Grasmere Youth Hostel Review

The last weekend of January was, for us, spent at a Youth Hostel in Grasmere in the Lake District. I booked the break because my Dad was renting a cottage nearby and we thought it would be lovely to see him. I was a little tentative about staying in a Youth Hostel. I never have before and assumed that the place would be full of students (myself not included). We booked a family room and were surprised at how large it was. There were three bunk beds and ample space for a travel cot too. I hadn't realised we would be in bunk beds and I giggled at the thought of it. I have no idea when the last time I stayed in a bunk bed was! We travelled with two toddlers, a nearly four year old and a nearly two year old.

We arrived at about 2.30pm on a Friday afternoon. The guy from reception told us to go in and make ourselves at home. He was shovelling snow and trying to make the place accessible It had clearly been snowing for quite some time because the ground was already well and truly covered. I was glad we had arrived when we did as not much later the majority of the roads were impassable, with cars left abandoned on the roads.

Our children instantly made themselves at home, the family games room and the tv lounge keeping them entertained for the whole afternoon! The snow continued to fall into the evening so we decided to stay in and eat there. Children ate free with every adult meal purchased so we had two courses each for £20. The food exceeded my expectations and the children had Annabel Karmel meals. After dinner it was time for a quick story and then bed. Luckily our room was in the main building which meant that we could put the monitor on and sit downstairs in the lounge once the kids were settled. The hostel is licenced so we added a beer to the equation which was very enjoyable!

The hostel is a great base for walks in the lakes. Due to the snow, we didn't walk far though, just down to the nearest water and back! The snow looked amazing so when the girl woke from her afternoon sleep, we all popped outside to make a snowman. The boy went inside and the staff gave him a carrot for the nose. It was touches like these which enhanced the experience.

Once the snowman was made, cold and wet, we went inside and decided to eat in again. The food was excellent. We didn't manage to see my Dad until the Saturday evening when he came and found us. Our car was totally snowed in and the local digital transmitter had gone down, taking our mobile phone signals with it. There was quite a lot of damage from the snow. With huge branches falling off trees and even huge trees falling over! Also a branch landing on my Dad's car (but luckily not causing too much damage).

On the Saturday evening there were more families staying. We enjoyed sitting with others in the lounge in the evenings and just chatting whilst sharing a bottle of wine. When you stay in a hotel you can rarely afford to put anything on the room so it felt very decadent to be putting our meals and drinks on the room. In actual fact, it was far cheaper than going out to a local restaurant or a pub!

The only two criticisms I have are that the showers were not very clean, and that you have to walk to another block to use the kitchen. The showers didn't bother me too much as you didn't have to stay in too long. The kitchen wouldn't have been as much of a problem if there hadn't been over a foot of snow outside and we had to get a bottle at 7.20am!

I highly recommend this youth hostel for family trips. It was an incredibly enjoyable stay and we will definitely be trying out some more youth hostels in the future. They make a weekend away an affordable experience for a family. If you want to book a break at this hostel, click here.