Adults Only Pricing in Scotland
Whilst limited means concessions are being withdrawn in England & Wales, not even children get a discount in some Scottish hostels. Three of their most remote hostels, Glen Affric, Loch Ossian and Raasay charge the same amount for an overnight regardless of whether you are an adult or a child.
Having had my attention drawn to this by a comment on this site (keep ‘em coming folks!), I asked SYHA to confirm that it was true and asked the reasoning behind it. They replied:
At present we do charge the same rate for juniors and seniors at three of our Rustic Hostels namely Glen Affric, Loch Ossian and Raasay. Our rationale is simple really. Because of the costs associated with running these remote hostels, we have to charge the same price for all guests, regardless of status. However, we will be lowering junior rates for Raasay from next year, so the policy will only apply to Loch Ossian and Glen Affric.
In addition we would never discourage children from staying at any hostel, however these remote hostels because of their location and basic facilities are not ideal for young families, especially those not used to hostelling. Add to this the limited accommodation and the laws regarding sleeping arrangements for young children, we are limited in what we can offer.
It should be remembered that membership of the SYHA is free for children, and an adult overnight at these hostels of £13 is still less than a child would pay at some places south of the border, but this still seems a strange decision.
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Membership is free south of the border for the under 16s and even then they only pay if hostelling alone. If they are with a parent/guardian it’s free until 18.
Looking at prices when the adult prices in Scotland and England are the same (within £1) the rate for u18s in England is less than in Scotland.
Comment by Nigel — 9 Oct 2007 @ 8:07 pm
This explanation for the discrimination against under 18s at key SYHA rural hostels is woeful. According to SYHA’s own annual report just published ‘the Associations main objective was to sustain and grow the provision of budget accommodation and services across Scotland to help all, but especially young people to experience and appreciate the Scottish Countryside’ How can charging the same rate for juniors at flagship rustic hostels equate with this? Of course these hostels are expensive to support, is that not why the city hostels such as Edinburgh Central are charging up to £24.50 for adults and £22.50 for children?
Loch Ossian was recently refurbished via a national appeal and funding from the Lottery (as well as other bodies). Were members and funders aware at this time that juniors were not being encouraged at Loch Ossian? As far as I am aware this discriminatory pricing policy is a recent development and badly thought out. Surely at a time when OSCAR (the charities regulator) is examining the SYHA this is an act of pure folly and yet another sad example of mismanagement and lack of understanding of the ethos of this once great organisation.
Comment by charlie babbage — 14 Oct 2007 @ 7:49 pm
It would be nice if children could be kept to a bare minimum/not at all in the rustic hostels in Scotland. Nothing wrong with dormitories, getting rid of them is only pandering to the already over-pampered middle clases who don’t really “do” camping or hostelling. Shame. I don’t see it as discrimination, chidren get too much anyway. & so do families for that matter.
Comment by Andrew Lang — 27 Apr 2008 @ 4:24 pm
Ahem, Andrew, what do you think the “Y” stands for in (S)YHA?
Comment by Chris Hunt — 27 Apr 2008 @ 9:05 pm
what a bizarre comment from Andrew Lang, someone I presume who is supposedly interested in hostelling. Hostels were designed for young people, to help them dissover the great outdoors. if you think children from inner city low income backgrounds would not benefit from the experience of our rustic hostels then you should never darken the door of another hostel as your appalling prejudice is an insult to those who set up the hostelling movement over 75 years ago. Go and sleep in the shelter stone if thats more to your taste!
Comment by charlie babbage — 6 May 2008 @ 7:50 pm