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Reviews of Cowgate Tourist Hostel

2 out of 5
Cowgate Tourist Hostel
94 -116 Cowgate, Edinburgh, Scotland

Reviews

6.6
Rating 10 - Excellent. 10 out of 58 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 21 out of 58 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 8 out of 58 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 12 out of 58 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 7 out of 58 reviews" "

6.6/10

Cleanliness

7.2/10

Staff & service

6.0/10

Amenities

5.8/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

2/10 Terrible

Simon

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stupid rubbish
I didn't stay because the property was closed but this is not mentioned on your website
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2020

6/10 Okay

Linda

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
questionable neighborhood, concrete rooms!
i had booked a 4 person room with a request for a bottom bunk and ground floor due to disability. when i arrived, even though the sheet he showed me had low bunk highlighted in yellow i was told he had given the bunk to someone else and would a 6 bedroom be ok. i said yes. the room was clean, but there were water stains and crumbling. i was unaware it was a hostel that all rooms were shared male and female, that was my mistake, but apparently the young men who were also in the room, freaked out when they saw me and quickly left the room. i just made the best of it and went to bed. the men came back around 1am and left very early in the morning.it was in a questionable area and i was nervous going to my room which was entered by going in a door on the street.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2019

8/10 Good

Elisabeth

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Basic, clean and cheap. No frills!
Amazing price, so can't complain there! Comfort....mmm? Beds ok - standard hostel bunks, but nowhere apart from the bare floor to put anything. No hooks for towels, no shelves for phones, no little tables for wash bags....literally just a bunk bed and no other furniture or hooks in the room. I had rather a long wait for the bathroom in the morning so maybe too many people for only the 2 toilets/one shower. I expected basic but it would be nice to add a few cheap hooks and shelves please!
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2019

2/10 Terrible

Ganeshbabu

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2019

8/10 Good

maggie, denver, colorado

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
I loved the location! Only took me less than five minutes to reach the Royal Mile, and another five to walk to Edinburgh Castle! It’s across the street from The Three Sisters bar, which I loved! However, if you don’t like being able to hear loud music pretty late at night, this probably isn’t the place for you!
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2019

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, amenities
Liked the location of the property, however it was so humid in the corridor as well as the room that it was to the point of unbearable.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2019

2/10 Terrible

Tracy

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Would not stay again
The street it is on stinks of wee, it's right next to a nightclub, the room was a step up from living on the street, looked like a prison cell, dark, smelt of damp, Barr's on the window, really disappointed, actually cried, paid £80 odd was expensive for a hostel, I expected more, I have stayed in many nice ones in England, would not recommend this one.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Friendly staff, clean rooms and facilities. I stayed at flat 104, on the groundfloor.
Stayed 4 nights in May 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2019

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, room comfort
the room area had a strong bleach smell. most of the socket are near the ground. bring an extension cord or longer cable in case you sleep in upper bunk. cleaned kitchen
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2018

10/10 Excellent

carmen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2018

8/10 Good

JOSE LUIZ PEREIRA

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Good location and organization. The toilets and shower room are clean and easy to use. The building is old, so some smelling is expected.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort
Good for the price
Edinburgh is expensive for accomodation so the price of this hostel is very competitive. The beds were quite noisy and uncomfortable, but I appreciated how quiet the room was. There was plenty of space in th kitchen. The bathrooms were functional however a little small, only 1 toilet in the bathroom. Great location. Overall it was good for the price.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2018

8/10 Good

Andrew

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Happy
Great helpful staff I've stayed on numerous occasions
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2018

8/10 Good

Analiza

Liked: Property conditions & facilities
Good value for money
The place is so close to a lot of tourist attractions.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2018

8/10 Good

Charlie, St louis Mo

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great facility for price. In a decent location.
The staff were amazing. I watched them interact with a guest I was ready to take out and throw out under a passing vehicle for her rude intrusive obnoxious behaviour. They were absolute gentlemen and completely calm. A credit to the facility. I am a more mature traveler, and have hac years of experience dealing with the public.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Location is great, some of the flats have need of some update and repair, during the fringe festval you are right by some loud venues and it can be noisy in the upper apartments. It is a well used facility and the beds are a bit springy and not too soft.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2018

4/10 Poor

LV, Toronto

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good price for the area however would really only recommend if need a quick place to crash for the night. Room was spacious but sparse and in general the whole place is rather outdated, especially the massive stairwells.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2018

8/10 Good

Craig

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Hidden away hostel
Great hostel beds super comfortable Hostel bit out of the way right opposite noisy beer garden. Bring ear plugs if staying on a weekend, staff friendly and helpful. No towel provided
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2018

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
No recommended !!!!!
No recommended !!!!!
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Top staff
Good value for money. Left my £300 headphones in the room but the staff were excellent and I was able to pick them up later on the evening I checked out.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2018

4/10 Poor

b

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in May 2018

4/10 Poor

Ben

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Not cleaned
Turned up and room hadn’t been cleaned. No other space so got a full refund and left!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
It's obviously not a 4* hotel but I have no complaints! They let us store our luggage even before we checked in, which was really nice. It's close to the Royal Mile and other points of interest (to me- like the place where J.K. Rowling first wrote Harry Potter...). The room was clean and there was a kitchen with fridge/microwave/probably other amenities that I didn't use and now don't remember.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2018

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The room facilities are very spartan. Be prepared to deal with broken showers, lack of hot water and overall cold rooms.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2018

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
uncomfortable, the place smells like toilets, you can feel each spring in the bed, gloomy.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2017

6/10 Okay

Pippa, Canada

Disliked: Room comfort
Great location
We were very happy with the location and impressed that they listened to our booking request to be on the main level. Room was dark and could have used a few hooks or something on the walls for towels/jackets etc. But overall good value.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2017

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort
Very basic but that's what I expected. Location great. Amazing city.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2017

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Room comfort
Simple place, no looker in the room.

4/10 Poor

roberta

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Only good thing is the location
Location is the best, but rooms and bedsheet are not very clean, no common area makes it difficult to socialise and more importantly the heating in the room was broken for the entire stay. We told reception but apparently they could not get anyone to repair it during the weekend. This is clearly ridicolous in Edinburgh in December when temperatures are under zero degrees. Hostel was full so all they offered us was an extra blanket each. They could have offered us to find us an alternative accommodation in another hostel and refund us the money but they didn't. I Asked if we could have at least an electric heater for the night as the room was freezening (the building is old which means cold air coming in from everywhere) and they said no. In summary, very bad customer service and dirty rooms.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort

2/10 Terrible

John, Ponzi

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Intentional lack of information to take your money
I booked this hostel through Expedia and ended up having a shift in travel plans as is common for many backpackers. Normally, a hostel will have a clear email address to contact them for cancellations AND state their cancellation policy on their website! Cowgate Hostel did neither! I searched Google for their contact information (as I'm not from Scotland, I don't have a mobile phone, only email) on their website and there was none. Woke up to a full charge only to learn later that they have a 72 hour cancellation policy, conveniently not listed on their website. As a frequent backpacker, I highly discourage other travelers from using the services of such an unethical accommodation, Edinburgh is a beautiful city and has has superior options!

6/10 Okay

Judy

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

8/10 Good

Julia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Yksi yö hostellissa
Hostelli oli siisti. Nukuin 30hlö makuusalissa, joka oli rauhallinen, mutta huoneessa ei ollut muita matkustajia kuin alle 10. Keittiö oli siisti. Huonetta kohti löytyi 2 vessaa ja 2 suihkua. Hostelli hyvällä sijainnilla, rauhallisella alueella ja edullinen.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2020

8/10 Good

Rachid

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2020

8/10 Good

Daniela

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2019

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in May 2019

8/10 Good

lorena

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
La ubicación es muy buena, lo único que no nos gusto fue que reservamos cuarto con cama matrimonial y la cama estaba en muy malas condiciones literal se sentía como tabla, pero todo lo demás excelente
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2019

8/10 Good

KIN KA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The hostel is located very central, that brings some issues since there is a bar infront of the hostel that (when I was there) didn't close until like 4 in the morning and then people bang on the windows of the hostel. Otherwise I like this place a lot since you are very close to everything, transportation and shopping, and you have showers, toilets and kitchens in like small apartments.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Höga ljud från baren mitt imot.central läge ,dålig med varm vatten
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
會再入住
住了兩次，第二次的房型插頭位置比較不理想，且浴室只有一間，整體還是推薦的!
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
推薦！
這是第二次入住，不同房型的插頭數及位置有點不一樣，可能要跟別人共用，浴室數量也不一樣，早上可能要排隊洗澡，但整體都沒什麼大問題！浴室很大！有機會一樣會選這間！價格真的很優惠！
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
去完高地旅後又再次回來住， 這次的位置比較差，隔一棟而已， 但是噪音超大，房的後面有酒吧！聲音大到影響睡眠
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2018

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort
Für den Preis kann man nicht viel erwarten, aber das war doch sehr wenig, ein Stuhl war die einzige Ablage... Das Personal war sehr freundlich. Die Lage war wirklich gut.
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2018

8/10 Good

Maria Irene

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2018

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Greit Hostel og pris
Inkludert sengetøy og håndkle. Slitne lokaler men ryddig og rent og helt greit i forhold til pris!
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2018