BunkHouse

I am unsure how this hostel has such high reviews. I stayed here for one night at the beginning of my trip through the UK and Ireland. This is BY FAR the worst hostel I stayed in my entire trip. I tried gaslighting myself into thinking that this was a reasonable accommodation, and that all hostels were like this. That was simply untrue, based on every other hostel I stayed in later on. First of all, I stayed in an all female 18-bed dorm (which was my first mistake). I arrived to the reception (which isn’t an actual reception— just a table in the adjacent bar below). To be greeted by a very antisocial woman that scolded me not to change my assigned bed. Then I walked upstairs to my very full room, looking for my bed. Lo and behold, someone else was in it. She didn’t speak any English, so to save embarrassment for her and the trip down and back, I switched beds with her. The room was horribly hot, dirty, and noisy. There was terrible music blaring through the windows from downstairs, and flashing colored lights that shined straight into the window throughout the night (with paper thin curtains). There were no outlets close to the bed, no bag storage lockers, and one (disgusting) bathroom for 18 women to share. Mold, toilet paper crusted to the walls, dirty water all over the floor, dirty mirrors, etc.). There is zero security— basically anyone can waltz into your room. In the middle of the night, some drunk girl brought two men in to sleep in some empty hostel beds. Mind you, this was an ALL FEMALE dorm I booked. For a very specific reason. I think I would rather stay in prison than this place. The location is convenient for things within Cardiff city centre, but it is on a street full of “gentlemen’s clubs”, gambling, bars, and clubs. I didn’t feel safe here walking alone at night. I felt safe everywhere else I went in the UK. If you do decide to stay here for whatever reason, just make sure you check your bed for bedbugs! Because this seems like the kind of place you would pick up an infestation. Yuck. My skin is still crawling.

So scary, bedbugs for sure and rats had ate through the mattress. No one was there working to check you in, or working there in general. Pulled up and immediately left because of how unsettling the conditions were. Smelled like vomit, beer, and cheap perfume in every corner.

Terrible in all respects. The check in process was undertaken by a obsequious man who had a shoddy short beard. No communal space is in the building. The rooms are very small and cramped. The toilets were dirty and the place was full of mosquitoes and bed bugs.

Location After dropping my things for the afternoon, I decided not to come back and book something else. I understood the comments by seeing by myself what they meant. It smells weird in the sanitary areas. 2 wet showers and 2 toilets for 20 people. I wasn't feeling safe. Especially with the rumors about bed bugs around there. I booked something more expensive 8 minutes away and had the best time of my life!

I have never felt so unsafe in a hostel in my life. Facilities were terrible and dirty, bad smell noticeable right when you first enter the building. I didn’t even want to use the bathroom because of the state of it. Also I was put into the wrong dorm, but when I arrived there was no one there to sort it out. Only a couple hours later it was resolved. I found bed bugs, but again nobody there to contact about it. You can hear and feel the noise from the bar downstairs all night long.

What's not to like, the black mold in the bathroom, the loud music playing until 2:30 AM, the spotlight flashing multicolour into the room the whole night, the shower you have to take one-handed because it stops if you let go of the button, the temperature of the water in the shower that you can't change so you either get water from a fresh glacier or satan himself spitting on you from hell Hot. it's also blocked of course, bc standing ankle-deep in water with stranger's hairs floating about is how i prefer to take my showers. I loved loved loved having to triple-check everything i own for bedbugs. I loved how unsafe i felt bc the female dorm is marked and is also the first door you stumble upon when walking up. I loved the genuinely 15 emails (actual number) i got from the hostel, begging me to check in online so they wouldn't have to pay a receptionist (i felt v safe knowing i shared a room with people whose id hadn't been checked and could be literally anyone). I liked nothing about my stay, i didn't like anything about my stay. Desperate times call for desperate measures and i didn't want to spend the night in an overnight national express back home, foolish me, i'd have had a better sleep on a moving bus than in bed in this establishment.

The hostel has a serious bed bug issue which needs to be addressed immediately. They should close off 2-3 days to have it professionally fumigated and replace all bed sheets. Facilities and beds all fantastic but the bug bites all over my body every morning ruined the overall experience.