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

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

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2-beds

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3-beds

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4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

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!

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

This hostel is very cozy. Raymond I think is the owner he’s a very friendly man. Loving his town and hostel. Everything is very easy going. You’ll get a number for the door and leave and come as you like. Raymond has good recommendation for food, music and sights.
The hostel is literally at the center of the town. Everything is within 5-10 minutes. 
Loved it there, recommended and would stay again 

Cozy family home

This hostel was everything I could wish for - clean, secure, friendly staff, beautiful decor. It is also very affordable with additions like free breakfast, TV room, board games etc. I highly recommend it. 

Wonderful stay

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 

The girl on reception was lovely and the hostel is in an ideal location. The rooms and bathroom were cleaned nicely. It states on the site that there are no hens or stags however there was a stag on... the noise level was continous until 4am. Talking, shouting, banging on the walls, banging the bathroom doors. If you were at the hostel for a drinking weekend then it would not of phased you however we were not and I did not get any sleep until every one was asleep by 4am.

Ideal location.

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😱😱😱

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

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

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

MacGabhainn's Backpacker Hostel

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