The Arlington Hotel - Hostel

I was helping with a charity horseshoe tournament at the cottage and needed food for 30 friends. They handled a large pizza and wings order, contributed to the charity, and the food was fantastic.

This historic house is in tiny Maynooth, a town of about 200 people, and it’s the cutest, coziest hostel. It felt a little lonely at first, but then I went to the pub and played pool with locals. Ron, who works there, was the sweetest and made a point of learning our names and chatting with us. We all played, even though we tourists were pretty bad. It’s an easy, comfortable, no-nonsense place, and hostels like this are hard to find. It’s not a five-star hotel, but it costs $40. I’d recommend it to anyone visiting the park.

The staff were welcoming, and our experience was great. At first glance I didn’t expect the food to be as good as it was. The host and chefs gave us very attentive, personal service and even let us try samples of sauces they were developing. A nice reminder not to judge a book by its cover.

There aren’t many hostels with this much personality left. Some people might call it outdated, but to me it’s simply aged well. The facilities are good, the staff are wonderful, and both the pub’s atmosphere and its food are worth recommending. Saturday nights are especially fun, when local people invite you to play pool. I hope they keep it as it is, and I’d love to come back soon.