Situated in the heart of Bristol, Rock'n'Bowl features a 24-hour front desk, common areas with free Wi-Fi, flat TVs, a tennis table and a big courtyard. Guests benefit from several discounts at The Lanes, the on-site bowling alley and night club venue, with a special selection of beers, cocktails, a karaoke facilities, pool tables and the famous Ray's Pizza, made with daily fresh dough, buffalo mozzarella and imported Italian ingredients. A nice and healthy breakfast which includes locally roasted fresh coffee, tea, milk, jam, orange juice, toast and cereals, is included with each reservation. The on-site complex, the historical THE LANES, has club nights with many important bands and djs so please be aware that there will be noise disruption on Friday and Saturday nights in particular until about 03:00.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Budget
Centrally Located
Languages Spoken
English, French, Spanish, Hindi and 1 more
Location
22 Nelson Street, Bristol BS1 2LA England
Rock'n'Bowl Motel
766 reviews
Getting there
Great for walkers
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
the kitchen is nasty. hostel stinks. the staff cant speak english. staff is very rude. they gonna clean beds when ur still sleeping. showers are bad. you have to pay more then what they say. to busy with stupid people
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Date of stay: January 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
How to start reviewing this place? I don't even know if I should call it 'Place'... I stayed at the hostel for 3 weeks and it was horrible.
They were too many receptionists in short shifts with makes hostel management a huge mess.
I was asked once to pay the key deposit again during my booking because apparently I was refunded into my account, when I checked no refund was there. After couple days of complaints, money was refunded to a different guy.
Apart from that, one of the major issues was to leave the whole hostel with no hot water for more than a week. Is funny, isn't? You are paying 35£ for a 12 people shared dorm and no hot water.
We complained few times during the first days and management kept saying 'It will be fixed tomorrow' and actually after just two weeks, it was fixed.
I was robbed food many times, one thing is someone else take your table salt which is likely to occur in a hostel like this but buying a steak dinner and couple hours later it's gone.
I complained many times during three weeks and asked them to check the CCTV system but apparently cameras don't work.
The previous day before leaving, I had an argue with the hostel management explaining all this issues and I was kicked out from the hostel because apparently I raised my voice. The truth is that the manager was calling me 'Kiddo' and being condescendent towards me.
I asked for a complaining form to filled up but the manager replied 'Kiddo, Here, things don't work like that'
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Date of stay: October 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
If you have any valuables DO NOT stay at the Rock n Bowl or they wont be yours for much longer! When I checked in to the Rock N Bowl I asked the staff if my Apple mac laptop would be safe.They assured me that because my room was a private the door had a dead lock so there would be no problems.I checked into my room and left the building for 1 hour returning to find my laptop had dissapeared from my room which was strange as my door was locked! I informed the member of staff behind the counter that my laptop had been stolen and as the door was locked somebody had a key and therefore it was a member of staff.For some bizarre reason he didn't come to this conclusion and refused to call the police as he didn't think they would be interested!!When i spoke to the police they informed me that they have had many problems with security at the the Rock N Bowl and have repeatedly asked them to install cameras and swipe cards.My advice to you is to to stay well away from the Rock N Bowl because the staff have keys and are not afraid to help themselves to your property.
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Date of stay: March 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Title says it all. Shocking place full of long term lowlife and creepy behaving 70 year old. Seriously dodgy if you are female. Place run down, dirty, unsave and loud to beyond believe. All common spaces always occupied by long term inhabitants drinking their cheap ciders or beers. Stay away!
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Date of stay: September 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The purpose of our trip was partying and we had ear plugs, so the noise of the bar beneath the hostel wasn't a problem for us, but people wanting to rest should consider this before booking.
As said in the subject, the staff was really nice. The beds were really comfortable and the covers warm enough (needed because it was cold in the room, but it was June and we didn't expect the heating to be on). I missed some opaque cortains or blinds in the rooms.
The location was really nice, in the city centre.
A big issue in this place was the cleaning. Most of the times the toilets were disgusting and anyone would avoid using them. We found lots of dirt under the beds. The showers' locker room was wet the whole time.
We didn't cook in the kitchen and we just heated some water for preparing tea, but it looked like well preserved.
We booked this place just a month prior to the trip and it was quite expensive for its quality (aprox 45 EUR per person and night in two private rooms of 8 people). Because we booked with such little time, we didn't have many options, since other places were much more expensive or not as close to the city centre. If by any chance I'd need to travel to Bristol again I'll consider another choice. I'd go back to Rock n Bowl motel anyway if the other choices were as prohibitive.
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Date of stay: June 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Where do I start with this place, the reception area where you have to wait 25 minutes for a staff member to turn up to actually check you in? The quite vile cleanliness of the whole place in general? Or their blatant attempt to take as much money as they can from each customer who walks through their doors? I’ll be honestly the homeless bloke asleep 20 metres down the road probably had a better nights sleep than anyone actually paying to stay in the honest. And on booking being told that a free breakfast was included, and then the lady working calling it a “buffet breakfast” I think was just her having a joke at our expense as it was a wide range of toast, toast & toast!
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Date of stay: August 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
While I can't really fault the place itself I had a pretty poor experience with a staff member when checking out. I had asked the night before about ordering a taxi to the airport at 5:30am for 5 of us and was assured this wouldn't be a problem and whoever was on reception would help us with this and we didn't need to prebook. However, when I asked the guy to help in the morning he called and told us the number wasn't working and gave us no other options apart from getting a bus (we had lots of luggage and had timed our check out so we could just grab a taxi and get to the airport quickly).
When I asked if there was another company we could call he just stared at me blankly and mentioned he ordered a taxi for 2 girls a few minutes ago but it's not working now. I had to Google it myself on my phone and call the first result that came up who got us a taxi no problem.
When we went out to find our taxi we found the 2 girls he had mentioned and they asked us if they could share our taxi as the guy in the hostel told them to go out and flag an unmarked taxi because he couldn't get them one. As it happens they were getting the same flight as us and there was just enough room in our 8 seater taxi for them thankfully.
I find it really unacceptable that the receptionist wouldn't use a bit of initiative and find an alternate company for us, just giving us a blank stare and leaving us to do the legwork when we don't know the city. Luckily I have free roaming and I'm a savvy enough traveler that I was able to sort it and catch our flight but telling a couple of young girls (no more than 19 or 20 I'd say) to just leave and find an unmarked taxi on the street at 5am when they need to catch a flight is disgraceful.
As I said earlier the hostel itself is nice and has good facilities and I imagine generally is a good place to stay but I couldn't give a better review as our check out experience left a really bad impression. I hope this was just an isolated matter and that the staff aren't usually this lackadaisical.
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Date of stay: June 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The place is quite nice and clean, full of amenities, but the staff is rather stand-offish doesn't go out of their way to help or give recommendations about the city. The main issue is that during weekends they have parties until 3am, with music so loud that the windows glass in our room was shaking and could feel the vibration of the basses while lying on the mattress. Generally speaking I don't mind going to clubs/concerts etc. but i rather not have it my room. When confronted with this problem the staff first tried to play down the whole thing, but eventually caved and refunded us with 50%, so eventually everything worked out for the best. However, i wouldn't recommend this hostel unless you're in Bristol on holiday and can afford to stay awake until 3am. Breakfast buffet is also included in the price, which is nice, the breakfast is continental and very basic, i.e. bread butter jam tea coffee, overall the average breakfast you'd get in an average hostel.
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Date of stay: February 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Location is excellent. Just 4 mins walk to bus station and shopping centres/city centre. Many other complementary facilities. Lived in 12 bed room and it was more than comfortable. Cleanliness is good. Desk service is awesome. Kitchen is very big and well equipped, nice place to make new friends. I would strongly recommend this hostel for a comfortable stay.
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Date of stay: February 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The bedrooms are very dirty, there are waste everithing. Also there'is a terrifying stench and humidity are extremely. Also the heater don't work.
In common space guests don't keep clean , specially spanish guys like cook for us and they friends and after don't clean nothing.
It's better sleep under a bridge.
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Date of stay: January 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Rocknbowl, Manager at Rock'n'Bowl Motel
Responded Feb 10, 2016
Hi Fabio, thanks for the feedback, it's quite surprising to read your review after your long stay here. We didn't have the chance to listen to any kind of complaint during your stay but it will motivate us to better understand why a guest that prefer to sleep under the bridge stayed with us for 3 long weeks.
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Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
There's a NCP carpark pretty much right outside on Nelson Street and if you go to the NCP website you can pre book your parking space and get it cheaper!
Depends on what type of room you stay. If you stay in mixed 12 domitory beds its about £12 but i stayed in all female 4 domitory bed for £16 per night,
Hi Allegra,
thank you for your question :)
Fresh and clean linen is provided, you will find the bed already made and ready when you will check in.
See you soon,
Alfredo Esposito
Hostel Manager
There are more places to choose from in the Bristol area.
PRICE RANGE
$24 - $29 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
rock `n bowl hotel bristol
LOCATION
United KingdomEnglandBristol
NUMBER OF ROOMS
160
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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