YHA Patterdale

The food was good, but need to pay attention to the order time.

Great location. Car parking. Great breakfast. Good evening meals. Plenty of sofas etc. bar pretty good and reasonably priced. Mattresses poor. Rooms dated. More showers needed though plenty of hot water. Drying room superb. Staff very good

What's going on in Patterdale...? Pitched here for a night on the Coast to Coast. The YH is what you expect from most YH - great facilities including drying room, decent showers (maybe not enough of them) and toilets, great chill out areas and somewhere to eat. Staff were fantastic. However, do have some gripes - the Wifi was intermittent and patchy around the hostel (shared areas). The camping field wasn't great in terms of finding flat pitches, admittedly I arrived in the evening, but it looked there was potential for wet areas if it rained. I understand the need to coordinate breakfasts and meals, but like so many other things nowadays, the ability to be spontaneous or go with the flow is becoming non-existent. I enjoyed my food when I was slotted in, partly because walking long days makes you appreciate things, but the cuisine did not quite match the attentive service. Opted for unlimited continental breakfast, or continental breakfast, as didn't see the limited version which meant I returned for more sustenance pushing the boundaries of my time slot. All in all a decent enough experience, staff great, but not my favourite of the YHA hostels I stayed in. Back to the first question - you won't be eating at the Patterdale Hotel after 5pm and the much admired shop is no more - eat a big breakfast... or if you need supplies take your tired legs to Glenridding.