Hotel reviews: Yellow Rose Pension, Canakkale, Turkey
Although the Yellow Rose calls itself a “Pension” it is really a hostel – but a hostel of a good standard and one that is not institutionalized. There are few of the organized activities you find in many hostels and guests do not really congregate in any communal areas. Most people tend to do their own thing as there is no bar.
Most of the time the hostel was deathly quiet but in the early hours there was sometimes noise from other guests coming in. It would have been good to see a few notices displayed reminding people of the need to be quiet on the stairs and in hallways.
The Yellow Rose Pension offers a variety of room types – singles, doubles (with en suite facilities), some triples and dormitories. We stayed in a double for three nights in the height of summer. Any longer would have been too long; the rooms are clean but spartan. They are an adequate size but the bed is crammed into an alcove so you can only get in at one side. There is no wardrobe, just a couple of pegs on the wall from which to hang clothes. Beside the pegs there is a mirror with a small vanity ledge. Apart from the bed, there was no other furniture – not even a chair.
The floors are tiled with no rugs or mats; there are no pictures on the walls. This is truly a functional room designed as a crashpad that requires minimal cleaning and where nothing can be broken or damaged.
Our room had a window but no air-conditioning. On the positive side, the windows all had bug mesh. We found the accommodation adequate but we would have liked to have been able to have an electric fan since the room was so airless and hot.
The en suite bathroom was showing some signs of age but was in good working order and clean. There was always plenty of hot water available and the pressure was good – this is a very positive aspect of a hostel.
The ambiance comes from the camaraderie of the guests who are mainly young and mostly from Australia and New Zealand. While this may put some people off, it is likely that the reason they have come to Canakkale causes them to be more subdued than they might be elsewhere; Canakkale is the place where most visitors to the Gallipoli Battlefields stay and every year thousands of Australians and New Zealanders go to see the final resting place of their ancestors. The clientele was not exclusively young backpackers, though; there were some older couples and one family group too.
The film “Gallipoli” and the documentary feature “The Fatal Shore” are shown in
Where to find budget accomodation in the UK
After being in the UK for over 18 months now, I have found that the best and most convenient way to find accommodation, not just in the UK, but all over the world are the following sites: www.hostelbookers.com and www.hostelworld.com.
The two sites provide non-biased, comprehensive information on each and every hostel listed to ensure you get exactly what you are looking for. They provide, location maps and details on how to find each hostel from local bus depot’s, airports and other places of interest. The two sites contain an abundance of photos for each hostel or hotel listed and allows guests to register where they can then rate their experience on the site for future accommodation seekers.
Both sites let you search according to many different criteria and you can also look up specific hostels or hotels if you know the name of the place you are looking for. Their extensive selection provides a place for anyone looking to save money and I have found that more often than not, the online price is much cheaper than the price you would pay if you went directly through the hostel. They also provide you with the availability for that week and once booked, you are asked to pay a deposit of 10% with the balance due on arrival. There are no booking fees for either site and each houses online chat rooms and travel blogs to share stories between travellers and tips and hints about what to see and where to go. The sites have a general nice welcoming feeling to them. They are not overwhelming in that it is very easy to navigate your way around them.
I have used other sites before when it has come to finding accommodation for example; we booked a place through wwww.studystay.com for a night in Bournemouth on a busy Bank holiday weekend. You can imagine our disappointment when we arrived to find that the hotel had no record of our booking despite the fact that studystay.com had withdrawn the entire amount of the accommodation from my bank account. We were eventually refunded and a few hours later we had found another (but much more expensive) hotel so I won’t be using them again. I have booked holidays throughout Australia, the UK and all through Europe and Hostelbookers and Hostelworld have never let me down. I am sure to leave my recommendations each time I stay at a new hostel in the hope that the next traveller enjoys their stay as much as I had.
Changing Face of Hostels and Budget Accommodation
Changing Face of Hostels and Cheap Accommodation
The youth and budget travel market demands more today than ever, the travellers are street wise and globally savvy, they know what they want and at what price. If you ask any young person what they want to do in life they probably wouldn’t give you any sensible answer, but one thing they definitely know is they want to Travel the World and Visit as many places as possible before they settle down.
There is a Can Do Travel attitude in the Youth of today, they want to travel from Sydney to Beijing, from New York to London and Prague, From Lagos to Cape Town then possibly new Delhi, all on a shoe string budget, this attitude has been inspired by the Boom of Budget Airlines and Cheap Air Travel this has also brought about the boom in Budget Accommodation, which is the fastest growing sector in the Accommodation and Tourism.
Time has been a friend to Hostels and the people who stay in them. Only a few years ago if you stayed in a Hostel it may not have been the best experience, but now things have definitely changed for the better. Some people in America used to refer to Hostels as Toilet because of the poor standards, outright neglect and lack of customer care.
The prices of Hostels and Cheap Hotels are still the most competitive in the Market for Inexpensive Holiday Accommodation, but the Quality of the accommodation and service given by the staff has improved 10 fold.
Some of these changes have been brought about by the emergence of the Internet and online Hostel Booking sites Like Hostels247.com, which use a rating system and demand high standards from the operator, this lets backpackers and Budget travellers know what type of Hostels and Cheap Accommodations they are booking before they get there. Also after staying in the Accommodation they can send in their feedback and Rating of the accommodation to the online booking site.
This type of online booking allows the traveller know what they are getting into before they confirm their booking. This gives the traveller the opportunity to know what type of Facilities there are, full description and Photo’s, Directions and much more.
You can now find Hostels in many Cities around the World with Private Single, Double and Triple Rooms with en-suite Facilities, Free Internet access and WiFi Hot spots, there are many Hostels with full Guest Kitchens, Meeting Facilities and some with Gyms and Swimming Pools, things which you would only expect from Expensive Hotels and Private Apartments.
Even if you prefer to stay in the Classic Dorm style rooms these have also been transformed, with ingenious things that make your stay more enjoyable, like Free In room Security Lockers, En-suite Facilities, Reading lights for each Bunk and Privacy Curtains.
Hostels today are run like a business that care for its customers and not half way houses for delinquents.
The Quality and variety of Facilities provided in many Hostels and budget Hotels make you think you are staying in a far more expensive Hotel, it is good to know you have found a great deal.
It must be said that a lot of Hostels have improved dramatically, and by online booking sites insisting on best standards this has forced even the most scrupulous operators to get their act together, there will always be exceptions, but as a whole, if you have never stayed in a Hostel before there is no better time than Now, to take the Plunge and save yourself some serious money. You will be pleasantly surprised, and you might even be converted into a Hosteller.
To Know More Go To http://www.hostels247.com/
