Stylish, comfortable hostel with wonderful staff who went out of their way to help us. Kathleen especially saved us a lot of trouble on our first night when another accommodation didn’t work out, and our last morning when we (didn’t know we) needed to go straight to the airport rather than take a more scenic route.
We had an attic room which was large and comfortable enough in August to get by with open windows (tho may have needed fans during July’s heat wave). At night you could hear a few rowdy people on the street but the hostel itself was quiet.
Breakfast was generous and our one meal downstairs at the restaurant (Random) was made special for one family member’s birthday. They made room for our large group despite having a busy night.
Dingle itself is lovely, but can be wildly commercial during summer. This place is a respite from that, full of genuine hospitality and advice. Many pubs with music are nearby, but the town shuts down early, restaurants closing at 9:00 or 9:30 and bars stop serving at 11am with the seeming exception of an after hours sports bar.
Most fellow travelers seemed to be couples or small groups of friends. There is a comfortable common space and bright breakfast area. Both are locked up at night, as is the kitchen, as staff leave between 11pm-7am.
There are 15 rooms in the hostel so if there are problems during these hours you need to wait until morning to deal w them. During our stay one guest next door was locked out of her room and banged loudly for a v long time to be let in at 3am, unsuccessfully.
Our only other problem was the lack of a laundry service. Staff said it had been discontinued but we had wet clothes from surfing and fishing. We could only use the outdoor washer and dryer behind the Centro supermarket, which took half a day and still required drying all over our room for another 2 days. My advice would be to go to a larger town to do laundry, or wait for another travel stop.
None of this diminished how happy we were at the hostel, though. It really is an enclave of affordable camaraderie and comfort in a very beautiful town.