Name: The Old Mill Holiday Hostel
Address: The Barrack Yard, James Street, Westport, Westport, Westport, F28VX58, Ireland
Rating: 6

Smoking areas

Smoke-free property

Heating

Outdoor furniture

No elevators

Reception desk

General

Family room

Locker

Rooms

Laundry

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Common kitchen

Packed Lunches

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Airport transportation

Transfer

Spanish

English

French

Languages Spoken

Bike rental

Hiking

Fishing

Recreation

Parking

Water park

Swimming pool

Heated swimming pool

Next to the beach

Pool and beach

Diving

Cycling

Snorkelling

Yoga

Sports

Steam room

Beauty services

Beauty and wellness

Children swimming pool

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the hostel

Ireland West Airport Knock

The Old Mill Holiday Hostel

Westport

This really is a shocking place. 0 stars would still be flattering them if it was available to give. 

The room stinks or urine and the staff have the most disgusting rude manners I have ever witnessed. 

The lady on check in should really find a new job as i have never met somebody so moserable in my life. They lie to you on check in. Take a cash only deposit and then make up more lies on check out to find a way to keep it

We ended up calling the police on the ower to get our deposit back as she was committing theft. Right in front of us (or trying at least). 

We were a family of 6 well travelled who have stayed in hostels all over the world and this was by a distance the worst ever. Its a shame as the town is great and everybody has fun apart from this downer.

AVOID

Worst hostel in the world

The hostel is in a great location and as its the only one in town you don't have many options. It's basic but that's all you want. 

The reason for the review is the terrible staff, the checking lady was incredibly rude, lacked any warmth and a kind word and they inforced a policy of a thirty euro deposit per person ontop of the twenty five euro for the bed. You also are not told before of the deposit and that it has to be in cash until you check in. (Its in small print on the website) not mentioned in the confirmation or when you book. 

On checkout we were told a guest asked us keep the noise down last night (which was correct, but we did straight away) and hence this she refused to give is back our deposit.
We were never told about this before but there is a laminated sign in reception which was pointed out afterwards.

I have stayed in multiple hostels around the world, and no where ever refuses a deposit for noise, no staff were called the verify, just one person's word against another and then refuse to return a deposit. 

We obviously argued this, the owner is very simple, while we were disputing her taking our deposit she even said 'how can we afford to pay staff when people are paying twenty five euro a night' - so the business model is to rob peoples deposit to cover staff wages- disgusting. 

She finally decided to only take 70 euros off the six of us and return the rest... 
Making the rules up as she goes along. 

I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone and will make sure to tell others to avoid solely due to the management and how they just refuse to return your deposit. 

Why not just charge 35euro per person and run an honest business. 


Rude and dishonest business - avoid 

I gave it one star cause I can't give it zero starts, but it's one of the greediest and lousiest places I've ever been to. Had to wait half an hour to check in cause I went with my kids and apparently it's over 18??? Wtf? Youth hostels are notoriously for families...looks like a prison, bunk beds are lowest I've ever seen,  felt like choking, no fittings whatsoever or broken ones, obviously they spent as little as possible. Price is extortion, especially considering they don't pay taxes (cash only, I wonder why that is). Bloody showers were freezing cold...and designed by some warped mind. I'd say go and check for yourself but I'm not that cruel...a campsite would have been half the price, twice the comfort

Lousy and shockingly overpriced

The Old Mill is perfectly located in the centre of Westport, the accommodation comfortable and the facilities basic.
My main problems are with the way it is run. The staff are all short term volunteers and are not confident when it comes to check-in, not sure whether I should pay a deposit or not, but decided to err on the side of caution and ask for €30, no receipt, just put into a named envelope. All transactions are cash only, in this day and age, really? It is not a newspaper shop, why cash only for what can be large sums. Being short term volunteers, the staff I asked had no clue about Westport so cannot advise where to eat, drink or visit. Breakfast is advertised from 8am until 10 am, one morning the staff didn't appear and after numerous phone calls the owner came in at 9:40 am to open up and lay out breakfast. Check out is before 10am, but having got an on-time breakfast  I wanted to check out at 8:30, no couldn't do that as nobody was available to check me out and I had to wait until 9:30. 
It may only be a hostel, but it needs to be reliable for clients.

Overall poor

Nice Hostel, very central to Westport.  Close to all pubs and handy for hiking and cycling the greenway.  Nice size common area. Provides the basics well.  We got lucky with the people who were staying there.  There were a lot of lone travellers lookint to share experiences.   

Very central close to all pubs and handy for hiking and cycling

Pros: spacious and well equipped kitchen, cool old building, great town centre location close to cafés, shops, bike hire, etc, good wifi

Cons: All rooms are mixed gender, walls very thin so you’ll hear anything in the room next to you, showers on a 10 second timer until you have to press the water again, we booked 2 beds in a 4-person dorm (for two girls) and were instead put in a 6-person. 

Notes: Ask for the wifi network and password at the front desk as it isn’t the “OLDMILL” network that they advertise. We actually weren’t asked for the €30 cash deposit. Would definitely advise bringing earplugs for a less disturbed sleep. 

All in all, fine for a night or two, friendly staff and nice kitchen. Our main complaint (noise) can be mitigated worth earplugs, and just be aware that it there are no female only dorms.

Decent but not ideal

I had 2 good nights at the Mill and would happily return. Checking in was easy and Niamh was very helpful in providing tips on things to do in Westport. Facilities were good, particularly the kitchen and newly nicely decorated shower and toilet room. The location in the centre of town is ideal for visiting pubs and shops. I'd definitely return when next in Westport.

Perfectly located friendly hostel with good facilities

A place to be with friends and enjoy the city of Wesport.  Rustic hostel, low cost and excellent environment.  The kitchen is spacious and we can cook and chat with other guests.  In the city center close to bars, restaurants and supermarkets.  Westport is a beautiful city.
.

I”ll be back at the hostel

Upon arrival we were told that we had to pay a cash deposit of €30 per head and not allowed into the room until this was paid. Wasn’t ideal seen as we had cycled 70km to get there and nobody had any cash. 

We then had to pay €2 to rent a towel that looked like it was white in 1867. The room was poor, two tiny windows that would barely open meant it was poorly ventilated and there were only two plug sockets for a 4 bed room

This place was not disgusting, just terrible.

Location is good, I suppose.

Went to this one weekend and first impression was nice, The staff on the reception was nice and easy to deal with....Take note that the weekend was crazy warm (28-30 degrees during the day). We where brought to our room and the heat would knock a horse....Warmer than outside that day....The windows in the old mill building are very small and let no draft in as only the top opened and not far so if going there on warm weather.....Expect to be warm....Be nice to Have some air con in the room.

The showers and toilets for women are on third floor and mens on second floor...For anymen on 3rd floor this is a right pain during the night.

Anyway....The rooms are ok of a size but the walls are paper tin...The first night we could hear lads downstairs talking/shouting (strangling cats with the singing) and then the second night young girls next door talking/crying.shouting at 3.30 in the morning. So if you like your sleep id pay extra for anywhere else.

Heads up aswel a €40 deposit is required for each person in your room/party, This is cash only so have that ready to go.

On the positive side its nicely located in the town centre and close to other restaurants/bars, There is a few car parking space belonging to the hostel inside a gate thats really handy and if your not lucky to get a space you will have to get up at 6.30 in the morning to put money in the meter.

If you want a cheap bed and like loud people during the night after a long day climbing croagh patrick this is for you.

The Old Mill Holiday Hostel

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