Terrace/patio

Reviews of a&o Edinburgh City - Hostel

2 out of 5
a&o Edinburgh City - Hostel
50 Blackfriars Street, Edinburgh, Scotland

Reviews

7.6

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 248 out of 895 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 366 out of 895 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 177 out of 895 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 58 out of 895 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 46 out of 895 reviews" "

7.8/10

Cleanliness

8.0/10

Staff & service

7.4/10

Amenities

7.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

7.6/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Findlay

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Brilliant place to say. Only notes of complaints are that the bracket for holding the shower head up was broken. It was more an inconvenience than a problem. Also the shower drain never seems to be properly cleaned so the water doesn’t drain away quickly.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2024

2/10 Terrible

Princewill

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
I couldn't get a refund for a booking I didn't use. Ended up booking a new one again. It's annoying
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

8/10 Good

Chloe

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
A great hostel for being central to everything in Edinburgh. Room was small but clean with basics for a stay, the bed were very uncomfortable as you could feel ever spring in them but for a few nights it was okay to bare. If you’re looking for a cheap stay this is a great location.
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

Findlay

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Excellent as usual
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

Zachary

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

Blair

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Best Hostel in Scotland!
Really well placed in the centre of Edinburgh, Staff were amazing and really happy with overall cleanliness and comfort of rooms.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

Findlay

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Perfect setting

8/10 Good

Chiramet

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
A bit noisy
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

THOMAS

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Top hostel Cowgate
Great reception staff, en suite bathroom clean, room good, my rooms were partially filled lucky, breakfast £7.50 but exceptional. location good. Making own beds abit ofva pain but ok
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

10/10 Excellent

THOMAS

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great
Breakfast great, rooms big, bathroom ensuite clean etc etc
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
I shall be returning…
A lovely room with an unexpected free upgrade; bed was comfy, facilities were spotless, and lockable storage in room to boot! Added benefit of a lift up to the various floors, so no lugging heavy cases up flights of stairs.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2023

8/10 Good

Cameron

Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

Cameron

Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

8/10 Good

Lori

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed in a private room everything ok
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

6/10 Okay

David

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Place was super dirty, there was toilet paper all over the washroom actually. Dirt on the floor as well, we could tell no one had cleaned the room. Bed is pretty rough, the place is pretty much very worn. If you’re a young adult or staying for just a few days, you won’t really care that much as the place is in an amazing location and Edinburgh is not a cheap city.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Better hostels
Room was really noisy, right beside bar, room wasn’t clean, no shower gel bathroom was filthy
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

2/10 Terrible

Rebecca

Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2023

6/10 Okay

Cameron

Liked: Room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

6/10 Okay

Cameron

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2023

6/10 Okay

Andrew

Travelled with family
Liked: Amenities
If I was a very drunk 20 year old who wanted to scream and sing loudly until the wee small hours, it would have been ideal.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

6/10 Okay

Michele

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
The light in the bathroom is a motion light, so if you don’t take a 2 minute shower, the light will turn off. I tried waving my arms to get it back on, didn’t work. If you need to get to sleep early, request a room not overlooking the bar area.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

2/10 Terrible

Gregor

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
Tragic
Total car crash, could not check in due to ‘system failure’. Had to leave bags and head to our event without being able to freshen up. Even at midnight we had to negotiate getting our room. Felt sorry for staff but no leadership or systems in place to sort. Farcical.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

8/10 Good

Molly

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
N/A
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2023

6/10 Okay

Qing Fei

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2023

2/10 Terrible

Hannah

Stayed 10 nights in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

This Phone

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Margaret

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
We only stayed for 1 night but we were very impressed with everything from check in to check out
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

8/10 Good

Lupe

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Los colchones un poco incomodos. Resto fenomenal. Lo mejor la UBICACIÓN.
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2023

2/10 Terrible

Joonwoo

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Michael

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

2/10 Terrible

Marko

Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
Did not enjoy my stay here. Have emailed manager. Changed rooms 5 times. Spent over 2 hours. Was told to find another place and get a refund.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Michael

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

4/10 Poor

Michael

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

Huw

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
I was very pleasantly surprised staying two nights in the hostel - being the only accommodation that was affordable for myself during the fringe etc I was not sure what to expect. My first impressions were favourable - excellent efficient service with the staff. The dormitory was clean, presentable ( ok some bunks looked like a luggage holdall!) had two accessible showers. There was one window - despite being always open - it was very warm. Sauna conditions at times! However one thing did not spoil everything else. When I left Sat am I completed the circle - the staff member was smiling and helpful.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

George

Travelled with group
Liked: Staff & service, amenities
Good location, bar area and outside space is nice. Rooms do the job, however there are no fans or adequate ventilation, and it was warm when we were there so rooms were boiling. Also the shower lights are on a motion sensor so turn off every few minutes.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Mary

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

Rosa

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I like the location, cleanliness, i got a room for myself, was comfortable and clean I didn't like the noise coming from outside. Its a busy season, some people are noisy, but is not the hostel's fault. But i will stay again if I come back to the city
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

4/10 Poor

Anastasia

Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Babajide

Liked: Amenities
Great
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

2/10 Terrible

Celina

Travelled with group
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Why do you have a window that doesn't seal properly directly above a bar? We had to listen to a cacophony of drunk people singing until 4am. The washroom had no soap and the blanket was not washed. The toilet reeked so bad my eyes watered. Very confusing building layout. This place has turned me off from hostels entirely.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

Nick

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 6 nights in Jul 2023

4/10 Poor

Linda S.

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Staff is very friendly and helpful - except for having no maintenance staff available. In my 1-night stay I found the sink stuck closed (no drainage) one of the 2 outlets at the bed non-functional, the bathroom door lock working sometimes and not working others, and a piece missing from the in-room locker lock, meaning I had to rent a locker in the basement. In addition, the signage on the elevators does not match the numbering system of the rooms and the 1st floor of bedrooms is split in 2 parts by a dining/entertainment venue. The consequence of the layout is that for half the floor it is not possible to access it without climbing down and up stairs --- except by a circuituous route involving an elevator ride to the second floor. To compound the issue, there is no signage posted or available at check-in accurately informing how to reach that part of the facility.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

Marcela M.

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

6/10 Okay

Lesley

Disliked: Cleanliness
Disappointed
Hotel corridors need hoovered and stairwells need cleaned and mopped ...dirty socks and tissues in the hallway and a pile of dirty bed linen outside room door also from check in and still there the next day room floor dusty and luggage tags from previous guest underneath the bed...key cards not working on door to lift through the bar and upstairs to gain access to floor room was on
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Jack

Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2023

8/10 Good

Ana

Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2023

8/10 Good

Julia

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Get rooms at higher floor
We booked a quad room and was given a room on level 1 with the window facing the eating area. No privacy and we had to keep the curtains drawn all the time. Despite the no noise for by 10pm, there were groups making noise and singing right past the timing. We can also hear the music from the bar at ground level playing till late. Not easy to sleep. Would recommend asking for higher floor rooms. Apparently, level 5 rooms has good view of the city as testified by another guest I met.
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Gilles

Travelled with group
Very nice common rooms and very clean. Staff was so nice and it's situated in the center. Great experience
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023

6/10 Okay

Thomas

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
The staff was friendly and helpful. This was the cleanest hostel I’ve seen in a while. We showed up very jet lagged and just wanted to sleep. The problem was the room had a window out to the courtyard which has a bar. There were people screaming, laughing and having a good time until 12:30 AM which made it difficult to get some sleep. It did quiet down after that, but that was tough. We loved having our own toilet and sink but the shower was so small one of us couldn’t use it due to not fitting (chubby person but hasn’t had issues with every other shower stall). If you’re looking for one night sleep and maybe after being at the bars this is your place! If you want to get any sleep prior to 12:30 AM you shouldn’t stay here.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

8/10 Good

Jeff

Travelled with family, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Staff were friendly and helpful. Location was great
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023