There are lots of extreme reviews on here, so I'm going to do my best to write a comprehensive, honest review. Seeing all the reviews, I was fairly apprehensive that I was about to walk into some kind of crack den. I was only staying in Cardiff for one night and wanted a cheap option, so I went for BunkHouse with the easyHotel round the corner in the back of my mind if things were really bad! After staying, the main thing I can say is that your opinion/experience of this hostel entirely depends on what you go in expecting. If you're expecting a super high-quality hostel with a great social atmosphere and all the amenities, then yes, you're going to be disappointed. But they don't claim to be this - most of these reviews seem to be people expecting far more than what BunkHouse advertises. So, I'm writing this review against what they advertise on their website. If you're expecting a bed for the night at a decent price, however, then you're going to find your expectations met. There are indeed beds in dorm rooms, a shower with hot water, toilets, and that's about it. There's no kitchen, so don't bring perishable food! I can only speak for my experience of course, but my room and bed were pretty clean, as was the female bathroom. The only grievance was how quickly the light sensor in the bathroom turns off - my shower was pretty dark! Staff might want to look into that... The walls are very thin (it's simply an old building) so you can hear everything. If you've stayed in hostels before, you'll be fine if you take some earplugs. I've seen bedbugs in some reviews. Now, I've had some horrendous bedbug reactions before, so I'm normally out as soon as I see the word mentioned. I didn't see any bedbugs in my bed. Saying that, it was cold and I slept in long clothes anyway, but I gave it a good inspection and I couldn't see anything. If you're anxious about it, however, maybe take note, as it's in quite a few reviews. A few reviews mention security, which is an important aspect. The main door and bedrooms open via a mobile phone key given to you on arrival, so I felt pretty safe. They don't ask for any kind of deposit if you have a phone key. I did see a few guests with physical keys, so it may be that they ask for a deposit for this. Either way, you get your mobile key emailed to you on your arrival day so there's no need to have a physical key unless you particularly want one. I didn't see any lockers in my room, however I arrived late and people were sleeping so I can't be sure! The member of staff I met was very friendly. She even asked whether I'd like to move to another room as I had chosen a room full of males, which I thought was very considerate. Thank you :) My only criticisms are: - BunkHouse advertises a social space, but this is just the bar downstairs. So, unless you want to go and have a cup of tea before bed in a D&B basement full of 18-year-olds, you're pretty limited to your room. I think they need to make this a bit clearer as I can see why people are annoyed. - If you get any bed number followed by 'B' (beds are allocated by room number - bunk, i.e., 7B is Room 7, Bed B), then you're in the middle of a triple bunk. Not much space to sit up! I'd ask to move if you can, as staff are really nice and they'll likely do this for you if your room isn't full. - Maybe splash out on some new bedsheets, as they're pretty tired with some old stains (not dirty, just left in I think). - Oh, and the shower room light! Overall, when you're paying £13 a night in a city where a private room of the lowest quality will set you back at least £50, I think you have to manage your expectations. Don't be put off by the reviews on here that make out that it's some kind of mouldy, theft-ridden drug haven. Yes, it's a basic hostel in a tired building (most of central Cardiff's buildings are old and tired), but it's a cheap bed for the night and so if that's what you're after, that's what you will get! :)

If you want to get any sleep, don't stay here! This place would be great if you'll be partying until 4am because the bar downstairs blasts loud music with heavy bass well past 3 in the morning. There are multicolored flashing lights facing the building that flash into the room all night as well. Many people in my 18-bed female room hung up jackets and towels to cover their beds from the lights. Earplugs did nothing to help lesson the noise. I stayed Friday through Monday, and Sunday night there was no music or lights from the downstairs bar at least, but the building is old and has thin walls, so I could still hear people hollering and partying in the streets outside. There's a gentlemen's club nextdoor, also. Bathrooms were disgusting, so much mold on the ceiling, peeling paint, and stains. Bath mats were just a sheet of paper that said "bath mat 👣" on the floor by the shower. The ensuite had 2 showers with no hooks, no temperature control, you just press a button and water comes out for 10 seconds. Water gets cold quick and the doors were translucent so you could see the outline of whoever was in there. Half the toilet doors were broken and fixed with a makeshift lock. Floors in the room were dusty, though no bugs at least. Sheets and pillows were stained but seemed clean. Check-in and reception is in the bar, and they seem to advertise the bar as the common space but it's basically a nightclub from 5pm onward. I felt decently safe, though twice a man was sitting in the alcove by the front door smoking, and tried to get inside the hostel as I exited. One day the things I'd left on my bed were moved around. WiFi worked decently, went out a few times but nothing significant. No great storage, there's wire cubbies under the beds that aren't very big and definitely can't fit a suitcase. I fit my shoes in there. No food or drinks in the rooms, but since there's no common space or even a lobby (unless you're counting the bar) you have to eat out during your whole stay. Location is great and the biggest draw to stay here IMO. Wouldn't stay here again unless it was £15/night or less and a weeknight.

Booked two beds for myself and my friend for a night in an all female dorm. It was massively overbooked, we didn't find this out until we returned to the room at around midnight, leaving us to share a bed, which was not ideal in the slightest, staff didn't seem to care. We made them aware of the issue in the morning and their only response was "why did you not tell us last night?". Also, there was a small security issue as someone had let a man into the room in the middle of the night! Luckily there were enough of us still awake to realise.

Keys episode: I checked out at 5 AM, pretty early but I informed the reception the night before and they asked me to call either/both of the staff numbers which were displayed on the wall. Unfortunately neither one of them picked up the phone, which I thought would happen so early in the morning anyways, therefore I left them a note at the reception. I'm waiting for them to get back with the deposit balance to me... Pros of staying here: 1. Smack at the city center, not near the city center but right at the heart of it. 2. Cheapest you'll find in Cardiff. Cons: Getting back the deposit for the keys. Hope the staff reading this is going to give me back my deposit money. [Please don't make my impression of your hostel worse by stealing (not giving back) the deposit. I'm sure you don't want tourists to have that impression of Wales]

Staff are down to earth and very accommodating. Comfortable in the room. Facilities are good standard, good location and the restaurant next door offers much solice

I stayed in the female dorm and it was great! Value, location, comfortability! The bed was comfortable, room was clean and well ventilated, it had ensuite shower and toilet which were also clean. Water was hot and the pressure was strong. Definitely one of the cleanest hostels I’ve stayed in. Maria was extremely welcoming, kind and fair.

Don't mind some of the negative reviews as some people are expecting a 5-star hotel treatment. The staff are lovely and nice, the rooms and bathrooms are clean and decent. It being dirty depends on the guests , it is not the staff fault as they actually do a nice job tidying up the place every day. If you are coming in during the weekend, just brace yourself. The WiFi doesn't seem to work well from the second floor. Lastly, remember what you are paying for and don't expect a red carpet to be laided down just because you are spending a night or two.

The two stars are for the location and clean sheets. I read the reviews online, so I knew not to expect much and only stayed here cuz it was so cheap. I was in a room of 18 women and there were only 2 showers and 2 toilets to share and it didn’t seem like they were cleaned well. The showers were buttons that you had to hold the whole time for water. The WiFi was a real hit or miss, which sucked cuz you needed a good connection for the online key cards to work. And the music from the club below was so loud you could feel your bed shaking. I swear I’m not exaggerating! And the only night they didn’t play music was Sunday. Only stay here if you’re like me and it’s a last resort.

Me and my friends, we are regular customers of bunk house. We like to stay here because it’s provide best room services to there customers. It’s very quiet place to take a good sleep. Hot Chocolate is mind blowing.

Edit. It's been weeks and no answer. Ridiculus. Me and my friends where in that overcrowded room in the weekend of the 28-29th of may. The staff was made aware of the situation. When we arrive in the hostel for the check in on saturday evening things started to not add up. The hostel didn't know what beds were avaliable...we became suspicius when we realise that only 3 beds were avaliable and there was 4 of us but the staff told us not to worry. When we arrived at 1 am we realised that my gf and I would have to share a bed (mind you we paid 75 pounds each) and we had to make our beds. A while latter 3 girls came with a staff member (a diferent one) and he intended to make room for them. One nice girl told the staff that many of us were sharing a bed and he didn't even blinked... We started to tell him that they had overbooked the room and he denied it when it was right in front of him. Then there was the incident with the guy in our room as if it was the perfect hooking up space. People kicked him up, but if I book a girls only room it's because I feel safer... and that's what I paid for. Next morning we told another staff member at the check out and he took our phone numbers in a random piece of paper that I highly doubt he keep. He didn't even cared. This place is awful, overcrowded, dirty and they don't seem to care at all about all that happened that night. We expected at least to be refunded for that bed that we didn't even get to use. Shameful.

Expensive and Outrageous place. The only positive thing was of the place being very central but apart from that, disgusting. Me and my partner ended up here during the Ed Sheeran concert as nothing else was available. We understand prices go up during this sort of events but the price was stratospheric. £15 on a normal day, and £75 we paid this weekend to be on a dorm with 18 more others. And paying to price to be on a filthy place is painful. The beds were not even maid, my partner had to make them and she even found hairs I. The “clean” bed sheets. No fresh air or AC in the room, no personal lights or usb near the beds. The storage under the beds was tiny and one of them was broken. The toilets were blocked. The shower was filthy. Towels were £3 but when we asked, the ran out. We had to paid £5 to leave our bag there for the day after check-out. The storage area was a disable toilet on the first floor. I read some of the feedback and it is right, you cannot expect a lot from hostels but when you pay £75 per person, you expect something else or at least some effort to improve the place. Absolutely disgusting. Don’t recommend this place at all. I have been in many hostels over the year and this is by far the worst one. If you can, choose somewhere else to go…

This place doesn’t even deserve a star. Walked in, the receptionist didn’t turn to face us. The entire vibe of the place felt like an asylum and that you were trapped. The state of the rooms were terrible, stains on all the bedsheets, dirty socks left in the room and you could taste the mould in the air. We sat in the room for about 20 minutes and booked somewhere that actually felt safe and left.

Gutted with my stay. One of the stalls of men showers is transparent. Only one small hanger for clothes in the shower. The water is very very hot and cannot be controlled. The room is hot as well, there are no curtains. I was on the second bed and there were no plug sockets. They had no lock-pads to buy or borrow. Upon check out I waited for more than 10 minutes and ring it the reception, until finally someone showed up. The bed is very uncomfortable and noisy, I still have back spasm and pain. The only good thing about it is its location. Would not recommend it.

Positive : very well located rooms and nice reception. Negative : bedrooms were small and you can feel it, lockers are small, storing my bike cost me 5 pounds (total of 31 pounds a night for a dormitory). If the price was lower I would not have rated this low as the place is really decent.

I was here for the MCR gig in May. The location is unbeatable, and you've got a bed and shower which is all you really need when you're going to be busy exploring the city, but this hostel could do a few things much better. One of the communal shower rooms doesn't lock. The showers were disgusting, moldy, and didn't drain, and the lights are on a timer with the sensor located outside the shower room, meaning you're suddenly standing ankle deep in a pitch black, slippery room and have to feel your way into the hall (dripping wet!) to reactivate the light. It's dangerous. There's nowhere to put your clothes, towel, or shampoo/soap/etc. bottles while you shower. Reviews mention free tea and coffee and breakfast, but the hostel doesn't offer these anymore. Not a huge deal, but I was hoping to offset the expense a little with some coffee, at least. It was £75.50 a night for a bunk bed. I get that it was a busy weekend with two big concerts in town, but this felt extortionate for the quality of facilities. The beds were clean. The cages under the bed were just big enough for my backpack and purse, but wouldn't fit a suitcase. Bring your own lock. There were plenty of plug sockets in my room for everyone to charge their phones, but they weren't in individual bunks. 10AM checkout is a bit unforgiving, and they charged me £5 to hold onto my backpack for a few hours between checkout and my bus home, which no other hostel I've ever stayed at has done. Overall, not the worst hostel I've stayed in, but will probably look elsewhere next time I'm in Cardiff.

I'll start with the positive: very centrally located and easy to visit areas of interest in Cardiff. Now for the negatives: I booked an all-female room for the weekend, but in reality, half the room was male. Additionally, I was not personally made aware that there would be men in my room. I learned this when I overheard two other females in my room discuss that they were told at check-in that the room would be mixed gender for the weekend. Because there was a big rugby match that weekend, most rooms in the hostel were full, so males were booked in the all-female room. The lockers underneath the bed were smaller than most personal lockers in hostels, and the locking mechanism was broken on most of the lockers, meaning you could not actually lock your belongings. Also, the beds did not have the personal light & USB charger that I've seen as standard in most hostels. The bathroom was pretty dirty and smelly, I am not sure how often they are cleaned, but it wasn't serviced during my time there that weekend. Finally, when I went to checkout, there was no one at the front desk, so I was not given my 5 pound deposit, despite returning my room key. Given the premium price I paid for the room (due to the rugby match), I was not happy with BunkHouse. But if you're booking on a regular weekend, the room is acceptable for the price & location.

Great hostel! Stayed in the 18 bed female only room and there were no problem. The staff were very nice and accommodating and it's a nice place. The only problem I had was the noise outside all night, but the hostel obviously couldn't have fixed that.

Bunkhouse is a fun place with great people! Matt, who runs it, is a super nice young guy who just recently took the hostel over. He’s available all the time to take calls which is nice. I stayed in the female only 18 bunk room and it was totally fine. The rooms themselves were clean, location is amazing (right in the heart of downtown), however check in/out was pretty disorganized as everything is written down on paper & paid by cash. Also can’t control the temperature in the shower and it gets way too hot halfway through, and wifi can be spotty in the rooms. Other than that, I had a nice stay and would come back!

- No Wi-Fi in rooms - 3 beds on top of one another - uncontrollable hot water in shower - no light switch in toilet + economical option. I paid 11 GBP per night for 1 bunk bed in 6 bed dormitory on 6 Oct 2019 + 4 min walking from Cardiff central railway station + free basic continental breakfast

Super cute cafe. Delicious food. There is also a bar of my memory serves me right...being Canadian it was kinda odd but pretty sweet.

Lovely place. Spotlessly clean. Breakfast basic but plentiful. Has microwave. Mattress firm but comfortable. Directly on main street, so street noise pretty loud in room 4 (female dorm) between 11pm-2am. Friendly, helpful staff. Felt very safe and pleasant. Can't wait to go back!

Worst hostel I've ever been at. Located above a bar so super loud music until 3am everyday. Sometimes random drunk people will stumble into the room and talk loudly for hours. May have cheap rooms but it shows. Dirty, loud, and extremely uncomfortable experience. Highly do not recommend.

I have nothing but GREAT things to say about the Bunkhouse, for many, years I have had multiple long stays here. The price is always top notch for what you get from a hostel. Beautifully clean Dorms. Super friendly and helpful staff. I would suggest anyone coming to Cardiff travelling to always look at staying here. Breakfast is between 7-9am Always a nice choice of cereals and toast with conserves. Always a hot urn with Tea and Coffee available. Shower areas are very clean and nice and hot as well to help you relax those muscles. Again for the price Bunkhouse charge, you would be hard pressed to find anywhere in the very centre of Cardiff City, that offers anywhere near the value for money that the Bunkhouse does. Keep up the great work guys .... from a very happy customer (Rhys Davies) !

This place is a hazard and should not be open. Totally disgusting and the showers and toilets were so dirty they were unusable in some cases. I wrote a longer review with pictures but google flagged it because the photos were so gross. Do not stay here if you are a female solo traveller, I do not believe it is safe. Drunk men who were not staying at the hotel frequently roamed the halls at night. Staff was not around to help. Do not listen to the positive reviews. I believe they take men who are travelling solo and treat them super well in order to get good reviews. They do not like women or men who are travelling with women. They treated my husband like garbage and spoke poorly to almost all the women who dared stay at the hostel.

The lady could be a bit less rude. The place is surrounded by a lot of pubs and is very loud until 3 PM. Was in a 16 bed room. My room and 2 other rooms had 3 washrooms and 2 showers in a common space. 2 of the washrooms didn't have a lock. Cheap, so okay for short stays.

Good location, However, it smells horrible in this hostel, I go to hostels usually in many places around the world, and this is by far my worst experience, it doesn't seem like anyone is cleaning it. The floor is sticky, and the beds smell weird, and there is a nasty extract fan that makes horrible noise at night and doesn't help with the smell. The toilets are also smelly and toilet paper seems like rotten. The hostel doesn't have any amenities, no kitchen, no community area, no nothing, just beds, corridors, stairs, and toilets/showers. Don't recommend it at all.

Great value. Maria is super hospitable and entertaining. Great location, comfy beds washrooms and showers work great and are clean. I wish I had to stay longer in cardiff so I could stay here more.

I wouldn't trust the low scoring reviews here. It's a backpackers hostel, somewhere you come back to sleep after a busy day and night in Cardiff. It serves that purpose perfectly. You should be out enjoying yourself, not lounging around in your bunk all day. Of course that isn't going to be comfortable. If you want somewhere to relax all day then feel free to head to one of the many overpriced hotels in the city. BunkHouse may not be a palace - but most of the surrounding hotels charging £200+ a night certainly aren't either! The problem IMO doesn't seem to be the hostel itself, more people having extremely unrealistic expectations of what a backpackers hostel should look like and provide. It's SUPPOSED to be basic. So ignore the Karens. If you're actually familiar with hostels and the purpose they serve, then you will not have a problem with this place. You'll know the drill already! Maria is incredible and I can't believe how much work she does alone! To me, she was very kind and helpful. If you show respect and are polite, you get back even more! Given some of the stories she told me about nightmare guests I'd honestly say they got off lightly with being shouted at! Her and Matteo were really accommodating in making sure I got a bottom bunk (as I have a disability) and they did not let me down. I have used a lot of hostels over the years and it's amazing how many of them fail at this one simple request. These guys went above and beyond, and I will definitely be back for another visit in the future.

To be honest, I was a bit scared after reading the reviews but I ended up having a nice stay there. I stayed for 6 nights which is a long time in a hostel, so I can give you my honest opinion. First of all, the location is just perfect, in the heart of the city. I had no problem during check-in and check-out but I witnessed a few issues during my stay (for example a girl arrived very late and no one was here to check her in and didn’t answer the phone so we actually let her in our dorm as there was a free bed) It was a very busy night due to the Beyoncé concert, mistakes happen but be careful if you need to check in at night. Staff was very nice to me. One morning I slept in late and heard the cleaning staff working and they really care about doing a good job. Maria was very serious about the place being clean :) During my stay the dorm was never full so it was actually very nice and quiet most of the time. I guess it depends on when you stay there. The dorms are cute but they certainly lack a bit of comfort (the beds aren’t very comfy, you can’t sit up in your bed and will bump your head often on the bed above yours, no reading lights or individual power sockets). There are power sockets next to each bunk though, but if the dorm is full you will have to share them. The bathroom was en-suite, which was actually really convenient. It’d be great to have a little surface on which you could put your stuff (clothes and hygiene products) cause you have to put everything on the floor. You can’t choose the temperature of the shower and they’re really hot but that’s still better than too cold in my opinion ! Bathrooms were very clean. VERY IMPORTANT : THERE’S NO KITCHEN ! No fridge or microwave or any common room. None of that was mentioned on their website actually so no problem, but I guess I assumed that there was a kitchen in every hostel. Turns out it’s not the case, so be careful if you wanna stay for a bit cause you won’t be able to buy groceries and eat there. It is very loud at night (noise from the streets and clubs, or even people in the dorm) but that is part of the hostel experience. As a backpacker, I’m used to sleeping with earbuds so it didn’t bother me that much. Anyway, it is a hostel so don’t expect anything fancy. It wasn’t the best I stayed at but not the worst either. It could use some improvement, but it honestly was alright. I met awesome people there and made great memories !

the beds were great for me, and it has an amazing location. but the bathrooms are very cramped, the showers are TERRIBLE and one mirror was missing. the room gets very very hot easily, and the woman behind the counter (Maria) was late when we wanted to check in so we had considerable delay in our travel to the Netherlands. also, we paid for breakfast included and they ended up not having it. would not stay here again.

Staff were kind and the location was great. However, the place smelt so bad. I would compare it to sweaty gym equipment. I thought I’d get used to the smell but it would wake me up in the night it was so strong. The shower experience was tough as the water stops as soon as you let go of the button and there is a lot of mould.

the stuffs were very very rude. I arrived there at 10 o clock at night because of train delays.. they said we are close. you can not check in. after requesting and saying I already paid for 3 nights . they let me in. no towel they provided although it was in the booking. i had to rent towel for 3 pounds. 2/3 drug addicts were with me in the same room. they did not provide any lock for the locker. you have to buy it from outside. no specific place for luggage. no common space. just stay at the room. the lady was too rude , threw my water bottle as i use water in the toilet.very bad experience.

The only reason this place deserves a rating is because of its prime location right in the heart of Cardiff City Centre. The dorms are quite terrible tbh, like a 3 floor bed can be hard to climb on, no charging points next to dorm beds either, and the WiFi just doesn't work. Their staff isn't the most professional either and they don't accept the £10 deposit by card it's only CASH 🤦

Stayed here for 3 nights when visiting from Ireland and cannot say anything but good things about my stay. Owner Maria was an amazing host even after I stupidly lost the key to my locker and had to break the padlock 😅😅. The beds were quite comfy and the room very clean. Definitely staying here again next time I'm back

The room was exactly how described. Although it could have had some ventilation as it was like a smelly man sweat box. Unfortunately my mates sunglasses got stollen too. But staff were friendly and generally very good. The breakfast could be a bit better as there was no orange juice and the coffee tastes like mud.

The lady / cleaner was very rude and not friendly. She just badged into the room without knocking and waiting for us to let her in the room. The prices is not self explanatory and it’s a different price when you check in . Being friendly to your clients is very important.

No-nonsense lodging at a good price; bunks with pillow and blanket, showers, 10:00 AM checkout. Excellent location in the heart of the city activity and just down the street from Cardiff Castle. Bring a towel, zipper lock, and data puck. Be kind and you will find humanity.

yeah I mean it's a place to sleep for a night, and for that it's fine. It's very obviously I cash grab though, with as many bunks crammed into one room as possible, bathroom doors that don't latch, and no common area. It's hard to even find a spot to charge your phone. It's too bad because with a little bit of care, it could be a decent hostel. As it is though I wouldn't recommend it except as a last resort. Also I reserved a bunk online in the 6 bunk mixed room, but ended up getting put in the 14 bunk mens room, so that didn't help my perception of the place.

I had a 3 nights reservation last week. Since I knew I had to check in late I checked the website which said "our FRIENDLY staff...are available 24/7". Turns out both are a big LIE! Arriving at 11pm no one opened the door or was answering the phone. 4 other people had the same problem, some of them were waiting since 9pm. So I kept ringing the bell and waited in front of the closed door until midnight until I decided to look for other options. By 1am I found a hotel (on the 11th try) to sleep. The next day I went to the Bunkhouse Hostel to check in. The very rude reception lady told me it was own fault no one opened as "I was not in time" (website said 24/7 open, no opening time mentioned in confirmation email). When I asked her to refund me the night she told me I am being disrespectful and that I have to leave the property. I didn't even get the reservation fee back. I have never ever experienced such unfriendly staff which absolutely did not care about their responsibilities for their guests. I would highly recommend to look for other options in Cardiff (which are easy to find if not 1am). I did not see much of the hostel from the inside, just the reception. It smelled like inside of a deep frier.

I've never stayed in a worse hostel in my life. Bloke next to me was going at it the whole night. Unbelievable stuff. Got out at 4 am and never looked back since. Made unbelievably good mates there though ironically

I had a comfortable and pleasant stay at the Bunkhouse in Cardiff. The location was perfect and the staff were helpful. The guys in my room were all pretty quiet and were all very considerate and I slept reasonably well. Unfortunately I only stayed for one night and so didn’t get to meet any of the other people staying there. The bedding all looked clean as did the bathroom facilities.