Finding somewhere cheap to stay in Dublin is difficult, really difficult. Similar to other Western European capitals like London and Paris, good quality accommodation for affordable prices are few and far between but there are some options include Kinlay House.
In this article Nate from the United States shares his experience and whether he would recommend staying here if you are planning a trip to Ireland.
I stayed in The Kinlay House Dublin, and while it’s not up to the level of Wombat’s (the standard by which I will forever judge every other hostel), it was definitely up there.
Location
One of the best things about Kinlay House is its location. It’s literally 20 feet from Christ Church Cathedral, 2 blocks from St. Patrick’s, and a 10 minute walk from the all important Guinness Storehouse.
Getting there
Take the Airlink 747 from the airport towards Christchurch Cathedral. The journey should only take about a half hour and Kinlay is a 2 minute walk from the stop, 3 if you’re elderly or walk at a snail’s pace. For 6 euro (10 euro return), you can’t beat it.
Staff
The staff are above average. They don’t have any intention of being your Dublin tour guide, but they’ve got about a million maps at the front desk and they won’t hesitate to set you up with one (for free). They’re friendly and are good about getting you set up in your room, and they’re available 24/7 so no curfew.
Rooms
As far as the rooms are concerned, they’re pretty much what you’d expect. I stayed in a 6 man, so there were three metal bunk beds. Not exactly the most stable structures. If you’ve got a playboy for a roommate it could be a squeaky night, but I was never worried about it collapsing.
I got stuck with some pretty crappy roommates. When I booked myself in a 6 person room I thought I’d become friendly with the other 5 people in the room and everything would be peachy. Well that was kind of hard to do when the only time I saw them was between when they stumbled into the room at 3am and left the room at 8am. Not to mention at both 3:00 and 8:00 they thought it would be fun to have naked wrestling matches – I kid you not, they were ass naked.
This happened all three nights like clockwork and is something you shouldn’t do in a hostel. Meanwhile I stayed under my covers trying to avoid getting mooned. Did I mention they were French and didn’t speak English? I opened the door for one of them one morning and all he could say was “good”. The up side? They didn’t steal anything of mine… or wrestle me.
There was only one storage shelf for the six people in the room, but you probably won’t be carrying more than a backpack so it’s not like you need a walk-in closet anyway. Plenty of space to spread out.
I was lucky enough to have a bathroom connected to my bedroom. It took about ten minutes for the water in the shower to warm up, but fear not, there is warm water. I made it to the community bathroom down the hall a few times and it was just as nice, so if it’s cheaper to get a room without a bathroom, go for it.
Positives
Possibly the best thing about Kinlay is the free Wi-Fi. They also have computers with internet and there was never a line, so if you’re itching to email your mum or you’re a Instagram junkie it’s no problem. Just to reiterate, it’s free.
The toilets work, shower had warm water. Good enough for me. Linen and soft towels are also included.
I trusted my roommates not to steal anything and just kept my passport with me at all times. It stayed in my right pocket all day and my pillow case at night and I was good to go.
On their site, they advertise a “breakfast”. If you want anything close to a hearty breakfast you’ll have to walk to the café across the street. By breakfast, Kinlay means coffee, juice, and white toast – that’s it. And while I filled up on toast because I was too cheap to buy breakfast, it might be worth it to eat out in the morning. (For you late risers, sorry, breakfast is only served until 9:30.)
Negatives
There’s always going to be some negatives that’s just the way it is, but luckily for Kinlay their negatives are pretty minuscule.
For starters, they don’t have lockers in the room – you have to rent out lockers and safes. With the cost of the key deposit and nightly fee, it can put a pretty big dent in your wallet (for me it was going to be 15 euro total).
Now here’s a positive and a negative. Right behind Kinlay is Darkey Kelly’s, my favorite bar in all of Dublin. Obviously I was pumped because I only had to walk around the corner for my night time festivities, but on the flip side, they have an outdoor section which is louder than a Harley on steroids, and stays that loud until 2 am. I guess it’s just one of those times you take the good with the bad.
Overall
So that’s Kinlay for you. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’d give it a 4. My experience probably would’ve been better without the naked Frenchmen, but oh well.
If you’re looking at other hostels, check out the Four Courts Hostel, Globetrotters/The Townhouse, and The Times Hostel. And if you want to get a bit fancier, there are plenty of hotels in Dublin. Search all options on Booking.com.
View more information about working holidays in Ireland if living here appeals to you, or view our tips for things to look for when booking a hostel.