I went to the caledonian backpackers hostel as part of a uni trip to edinburgh. I wasn't expecting great things - but I think the street would have been cleaner, and perhaps safer.
We arrived in the early hours of the morning and it took them nearly 2 hours to check us in. Whilst queuing for this we were accosted by a drunk man, who tried to grope several of the girls. The staff stood by despite some pretty loud screams of horror. In the end it was one of our party who kicked him out, only to see him promptly re-admitted by the receptionist. We were later told he was an employee!!!
We were given the wrong keys when we finally did check-in and when I went to get that sorted the guy at reception made a pass at me. It's really not what you want at 3am after a long journey.
The hostel itself was filthy and stank of bleach, urine and faeces. The female showers weren't too bad, but the floor was soaking (I don't want to know what with). Apparently the male bathroom was much worse.
The hostel looked as though it had been decorated by someone under the influence of hallucinogenics, though at least the bedding seemed clean.
There is a decent sized bar but it was filled with sleazy foreigners.
I would like to be able to comment on the breakfast but we didn't stick around that long!
I have slept in a mud hut in africa and must say I found it preferable to the Caledonian Backpackers lodge. Avoid at all costs!!!

This place has such a fun atmosphere. The staff is so nice. If you want a true "backpacker's experience," definitely stay here. Location is great too!

This hostel does itself a major disservice by being so disgustingly filthy. Every surface of the place is dirty, floors sticky, walls & ceiling of bathroom covered in mold. The kitchen area where you eat breakfast is especially rank. One of the girl's bathrooms had three relatively new showers, but apparently the men's showers were pretty awful.

I stayed in a dorm with about 40 beds, but in general found it to be relatively easy to sleep, although the first night I was there by myself, and did feel a bit uncomfortable being a single female in what seemed like a room full of men! Each bunk bed has 2 lockers beside it (bring your own lock, or buy one at the front desk), and there's baggage storage at reception. You can also rent towels for 50p, linens are included. Free breakfast is cereal and toast. There's a piano outside the hostel bar (basically at the bottom of the main stairway), which is unfortunate for people who don't want to hear drunken piano-playing at 3am. There's also a fair bit of street noise at 3am when the bars close (although I was there during the Rugby World Cup, so there might have been more partiers than usual). The staff were pretty helpful - when my brother arrived in Edinburgh at 7am the morning after I got there, they let him check in and have breakfast even though they normally don't until after 10am. Honestly, you must have to be a saint to work in a place that dirty & gross!

The location is great, but I wouldn't stay here again if I could get another hostel. I'm usually not a complete stickler for cleanliness - I've stayed in nasty budget hotels all around Africa! - but the dirtiness of this place just permeated the whole experience. Oh, I also had a shirt stolen while I stayed here, but I try not to hold that against a hostel because visitors anywhere will do that sort of thing.

Myself and two girls from college decided to stay at the hostel cos it was cheap and had good reviews.
The Room was clean, as where bed clothes but they were fairly old, there was however a broken pain of glass on the window and a distinst smell of wee and bleach in the corridor!

Anywho We booked a Quad room and when we arrived and got into the room they had put a MAN in the room with us.
We were not happy - three 22yr old girls in a room with a strange man. We understood its a hostel and anything can go but it was the fact that it was a private room at the end of a corridor and they put a fella in with us.

The autralian girl on reception was very if not too bloody relaxed about the situation and was EVENTUALLLY helpful but she failed to see why we were so upset about the situation, (the fact that there was a strange man who could take advantage while we were asleep or whatever.) If they had put in a girl it would have been fine. So we ended up gettin a full refund and booked ourselves into a hotel.

So just some advise to girls staying here - if you book a quad room book all the beds otherwise you might end up with a fella in the room with you!!!

Won't be going back to the hostel, but will go to Edinburgh - Loverly city :)