YHA Manchester Hostel Contents: 

Overall Rating | The Staff | The Room | The Atmosphere | Facilities | The Location | The Price

We were finally in the taxi. After meeting at YHA Manchester, myself and Sam (of the Coco Butter blog!) had been trying to get into town for the last few hours.

As it turns out this was harder than expected as we were having so much fun with the hostel bar staff that when they suggested a black sambuca shot before our second glass of wine we figured we could always go to town later that night…

YHA Manchester Hostel Overall Rating

YHA Manchester Hostel Review

The Staff

From the introduction, it’s clear that the staff at YHA Manchester were really fantastic. But let’s begin at the start…

Enter Eleanor, with a big friendly smile and no look of disgust when I asked her suggestions on the cheapest and most budget-friendly things to do in the city. I had a mission this weekend… to find out how you can all see Manchester for less than £75! Interested?

The tips will be published in an upcoming YHA newsletter so make sure to sign up!

Now back to the black sambucas. When it comes to shots, I like not to take responsibility for actually drinking them – so the blame here goes to Olly and Amy! Although I can’t be mad because these two were so much fun that I ended up ordering more wine at the hostel bar just to stay and have a laugh with them.

And if you’re lucky during your stay at YHA Manchester you may also get Amy’s big smile welcoming you to breakfast in the morning!

The Room

Bright and spacious, the four-bed female dorm I stayed in offered the perfect base for exploring the city of Manchester.

Whilst it was a little warm at night even with the window open, this can be expected in the middle of summer (yes… even a British summer gets warm!) and I still slept like a baby thanks to the thick and cosy mattresses.

Best of all was the storage facilities offered in the room. There was one large wooden cupboard per bed, with space to insert your own padlock to keep your valuables safe. I’ve got a pretty big 50-litre backpack but it fit easily into the cupboard with room to spare!

There was also space to hang clothes, which meant that instead of throwing everything you own on or under your bed (as I usually do), you can store everything neatly and make your mother proud! The one thing that YHA Manchester is missing, however, is bedside plug sockets, which made it difficult to charge my phone overnight to use as an alarm in the morning.

The Atmosphere

The atmosphere at YHA Manchester is pretty relaxed, even on the weekend, and I can only put this down to Manchester being such a cool city that most guests are outside exploring rather than chilling in the common rooms.

Either way, the staff are fantastic at letting you know their favourite spots in the city, or for chatting to in the common areas.

The bar area to the right of reception is very cosy, so there were some groups drinking there before heading into town on Friday night. It also turns in to a great place to end your night, with the option to order pizza until 5 am in the morning!

Obviously, I try to experience everything in order to give you guys a full overview of a hostel so I can tell you from experience that the pizza is very good. Especially after a night out in Manchester!

While YHA are often known for their school groups, one thing I really enjoyed about the atmosphere at YHA Manchester was that there seemed to be quite a few solo travellers, or solo tourists on a weekend break from other cities in the UK. Which is how I ended up with this fab t-shirt from a Hungarian girl living and working in London…

 

Facilities

If you’re on a really tight budget and can’t stretch to some of the fab meals on offer in the bar, YHA Manchester offers the use of a guest kitchen so you can really make yourself feel at home by cooking for yourself and your roommates.

Other essential facilities include a laundry room just to the right of the games room, and lockers for your valuables if you need to leave luggage in the hostel after checking out.

And yes, I did say games room! Fully equipped with a pool table and table football there is more than enough opportunity to challenge your roommates before a night out. Loser gets the first round of beers…

The Location

Whilst there are other hostels closer to the main Manchester train station of Piccadilly, YHA Manchester is in a beautiful canal-side setting less than a ten-minute walk from Deansgate station.

As Deansgate is part of the Manchester train network, you don’t need to buy a different ticket if you arrive to Manchester by rail – just change at Piccadilly and use the same ticket you arrived with!

The Price

The cost of my bed in a four-bed female dorm was just £20 – which for a Friday night in a popular city such as Manchester is a real bargain. However, if you’re visiting during the week you can get a bed for the night for as little as £12!

Breakfast is an additional £5.25 but after a night out in the town, it is well worth it, with a choice of cereals and a proper full English breakfast.

 

YHA Membership: If you like what you see here, or are planning to stay in a number of YHA Hostels during your travels, then it’s well worth investing in the YHA Membership Card. Not only do you get up to £3 off each night’s stay in a YHA, you also get discounts on outdoor activities with partners of the hostel association. This isn’t a plug and I get no commission for recommending the membership, I just think it’s a great way to save money on your travels in the UK, which is why I have one too!

As you can see from the tag board above, I wasn’t the only one to have a great time at this hostel.

Overall, I think the hostel is a great base for exploring Manchester. And while it doesn’t have the atmosphere of a party hostel or vibe of a small backpackers, it is clean and very well-priced for a city break. Plus, the staff are fantastic at making you feel like more of a friend and less of a guest.

I would like to thank YHA Manchester for organising my stay with them, but as always opinions are honest and entirely my own.