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Five YHA hostels up for sale in England

Buy / Sell a Hostel

Rucksack Brian started this discussion 14 years 1 week ago

The BBC takes a look at why five YHA hostels in England have to be sold.
The video.

In the Lake District, the hostels to close are Derwentwater at Keswick, Helvellyn at Glenridding and Hawkshead.

In the North East, Newcastle's hostel in Jesmond Road will close, as will the one at Osmotherly, in North Yorkshire.

This article covers the same story.

The YHA claims the sites need a large amount of investment to keep them running as profitable youth hostels. Sam Littlechild, a spokesperson for the YHA explained, "The Lake District has one of the highest concentrations of hostels in the country so it's important that we maintain a presence here but those sites just aren’t financially viable."

And this one.

Derwentwater’s 88-bed Barrow House Hostel was built in 1787 by Joseph Pocklington, the son of a wealthy banker. But the YHA says it needs almost £1.2 million worth of refurbishment work.

Similarly the Helvellyn hostel, which is approached by an 0.75-mile track from Glenridding, needs an investment of £1,180,000.

Locals are hoping that the buyers of these properties will continue to run them as hostels. Maybe someone here is interested?

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Josh Hostels

13 years

They call it "Brigittenau Youth Palace"...

If the description on hihostels.com is correct, it looks like it's a hotel:

Brigittenau Youth Palace - discover the new quality in hostelling in Vienna! 90 modern and well equipped 2-bed rooms offer high standard for a budget price.

All two-bed rooms have their own facilities and the "good old bunk bed" is replaced in the new Youth Palace with beds that can be used as single as well as double beds. Ready made beds and towels are also a part of the service provided. The included breakfast buffet is a good start in a new day every morning.

50 euros ($70) for a hotel room in Vienna doesn't seem especially budget-priced.

I'm very surprised HI is trying to sell hotel rooms as "hostel" accommodation.

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Rucksack Brian

13 years

Here’s another article about the Salisbury hostel that YHA is closing down.

Duncan Simpson, YHA head of corporate affairs, had this to say:

It’s an ageing, listed building where it’s very difficult to provide the facilities people look for nowadays.

The main thing they want is smaller bedrooms. People don’t like dormitories any more, even school groups.

People want privacy, and they want ensuite facilities, not old-fashioned shared washrooms.

So what school groups want these days are hotels, not hostels? I find this very surprising.

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uktrail

13 years

The main thing they want is smaller bedrooms. People don’t like dormitories any more, even school groups.
People want privacy, and they want ensuite facilities, not old-fashioned shared washrooms.

Whether true or not, this is a callous disregard for the solo traveller, who has to pay 2 to 3 times as much for an ensuite room as for a dorm bed.

99%(a guess) of accommodation in this country and most others is designed for 2 or more people travelling together. Only hostel dorms provide budget-price accommodation for solo travellers.

So what school groups want these days are hotels, not hostels? I find this very surprising.

No. It's YHA fiction. YHA have decided that people all want small rooms. They have a successful hostel that has some large rooms. They decide that it will cost £1 million to upgrade them. This would make them non-profitable. So it is entirely justified to sell the hostel.

I stayed in Derwentwater Hostel. It's in 99% superb condition. It CAN'T need a million spending on it. Their 16-bed dorm is very spacious and partitioned to provide appreciable privacy, with bedhead lights, and England's best view through the window!

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uktrail

13 years

Another quote from Duncan Simpson: "The main reason for people coming to Salisbury is to visit Stonehenge, and they can do that from Cholderton."

Poppycock! Cholderton is in the country, only accessible easily with a car. What about all the backpackers from America etc? Stonehenge is among the top 5 places they want to visit!! They are going to have to visit Stonehenge on a day trip from London or Bath.

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uktrail

13 years

I have extracted as many comments as I can find about YHA closures of hostels, and made them available through the following page:
http://www.uktrail.com/hostelsale

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Scotch Argus

13 years

I must admit the more I read about this, the more I realise that these announcements are a done deal. This is in no way a consultation. It seems sad to me that they are reduced to selling some of their best assets rather than their most marginal ones, but I guess someone has to pay for the organisation to have a "head of corporate affairs".

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Rucksack Brian

13 years

Here is another article about the closings. This one seems hopeful that individuals or organizations will be able to buy the properties that have been deemed to be unsustainable by YHA and continue to run them as successful hostels.

How youth hostels have been given a new lifeline by social entrepreneurs

The article talks about a couple of previous success stories.

Wooler YHA in Northumberland was one of those sacrificed by the organisation that year. It shut its doors on 30 September 2006 only to reopen a few months later when a deal was struck allowing a local social enterprise to buy the former women's land army bunkhouse from the YHA.
…
[Neil Wilson, the asset development manager at Glendale Gateway Trust] recalls there being very little pessimism about the hostel's prospects, despite the association's decision to sell. "When we started to look at the books, we realised that there was an income," he says.

Following £60,000 of investment in refurbishment, the trust's faith in the hostel has been repaid. "We've seen booming visitor numbers apart from the year just gone when Northumberland, like the rest of England took a hit," says Wilson. "The two years prior to that were the most successful that the hostel has ever had."

The property sold for £270,000 and they put another £60,000 into renovations. I couldn’t find the amount that YHA said they would have needed to invest in this one back in 2006 to make it viable. It sounds like the hostel was successful even before the Glendale Gateway Trust bought it, and it was clearly successful afterwords. Several of the hostels currently up for sale are in the same boat. Let’s hope some more of these social entrepreneurs can step up now.

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hmb1969

13 years

I've found the information! I'll send you a PM with details.

Could you please let me know where to find the sales particulars for the Hawkshead YHA for sale? Thanks.

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uktrail

13 years

As far as I know, only Derwentwater has actually been advertised for sale, with a definite programme of dates. I will tell you if I see Hawkshead. Please tell me also if you see this or any others advertised.

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AndyB

13 years

Having worked as an assistant hostel manager for YHA in one of the hostels the association has already sold, I can safely say that the current hostel sales will be far from the last.

Average age of a 'Youth Hostel Association' guest these days? I'd say around 50. That is the real issue behind year on year falling occupancy levels. Most current YHA hostellers joined or started using the association hostels in their youth and current pricing stratergies reflect the income of these individuals. I always make a point of staying at independent hostels as the price is lower, there is much more atmosphere and you get more for your money.

At present I have two friends just out of Uni and walking from Lands End to John O Groats. They blew their budget at the start of the walk as the average YHA bed night was around £17 (after they had taken out anual membership) and so have used camp sites and independent hostels which fit more with their budget.

Last year I stayed in Oxford YHA as accomodation was provided there by my company. I was quite shocked firstly when I was told that I was not allowed to drink a bottle of wine which I had brought with me, but that I could buy a bottle from the hostel and drink that. Then I paid for breakfast only to have a quite abrupt serving lady the next day tell me what I could and could not have and what I did end up having I costed from memory at less than £1 for the actual ingredients. I went away feeling cheated even though I hadn't paid for my bed!

YHA simply does not cater for the backpacker/independent traveller on a budget any more. They are too frightened of loosing their original base of loyal members and are constantly trying to push catering sales to compensate for decreasing occupancy levels. They can't do that forever and I don't think that I am the first of their previous staff or guests to question the associations 'charitable' status.

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