Edinburgh Metro Youth Hostel

Excellent super-​budget option for summer visitors to Edinburgh.
This hostel is actually part of Edinburgh University and a student hall — which means it’s accessible for outside visitors only during the summer holidays, July and August (dates vary slightly each year). For European visitors it may come as a surprise, but students at British colleges often have to remove all their stuff from their small flats during the term holidays so that the university can make some extra money on backpackers and other tourists. See e.g. the Imperial College Accomodation in London.
So as a potential booker you have to keep in mind that it is a student hall: no frills whatsoever — no TV, no electric kettle, no room service, no breakfast, and a shared bedroom. The latter is not as bad as it may sound, each «apartment unit» has 6 rooms and 2 bathrooms — ergo, 1 bathroom for every 3 patrons. Everything during my stay was clean and neat. On the plus side, too, there is a shared kitchen where you might cook your own meals and keep your food in a large fridge.
All the rooms are private.
At the outset of your stay the bed will have fresh covers which you better keep clean because there will be no change during your stay. I guess that you can get fresh covers at an extra fee, but I kept mine clean during my 10 days stay. Also, if you need towels, those come extra, too. I brought my own anyway.
The décor and furniture reminded me of a children’s room — simple, inexpensive, but clean (OK, so not quite like a children’s room). A wardrobe and some smaller storage units are included.
Edinburgh Metro Youth Hostel in centrally located on Cowgate at the very heart of the city’s old town — just a three minute walk away from the most popular tourist area, the Royal Mile (with Edinburgh Castle on one end, Holyrood Palace on the other — and tons of shops, restaurants and pubs in between). Cowgate can be a rather busy street, especially in the evenings. Several student pubs are close by, so it may get loud on weekends even late at night, with people hollering, singing or screaming at three a clock in the morning. My room had a window towards Cowgate, so I got the full noise enchilada.
The student staff are generally very friendly, if not always terribly efficient. There is a locked gate that separates the hostel area from the street at night, so make sure they’re giving you the CODE when you arrive! Officially, it’s a 24h reception with a night porter — but him or her being a student night porter, don’t count on that.
We had a fire alarm one night at 1 a.m. (hence my «special» photo), so we were all rounded up in our undies and spent some 15 minutes in the hostel yard until the fire brigade arrived. There was no actual fire, and no such entertainment on any other night. ;)
And, last not least, the price is right: I spent UKP 260 for 10 nights, which is pretty much unbeatable for a single private room in central location — albeit with shared bathroom facilities.
Highly recommended for what it is!