We were a stag party of 14. And stayed for two nights. The rooms were clean and secure. Facilities average. Reception staff helpful. Decent location. Ideal for a stag party and value for money. The showers were ice cold one morning but we’re ok again a few hours later

I have mixed feelings regarding my stay in Rock'n'Bowl! It definitely has an interesting style, with beautiful graffiti on the walls and a youthful feel, but on the other side it looks like it's not given enough care when it comes to maintenance: for example the carpet floor in our room was a bit torn and then fixed with duct tape, which doesn't look so right. But, other than that, the room looked clean. Also, the structure of the whole place is a bit confusing. While we were looking for the bathroom, going through quite a few doors and corridors, we ended up in space with WCs and showers, which was directly connected to one of the dorms, so that the tenants had pass through the bathroom to go out, which was smelling weird because of all the shoes the were left out of that door. The hostel has a common room and a kitchen for tenants to use. It is a nice place to hang out, and when we were there it was full of young people relaxing and chatting, but some times it was also a bit smelly because of the kitchen. The position of the hostel is really central. Regarding the price, I've been in hostels that were better and costed less, but then I guess, this is England, which is generally expensive, so I can't blame the hostel. I would recommend it for young travelers who want to spend some nights in Bristol since it seems to be one of the cheapest and best options in town. It's not perfect, but it's fine if you don't have really high standards

Where to start? I think it’s important to point out early on that the Rock n Bowl actually didn’t have much control over the issues I experienced during my stay, but I feel compelled to share my experience. On Wednesday the 5th of June, I was able to acquire a last minute ticket to see Muse at Ashton Gate in Bristol; having seen them twice before, a £40 ticket seemed too good to turn down! With just a few hours notice, I was able to finagle (first time I have ever used that word, but I like it) an early finish from work to get a lift from Plymouth to Bristol with a friend (and his wife) who were also attending the gig, as well as being able to start late the next to allow for the morning drive back – Result! Now all that was needed was a place to stay; another friend who was also joining us, and was heading down from Scotland, informed me he had booked to stay at the Rock n Bowl and suggested I tried there! With no time to lose I quickly went on booking.com and managed to book their last available ‘bed’ for the extremely reasonable price of £18. Things were going well. 1pm came, work done and on the road to Bristol whilst enjoying some beers and laughs on the way, the day keeps getting better by the minute. We arrive in Bristol and check in to the accommodation, really lovely little place with a nice looking pub across the road, and clearly well looked after. I should point out at this stage, this is where friend number 1 and his wife were staying, and having not even seen my own accommodation, I was already starting to feel envious. With them checked in to their picture of perfection, it was time to head to the Rock N Bowl for me to check in and meet friend number 2 in the process. We arrived there at around 4.30pm, and I suddenly realised what I hadn’t previously, this is a hostel and I have booked a bed, not a room. I’m aware this is my own fault, and is certainly no reflection on the venue themselves, what was I expecting for £18?! Well, I was shown to my shared room and asked to select a bed, a very sophisticated system of writing your name on a piece of paper and placing it in a plastic wallet attached to the mattress, the Hilton could learn a thing or 2 here! The place was basic, but it was clean and tidy, so I was content. I chose a bed and then we were away, off to the stadium to enjoy a few drinks and some great music! Fast forward a few hours, with a great time having been had by all, friend number 2 and I made the hour long walk back to the hostel. After a long day and having just hit my 10,000 steps (bonus) I was ready for my bed and didn’t care a jot that I was sharing with a bunch of strangers! Time to get a good night sleep and be ready for friend number 1 to pick me up at 10am the following morning. I got in to the room and there were 2 chaps having a conversation, both were in pants and a t shirt, and one was showing slightly more ass crack than I would care for from a stranger, but they seemed friendly enough, so I went about my business and climbed on in to bed at about midnight. A couple more guys came and went, and after about half an hour of noise and activity, it was lights off and time for the 4 of us in the room to settle down. 1 guy on the opposite side of the room did keep his laptop on for another 10 minutes which was quite annoying, however, with what followed, the laptop was a minor inconvenience in hindsight. When said person did turn off his laptop, he exhibited 2 quite remarkable qualities. 1. His ability to fall asleep in less than 30 seconds (wish I could do that) 2. The ability to snore louder than any man, woman, child or animal ever has in the history of snoring. So from about 12.30am I spent almost an hour and a half listening to this quite incredible noise. Try as I may, I could not block out the sound; I wrapped the pillow round my head, I put my headphones in on full volume, and still the snore overpowered it. I can only assume it was keeping the other 2 guys awake. One of them must have a better tolerance for this kind of thing, because at around 2am he nodded off too, and guess what, started to snore. To give them their due, their timing was perfect, when one breathed in, the other breathed out, which created a constant snore sound with no respite or moments of silence; you couldn’t do that if you tried! At this point I was facing the prospect of not sleeping for the next 5/6 hours, whilst also being driven to insanity. The final straw was when the 3rd guy started to fart every couple of minutes! I gave up, packed my bags, got dressed (I was so keen to get out I didn’t even put my socks on) and headed to reception to ask for a switch to a different room; unfortunately there were no other rooms with a bed available, but he offered me some pretty cheap looking ear plugs. I did the sensible thing….. walked out of the hotel at 2.30am in search of new accommodation. 2 premier inns, a holiday inn and a Hampton by Hilton later, I had no joy at all, and was faced with going back to the pit of noise and smell… Not a chance! I decided I would get the bus to the airport and walk down the road to friend number 1’s hotel and beg to sleep on their floor, or even in their car. I looked up the timetable for the bus to the airport, and what do you know it was due at 3.30am, only 20 mins to wait! Not only that, the same bus went all the way to Plymouth, so I hopped on and just went home, sod waiting till the morning! So to summarise, not much of this is actually the hostels fault, but it has made me realise I will never book a hostel again. However, if that is your kind of thing, it was clean and tidy, centrally located, the staff are friendly, and apparently breakfast is included, but I never made it long enough to find out what that was like! I spoke to friend number 2 who was in a different room and he had a quiet night sleep, and made no mention of ass cracks or farting, so very much luck of the draw I guess! Another positive is that they have 2 plug sockets by each bed which is a big plus! 1 to charge your phone up and, if you have roommates like I did but aren’t prepared to walk the streets of Bristol at 2.30am, I assume the other socket is to stick your finger in when you’ve finally had enough (DISCLAIMER - Don’t stick your finger in a plug socket. I am in no way advising you to do this, regardless of how loud somebody snores or farts)