Name: MacGabhainn's Backpacker Hostel
Address: 24 Vicar St, Kilkenny, Kilkenny, Kilkenny, R95 HX81, Ireland
Rating: 8

Elevator/lift

Smoke-free property

Heating

Garden

Terrace

General

Non-smoking rooms

Room service

Family room

Rooms

Laundry

Safe-deposit box

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Common kitchen

Packed Lunches

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Library

Bike rental

Barbecue grill(s)

Billiards

Hiking

Fishing

Barbeque

Recreation

Parking

Fax and copy machine

Business

Cycling

Sports

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hostel

MacGabhainn's Backpacker Hostel

Kilkenny

Booked well in advance for the weekend. Arrived with a rental car but the advertised "parking" was a difficult narrow little alleyway. I rang the doorbell twice and the guy finally answered the door and told me the only other parking was in a lot up the road or in a residential area. Came back and literally spent 15 minutes ringing the doorbell, knocking on the door, and calling their number to be let in to no avail. Ended up staying somewhere else. I booked through Travelocity and it took them about a week to even contact the hostel only to be told I'll be charged a cancellation fee anyway. Pretty lame considering they wouldn't even let me in the door.

Dismal

Everything was good, except the breakfast. They don't have a "free breakfast" properly, they only provide some milk and cereal and you can use them to make your own meal, but it looks like a courtesy, not a breakfast. And the shower it a bit annoying, but it's pretty OK in general.

Ok, cool staff

Really nice hostel. Comfy beds and clean rooms. The staff was really friendly and welcoming. Perfect location for visiting Kilkenny. Kitchen has everything you need (even a dishwasher so if you are lazy like me you don't need to clean your plates).

Great hostel, great people!

Unfortunately it's difficult to find good hostels in Ireland (in comparison to Australia, New Zealand, etc.). This one was clean with good staff but very shabby and difficult to relax in. Location was good (near all the city restaurants, bars and sights). 
Shared bathrooms were clean but very small and in dire need of renovation and working ventilation.
About a 20 minute walk to the train station.
You've to pay for parking Monday - Saturday. Off street car park near a church €2 per day, about 3 minutes away from the hostel.

Not The Best But Might Do As A Budget Option

Stayed 1 night . Friendly staff. Room basic but tidy and clean.  
Bathrooms also so spotless. 
Well done!. perfect for a quick stay . Close to local bars and perfect for sightseeing. they even called us a taxi when leaving. thank you. 

Friendly, Clean Hostel 

We spent only one night, since the first moment we arrived Luka was really kind with us, he really took time to show us in the map places to visit , good pubs and even a place where park our car. After that, show us  every single place in that hostel. 

That guy was so funny, as the rest of the people on the hostel. Bed were comfortable , room was clean from my point of view all was good and I can highly recommended this place. 
Thanks again for your kindness, I’ll come back for sure. 

Excellent service by Luka

We spent one night here on our round trip through Ireland. It was by far the worst accommodation we had experienced on our trip. We booked the accommodation due to the good reviews here and on Booking.com. When we first arrived we were shown a room that was already occupied. Fortunately, the other guests were not in the room. After the confusion, we were shown our real room. Two double beds and an intermediate exit. When we booked at the Reception we were told that we had booked a fourth room with our own bathroom, we were told that we would have booked a fourth room with a community bathroom but we would not have been able to find a nice lunch with a nice lunch, we would have been able to spend as much time in our hostel next to the hostel as soon as possible, and we could not have spent as much time in our new bathroom. We had at least one room with our own bathroom, but we could not have spent as much time in the bathroom after the first visit, and we had to have had a nice breakfast and breakfast in the morning, and we could not have spent as much time

Never again

I stayed here the bank holiday weekend and too be fair the kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms are clean but the sitting room is not so pleasant. The sofas are old with throws  thrown over them that really need a clean. The hostle is small and rooms are too so its nice to have somewhere to sit!This wasn't very nice place to sit it smelt of old, musty and staleness. To be fair I only slept there in the hostle and was out during the day but for anyone who may have wanted to watch a film it wasn't nice😞 

The hostel is an old house which has been renovated with a big kitchen, few bathrooms and lots of dorm rooms. Its saving grace for me was every door was a pin pad so you didn't need a key or card for the doors and it's location. I drank in the Brewery Corner which looks from the outside like a little old mans pub but its a very hipster pub on the inside, serving lots of Irish craft beers, with board games, pizza and DJs.

Also CakeFace is a fab cafe with delicious cakes and sandwiches well worth a visit!

It is also extremely close to the theatre if you wanted to take in a show.

The back yard needs some love and I found it very worrying to see a large pot plant blocking the fire exit. This needs to be moved as if this is the only exit for rooms the door can not fully open!!!

They do provide breakfast which is good and had a good selection of breakfast cereals branflakes, cornflakes, porridge, white sliced pan, milk,jam and butter I think, tea and coffee. The only thing I will say it would be no harm having a pan of brown bread not much in the difference price wise and milk low fat, soya or Almond.

I feel I will not stay here again, but that is just as I am done with staying in hostles.

There were kids staying in the hostle too with parents.

Also in my room there were only two double sockets if even, and two lockers under the bed but there were four beds in the room. So if you wanted a locker and the two lockers were taken not sure where you would lock up your stuff??So bring a major long phone charging lead.

Apologies I didn't take photos.

If Sofas could talk😱😱😱

We arrived on a group trip and since the price was so reasonable I had my expectations in check. Upon arrival the guy who was working in reception took €20 cash off every member of the group to make sure there was no damage, this was also understandable. My issue was when our trip came to an end and we asked for our deposit back we were point blank refused and the reason for this was outrageous. 

There was no damage done to any of the rooms and there was minimal disruption, so why did we not get our deposit back I hear you ask??? 

Let me tell you. There was an exit from one of the rooms that went directly to the smoking area and my friends and I used this door as not to disturd the other people staying the hostel. On the 2nd day there we were informed that this was a "fire escape" but it had no alarm and if that was the case everybody in the place was in danger. We were not allowed to use that door.

So in Summary the Australian guy withy the ponytail that was living in the caravan out the back, kept our €160 for using a door. I was extremely dissapointed and I wonder if the owners know about this. Ruined my experience

Our Deposit went into his back pocket

The small size of the hostel is typical. The place is quiet and ideally situated to visit without taking your car. The reception is very smiling. The hostel has the strictly necessary but very good price ratio.

MacGabhainn's Backpacker Hostel

Main amenities of the hostel

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hostel

What other amenities are there?

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Additional information

Payment