Times Online on YHA's London Central Hostel (Video)

The problem with most YHAs in the UK are that their customers are mostly school groups and old ramblers

That´s not a problem per se. The customers of, say, the Meininger Hostels are school groups and old ramblers, too. These are exactly the customers they want and their hostels are purpose-built for that sort of customers.

What really makes me puke are those b.s. slogans like "the first of a new breed" and "no other hostel is like that" while only showing backpackers in the film. They don´t care about backpackers. You are correct - they are as far removed from them as they can get.

Apart from all that: the cheapest bed on weekends costs 27 Pounds, which makes them the most expensive in London. Err.. shouldn´t a non-profit organisation which enjoys tax breaks (and probably even some state subsidies, too) be cheaper than the independent hostels???

I really don't get the deal with Hostelling International being non-profit.

If they charge more - and £27 is more than any independent hostel that I know of - and offer less; they should be making more money. To not make a profit they either have incompetent management or it is just a scam to avoid paying tax.

Then you have independent hostels that are charging less, offering more and are paying their taxes, which end up financing their (supposedly non-profit) competitor.

A while ago - around 15 years I think - I was talking with one of the AYH hostel managers and he told me that Hostelling International never registered a trademark for the house and fir tree symbol that they use, which is why Hostelling International adopted the blue triangle symbol (trademarked) when they re-branded from the IYHF.

I am basically not against HI hostels, but since they receive a lot of taxpayer money (at least in Germany and Austria) they should be checked upon a little bit more.

I totally agree.

I'm not against HI hostels, after all they did invent the whole hostel concept; but I don't think they should act better than the independent hostels just because they are a non-profit organisation and clearly they don't deserve an unfair advantage if they are just competing against independent hostels.

If they are competing against independent hostels it should be on fair and equal terms.

There are a lot of crap HI hostels but there are some great ones too; however just having the HI logo outside is no guarrantee that it is a good hostel. In Australia there are some brilliant YHA hostels like Apollo Bay, Halls Gap and Sydney Central; but then there are some real awful ones too like Deloraine and Devonport youth hostels in Tasmania or Walpole in Western Australia.