Hartfield House Hostel

The big kitchen was great for cooking, and the laundry was cheap. Everything felt clean and well organised, and I especially liked that they use eco soaps and cleaning products. I stayed in a single room with a double bed, an ensuite bathroom, and tea and coffee in the room, which I loved. It feels like a cosy home tucked in a valley, about a five minute walk from the sea and a five minute drive to the local pub. Beautiful hostel, highly recommend!

There’s plenty of room to relax here, with a huge, comfortable room that felt much bigger than a typical hostel room. The views are lovely, and the peaceful, scenic setting makes Hartfield House Hostel a great base for a nature getaway and exploring the area. Getting help was difficult because staff weren’t readily available, though, and food options were very limited. That could be inconvenient if you haven’t brought your own supplies.

We’d planned to camp, but the weather brought 70 mph winds and rain. Even though they were full, they took us in. The location is amazing, the service was amazing, and the people were the friendliest you could meet. Couldn’t fault anything!

The area around the hostel is lovely, but I wouldn’t want to stay here again. On our NC500 trip, my partner and I ended up in a twin room with two single beds because it was the only option left. That wasn’t a great start, and the room was cold even with the radiator turned up to max. It was my first hostel stay, and I can see why it was so cheap. The beds were the worst part. The mattresses were thin and the springs offered no support. My partner could feel the bed frame underneath him when he lay down. The push button showers were frustrating too, since we had to keep pressing the button to keep the water running mid-wash. There was one toilet serving more than 10 nearby rooms. After one guy used it, the whole room smelled terrible. An extraction fan or automatic spray would have been very appreciated. I thought about walking all the way down to the showers to use the toilet during the night, but it was very cold down there and the way there had bare concrete floors.