't remember the last time I stayed in one, but I haven't regretted the decision. What does p*** me off slightly is the endless stream of begging letters.
What put me off more than the change in ethos, was the interaction, or lack thereof whenever I could manage it, with the seemingly inevitable Dorm Nutter... to get the idea of the Dorm Nutter, go to YouTube and search for 'carrot' and 'nutter'...

[mercalia]

I am not sure they are doing all that well? As a member I keep on getting special offers - 15-30% of this or that seem very frequent. or is it just trying to squeeze the last few people in?

Maybe we need a network of "wild" camping sites with few facilities and very low cost? would suit me.

[Tom_B]

Mrs TB and I 'rediscovered' the YHA in May last year. We had excellent experiences:

Beer, Devon coast (train and bike en route to holiday cottage) - camping 1/2 price of dorm beds (I camped, Mrs TB got last bed). Pleasant, tastefully furbished hostel in attractive building; evening meal good but small portions.

Beverley, East Riding (car and bikes)- we booked a 4-bed room. Basic but again good value. Used cooking facilities, which saved cash and gave choice compared with, e.g. B&B. Volunteer wardens helpul. This is an urban hostel, with historic interest; doesn't look like there have ever been camping facilities

Conwy (car, no bikes) - again booked a 4-bed room, evening meal good value. Quiet: 3-4 other adult occupants plus a class of well-behaved school children and their teachers. Great views from the top of the building. Looked to be plenty of room for camping.

Note that, in the latter two cases, the trip was planned around the YHA, rather than vice versa. In other words, it was, 'Let's go and have a look at Beverley and the East Riding because there's a nice hostel there'

Sadly, outside cities, there are fewer hostels about and many of these seem to provide mainly for groups. Still, with planning, the YHA can provide accommodation that is cheaper, more reliable and more pleasant and interesting than other options.

[mercalia]

When I was at Brighton one thing surprised me there were a number of "homeless" people staying - one whose wife had kicked him out another just homeless had been living on the streets and didnt want to go back there, another looking for a flat share as he was working in Brighton ( and just got one - a tiny space no bigger than a broom cuboard for a lot of money - he was that desperate ). I was told by one off the staff there it was the likes of the London YHA and Brighton/Oxford hostels that paid for many of the smaller ones. He also said there was a mega hostel going up in Stratford( on avon ) I think he said with 800 beds I must say Brighton Hostel, a former hotel is worth a visit and the prices not too high - all dorms have ensuite bathrooms due to its background as a hotel, and has a nice lounge with the settees and chairs inherited from the hotel that looks out over old steyne - can sit there all day if you want as it never closes and supplies pop in breakfast for non residents and also has a bar. This yha is a stone throw away from the pier and the beach.

[pete75]

Beverley, East Riding (car and bikes)- we booked a 4-bed room. Basic but again good value. Used cooking facilities, which saved cash and gave choice compared with, e.g. B&B. Volunteer wardens helpul. This is an urban hostel, with historic interest; doesn't look like there have ever been camping facilities

A brilliant building and not so basic IMHO.

[pete75]

It's amazing when you did a bit deeper how much the YHA has changed over the years; particularly between the 1930s and 1960s - many, many hostels opened and closed.

A sad list..... Sorted by county it seems Derbyshire alone has lost over 25.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_y ... ormer_ones