The Irish Times - Saturday, January 29, 2011

Connemara hostel tops for budget 'brood breaks'

RONAN McGREEVY

ACCOMMODATION: A HOSTEL in Connemara has been selected as one of the best places in the world for families with children holidaying on a budget.

Dublin-based Hostelworld.com, which handles online bookings for 25,000 hostels and budget hotels, nominated Sleepzone near the Killary Adventure Centre as one of the best hostels for so-called “brood breaks”.

Rooms for families range from three to six-bed and all have en suite bathrooms. The hostel has its own tennis court, pool table and mini-supermarket. Family rooms are from €15 a night. It has an 88 per cent positive rating with Hostelworld.com users.

Two other hostel locations were identified as ideal for “brood breaks”. The Villa Saint Exupery in Nice, France is ideally located with comfortable family rooms available at a reasonable price and a free breakfast, Hostelworld users said. Closer to home, the Ace Hostel in York was chosen as ideal for its family rooms which overlook the city’s medieval walls.

Hostelworld.com has identified certain types of travellers who use low budget facilities. There are “grey gapers” – travellers of the older generation who may previously have considered hostels a young person’s game. The Lisbon Lounge Hostel in Lisbon and The Backpack and Africa Travel Centre in Cape Town were both identified as ideal for so-called grey gapers.

Then there are “solidaymakers” – people who travel on holidays alone and who wish to meet like-minded travellers. Base Auckland in Auckland, New Zealand, which has a girls’ only floor, was identified as ideal for solo female travellers and the Wombats City Hostel in Munich was praised for its great social atmosphere.