YHA South Downs

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Reviews

1. Sarah Thomas ★★★★★

   The ULTIMATE Stop on the South Downs Way!The YHA South Downs is simply the best accommodation you could ask for while hiking the South Downs Way. Its location is perfectly positioned right near the trail, making for an incredibly easy start and finish to your day's hike.But this hostel is more than just a convenient bed—it's a destination in itself. The facilities are clean, comfortable, and welcoming, and the on-site coffee shop is a total lifesaver! Seriously, the coffee is fantastic, and it’s the perfect spot to grab breakfast or refuel after a long day of walking.A massive bonus is the proximity to Southease station, which makes arrival and departure incredibly smooth if you're traveling by train. Friendly staff, great atmosphere, top-notch coffee, and an unbeatable location. Five stars aren't enough—this is a must-stay!

   almost 3 months ago
2. Maggie Cheung ★★★★★

   Right next to the train station. Plenty of parking. Easy check in. Lovely lounge and kitchen areas. Nice cafe serving hot food and drinks. The room was a bit small and noisy as you'd expect. There was a green light that kept the room lit up, so that was a bit annoying, and I had to sleep with the windows open, because even though the thermostat was set to 6 degrees, it was above 26. There were 4 shower rooms and 3 toilets for 7 rooms, but you are able to go to other areas to use the toilet. They'd partnered with Waitrose to provide drinking water fountains. It was great value for money.

   almost 3 months ago
3. Rina Rozenraukh ★☆☆☆☆

   I wish I didn’t have to leave such a poor review as I stayed in lots YHA years ago, but for £100 for a cabin, ours was infested with wood lice (one fell on me during the night)! And again for that price we had to share two showers with a building full of school aged children, which seems odd. Location was far from everything, which we didn’t realize - closest pub was quoted as£60 return by cab, especially as the roads were closed. Staff was nice but they just said there should have been no wood lice when we mentioned it. Linens were clean. But again, when we went to get dinner, given there is not much else around, they didn’t defrost the fish for fish and chips. I wouldn’t recommend it.

   almost 4 months ago

1. Alba Adler ★☆☆☆☆

   Extremely disappointing experience. The staff were unhelpful, and showed no interest in assisting with my issue. I booked to stay at the property from 7 to 9 Sept 2025, but due to train time disruption and previous train time didn't fit with property check in time, I requested date change through the platform, but the person told that they can't assist with the change, and was told to cancel and rebook instead. After following their instruction, I was fully charged for the cancellation with no support offered. I contacted both the property and the platform for assistance, but received no response. I would strongly advise others to avoid booking here to save yourself the frustration

   almost 5 months ago
2. Victoria Attard ★★★★★

   Really lovely place to stay. Staff are so wonderful and friendly. We stayed in the bell tent which is very large and spacious and well maintained. There’s plenty of space for children to run around outside and explore. Indoors there’s also a large lounge and quiet room as well as a well stocked kitchen. Breakfast was plentiful and really tasty. The train is a 3 minute walk away and takes 10 mins to the seafront (although they is only 1 train an hour so time it well). There are also lots of lovely walks straight from the YHA.

   almost 7 months ago
3. James Pugh ★★★★★

   Lovely YHA with a warm and busy vibe, and very friendly staff. And great location for East Sussex Having read reviews before coming, I came with trepidation about traffic noise from the neighbouring A-Road. However in spite of being a moderately light sleeper plus with the window open during the night, I wasn't disturbed by traffic noise. This might not be the case for all rooms, but since there isn't much traffic at night anyway, I don't understand the number of reviews complaining about traffic noise

   almost 2 years ago

1. Helen Wagstaff ★★★★☆

   Stopped for coffee during a walk. Very quiet today (January) but gets busy in warm weather. Beautiful setting and conveniently on the SDW trail.

   almost 3 years ago
2. Bicycle Touring Pro ★☆☆☆☆

   A Big disappointment, the best part was the warm welcome upon arrival. The room I was allocated to was no. 6 the noisy entrance door creaked upon opening and I fixed that myself by putting some bike lubricant spray otherwise I wasn’t going to get much sleep, the room had a loose door handle and the bed sheet barely covered the rubber mattress, what I had to swap with the upper bunk as the lower one was worn out, the room was dirty, had not been cleaned properly had cobwebs around the ceiling and windows, and the drain for the sink was partially blocked, as I lay down to take a rest I was greeted by a huge green light in the room. I visited the on-site cafe who previously said they did evening food I had two ham and pineapple pizzas, clearly they were pre made and likely frozen too, I was informed breakfast was from 07,30 hrs. Overnight sleep was dreadful being next door to the A26 that leads to Newhaven Car ferry, the road is filled with heavy trucks at certain times of the day mostly during the night, the free supplied by YHA ear plugs are of little use here. I slept very little and woke tired for a long day ahead back to my home in France. I had ordered a full English breakfast at 07,30 , it said it was a buffet breakfast, another disappointment it was at least 08,15 before it was ready, there was no fried eggs, I asked about this and the young man said he didn’t like to fry eggs , hence as a result no egg yolk to dunk my buttered toast in. I’m not normally a morning tea drinker but nothing else was offered so I had to like it or lump it. This hostel has many problems, many quite easily fixed if only people would be willing to listen. I have visited many hostels of the course of the last 40 years this is unfortunately probably one of the worst. Hopefully a YHA agent will be in touch soon to rectify this.

   almost 3 years ago
3. Hannah Tulloch ★★★★☆

   Really beautiful area and great location for lots of things, walking, seaside, visiting local towns. We had a private room with ensuite, but the shared bathroom was directly opposite our door in a very narrow corridor with old creaky floorboards, so every time someone woke up in the night to use the bathroom I could feel the bed shaking and it woke me up. But lots of character to the place because its such an old building. Had the continental breakfast in the morning and the pastries were incredible, you have to try them!

   almost 3 years ago

1. Prashant Onkar ★★★★★

   Rooms are spacious. Shower area could've been larger. Bunk beds are comfortable. Very good view from window. You get to see beautiful countryside if you hike for 5 mins.

   almost 3 years ago

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