We stayed for one night in September at this hostel and were initially blown away by the location. Reading that it's right in the action is one thing, but actually being there is another!

We had an ensuite double, so we felt very private. The bed was actually quite comfortable (especially for a hostel) and the bathroom was fine - not too grungy and a decent size.

The staff we dealt with were very nice and answered our few questions.

During the day we loved the location - we were right in the middle of everything and were able to shop and eat and drink only minutes away from our hostel. Once night hit however, we began to regret the location. We headed for bed around 1am, and initially our room was relatively quiet. At three when the bars closed there was a lot of noise as everyone stumbled to their respective homes. Following this there was a group of people who obviously wanted to party more - they ran up and down the halls yelling, banging on doors, stumbling, laughing and making a lot of noise in general for at least an hour. As a light sleeper there was no chance I was going to sleep through this. Eventually they quieted down (around 4 or 5am), but I don't think the staff had anything to do with this.

Breakfast was a simple toast jam and coffee affair, but is more than most hostels give you, so we were happy with this.

All in all, we had no severe complaints about the hostel, but next time would probably choose a slightly more remote location.

First of all my friend and I stayed at the Barnacles hostel in Dublin before we came to Galway. The One in Dublin was far less nice-- that may have been due to the fact that we were incredibly hung over and arrived about 3 hours before we could check into the hostel so we had to walk around trying to not puke on ourselves. Anyway- when we were leaving the Barnacles Hostel they told us about the hostel in Galway and arranged the accomodations for us there. When we arrived in Galway they were quick to check us in, we paid a little extra for a private room so we didn't have to worry about unexpected guests in the evening. The beds weren't too comfy, but it's a hostel you're paying $15 bucks a night for a reason. We drank way too much Guinness courtesy of "The Kings head" and had a good nights sleep. The following day, nursing a raging hangover, we made our way to a scheduled bus tour we arranged to Doolin and Cliffs or Moher. If you go to Galway and do one thing it should be going to the Cliffs of Moher! The most beautiful thing I may have ever seen. IT was a cloudy day so we couldn't see as far as we would have liked, but even with the clouds it was breathtaking. I wish I could have bottled it up and taken it with me. If you're really brave you can walk along the edges- if you look down, 100's of feet down, you will see waves crashing into the cliffs, it's almost hypnotizing! Galway is small, but worth every second. Great place, great people. Would go there again in a second.

Galway can be a difficult place to find accommodation, particularly if you’re booking last minute during the busy season. I’m in my 30s, and I was traveling alone, so I thought I’d give a hostel a try. I should note, this was my first stay in a hostel, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. First of all, the location is incredible. Barnacles is located on the pedestrian street and there are several pubs and restaurants in stumbling distance. The very popular Quays pub is directly opposite. McDonagh’s Seafood House is a couple doors down (I highly recommend it!). The location is sort of hard to believe, particularly for the price. The front desk staff are friendly and helpful. There are decent kitchen facilities and I felt very comfortable storing and preparing meals there. The security is also very good. You receive a card key which allows access to the front door and your bedroom door. For those looking for a party atmosphere, this is not the place (though there is plenty going on right outside the hostel!). For two nights I was in a room for four. What that meant was that I was shared a minuscule room with two bunk beds with 3 other girls. Perhaps that wouldn’t have been an issue if we hadn’t brought personal belongings, but unfortunately we all had changes of clothes, toiletries, and even a book or two. As such, once we were all in the room together, it was almost comical how we needed to limit our motion. There was virtually no storage space for those on the top bunk. Thinking of showering? Beware--the showers are dingy and moldy (as another reviewer mentioned). The “breakfast” Barnacles promotes is simply bread to make your own toast, tea, instant coffee, and orange juice from a box. If I had been traveling with a companion I would have opted to stay in a B&B or a hotel, but Barnacles was worth the solo stay just for the experience.

This hostel is well located on the busy main street. The room was OK but the shower was really mouldy and unpleasant so the bathrom smelled. The breakfast is very basic.