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Those of you lucky enough to have visited Pwll Deri YH will know that it is a fantastic place. Perched on a cliff, on a remote stretch of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, it has one of the best views of any hostel in the network and some pretty fine walking too. An ideal spot to escape the trials and tribulations of 21st century life.

Sadly, though, there are some things that you just can’t get away from. The Western Telegraph reports that the hostel was broken into at some time on Tuesday afternoon. The theives escaped with two laptops and a bag, it’s not clear whether they belonged to hostel staff or to guests.

I suppose this unhappy incident just serves to remind us to be careful with our valuables, even in the “safe” confines of a remote youth hostel.

Inspired by the recent SYHA TV advert, a reporter from the Ross-Shire Journal has taken his young family on a short hostelling tour of Scotland.

Their zig-zag route across the country took in a cross-section of SYHA hostels: Carbisdale Castle, Edinburgh Central and Tongue. Carbisdale seems to have been a big hit:

Carbisdale Castle near Culrain is a jewel in the glittering crown of breathtakingly diverse hostels the SYHA has managed to bring under its wing since inception in 1931. Once you’ve feasted on the imposing exterior and convinced wide-eyed children that, yes, they really are going to sleep here tonight, it’s time to get to grips with the ghost…

What castle isn’t haunted, right? The SYHA blurb does nothing to discourage the legend — and nor does the collection of ghostly Italian marble statues lining the main gallery as you enter. There’s a spooky, otherworldly feel about the sprawling castle whose chequered history only adds to the experience.

Meanwhile, across the pond, the San Diego News Network have been sampling some historic YHA hostels. Their itinerary included Hartington, Whitby and YHA’s own castle: St Briavels. They come away impressed by how cheaply you can stay in some truly impressive buildings. They’re also pleasantly surprised to discover that you don’t have to be a youth to go hostelling. Indeed, as a perceptive hostel staffer points out:

“Without the over-40s, there would be no hostels,” said Anthony Rees, a YHA volunteer.  “Families, middle-aged and older travelers are some of our most enthusiastic guests.”

I do wish YHA’s marketing people would grasp this fact. Just about all the publicity material emanating from Matlock is dominated by pictures of children, young people and maybe the occaional parent. The age profile of people actually staying in hostels is much more diverse, and there’s a huge market of older people out there who don’t know that hostels are available to them as well as to youngsters.

I also hope that press coverage like this will encourage YHA to continue to look for and operate historic buildings as youth hostels. Purpose-built places may be easier and cheaper to run, but they just don’t have the “wow factor” of sleeping in a genuine castle!

Recent events at Cambridge have brought fire safety very much to the attention of hostellers. Now, it is reported in the Cornish Guardian that Golant YH has been found wanting after a recent inspection:

Faults including inadequate fire detection and warning systems were recorded by the visiting fire safety officers at Penquite House youth hostel.

Escape routes and exits could not be used as quickly and safely as possible, escape doors could not be easily and immediately opened from the inside and escape routes did not have adequate signs.

Firefighters also reported that the escape routes did not have adequate emergency lighting in case the normal lighting circuits failed.

Steps have already been taken to remedy some of these shortcomings, and a specialist contractor is to be called in to complete the necessary work.

Just a couple of weeks after Eastbourne YH rose from the ashes of an arson attack in 2004, another hostel has received the same treatment.

On saturday evening, a fire was started in a first floor toilet at Cambridge Youth Hostel. Soon the building’s corridors were filling with smoke and about 80 panicky hostellers. Fortunately, the first of four fire engines was on the scene within three minutes of the alarm being raised. The Cambridge News describes the scene:

On arrival the first crew from Cambridge established that not everyone had been accounted for, and was met with a large crowd of about 80 people, many of whom were quite panicky.

“The crews immediately entered the building. One person had collapsed on the ground floor and was rescued by a firefighter.”

As well as freeing a woman from a bedroom with a ladder, three other people who had fled to a flat roof were helped down by firefighters. Another man found near an emergency exit was led to safety.

Apart from two people who were later taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, there were no serious injuries to anybody involved.

Of course, there was quite a lot of damage to the hostel, but fortunately not on the scale experienced at Eastbourne. According to Duncan Simpson yesterday, it suffered mainly smoke and water damage and will be closed for at least two weeks.

Meanwhile, the BBC reports today that a 29-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the blaze.

No, it’s not a reprise of the old 24-hour drinks license story, but the fears of some of the inhabitants of Easdale, faced by the prospect of a youth hostel opening on their island.

According to a story in the Press & Journal, there are plans afoot to open a 30-bed hostel on the mile-long island of Easdale, the smallest inhabited island in the Inner Hebrides (though not a SYHA hostel, as far as I can tell). The island has some B&Bs and holiday cottages, but nowhere else for visitors to stay if, for example, they want to take part in the World Stone Skimming Championships.

The plan has been welcomed by local businesses, but not by residents like Tina Jordan who believe it would undermine the business of existing holiday cottages and cause noise nuisance through “alcohol-fuelled activity”.

I can’t say I’ve found hostels to be hotbeds of alcohol-crazed rowdiness. After a day out on the hills, most of us don’t have the energy even if we had the inclination. Could it be that what Ms Jordan is really afraid of is – crivens! – poor people.

If everyone on the island is as welcoming as she is, I’m not sure I want to go there anyway.

In an effort, no doubt, to attract more cash-strapped scots through their doors, SYHA have produced a funky new TV ad:

Something I find interesting is that they brand themselves as “Hostelling Scotland” rather than anything to do with youth hostels. Is this a new thing?

Personally, I think it’s a good idea and reflects the age profile of the people you meet in hostels better than the Y word does. Maybe we can come up with something similar south of the border.

BBC News’ online Magazine has published a short slideshow in honour of the youth hostel movement’s “100 years of bunk beds and washing up”. There’s some interesting pictures of hostelling days gone by, as well as shots of Manchester (looking rather grim) and National Forest to show the hostels of today.

We’ve already seen a boost in YHA bookings due to the credit crunch, well the same is happening north of the border, according to BBC News:

Louise Nowell, head of sales and marketing at the Scottish Youth Hostels Association, said: “Our advance bookings are up 7% compared to the same time last year.

In an ordinary year I wouldn’t have expected the figures to go up as they have. There’s a reason for it – the economic situation.

The exchange rate is keeping Brits at home, foreign visitors are getting more value for money, and people are becoming more value-conscious due to the credit crunch. Suddenly we’re being seen as an affordable destination.”

It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good!

An article in the New York Times alerts its readers to the joys of hostelling across the pond, with particular reference to London Central YH. Reporter Jennifer Conlin stayed there last month with her teenage daughters, and liked what she found:

[A]s we walked through the sliding glass doors into the entrance hall, I admired the floor-to-ceiling illuminated map of the London Tube system, as well as a good-looking 40-something man with a briefcase getting off the elevator. Already, things seemed different.

The girls quickly disappeared into what in my day would have been called the common room – typically a gathering place for grubby guests, complete with threadbare springy sofas, a rattling tea cart and a makeshift library of discarded travel books in every language but your own.

I braced myself and followed behind only to be shocked by the scene before me. The room could have been a model set for the Ikea catalog with brightly colored sofas and chairs arranged around sparkling white laminated tables.

One wall was decorated with enlarged photos of London landmarks – a red mailbox, an Oxford Street sign, the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Flanking the wall was a blackboard with information on the latest museum exhibitions, food and clothing markets, and shows. Mounted to the ceiling were several flat-screen televisions, including one showing a slide show of people partying in the hostel where we stood; Florence was mesmerized.

YHA’s Duncan Simpson gave the view from Matlock:

“Ten to 15 years ago, hostels were more commonly associated with the countryside for hikers and walkers,” said Duncan Simpson, head of communications for YHA Ltd., a youth hostel organization for England and Wales and a Hostelling International affiliate. “But we operate in cities and are now attracting customers who not only come to us because it is good value for the money, but also because they want a different, more relaxed experience than you get at a hotel.”

YHA’s newest project in London, the $1.5 million renovation of the St. Pancras hostel, hopes to attract yet another growing customer base — the family. It has rooms designed for families, Wi-Fi in the common rooms, a restaurant open from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., even cribs

“At a hostel you don’t have to worry that your child is going to knock over an ornamental lamp in the lobby,” Mr. Simpson said. “The whole atmosphere is more casual.”

It’s good to see a YHA hostel getting such good coverage (including some good pictures), and follows London Central’s good showing in the “Hoscars” earlier this year. I just hope it doesn’t lead to an influx of American visitors to Black Sail, all wondering where the Ikea furniture and ceiling-mounted tellies are…

A short news story on BBC Midlands Today notes the 100th anniversary of youth hostelling, which falls this year. The segment featured glimpses of Clun and Ilam hostels, and a longer look at Wilderhope.

The report makes much of the fact that you no longer have to do chores (they were abolished in the last century, weren’t they?), and the reporter is pleased to discover that “you don’t have to sleep with loads of people these days if you don’t want to”. Hey, we’re a friendly bunch in the YHA, but not that friendly…