Isaacs Hostel • Dublin

Recently, Gaz and I took a lil trip to Dublin to see our favourites The almighty Libertines perform at the 3Arena (article can be found here!) Obviously travel is paired with a need for accommodation and with a small budget on our hands we finally settled with the lovely gem that is Isaacs Hostel. As we first stepped foot into the hostel, I heard the beautiful sound of Stereophonics blaring from their speakers and in that moment I thought to myself 'We've chosen the right place'.

Set in a quirky converted 19th Century wine store and tucked down a quaint, yet rundown, alleyway, the hostel epitomises quintessential Ireland at its finest. However, this old-fashioned nature is mixed with many modern and clean-cut elements especially found in their toilet and shower rooms; who'd have thought it? The hostel also boasts a very central Dublin location which could not be more perfect or accessible. We reached Isaacs from Dublin Airport by hopping on the Airlink 747 bus which was a simple (and cheap) 30 minute drive.

The entrance to the hostel was too cute to be true, decorated with red, orange and yellow flags hanging across the street. The windows and front door were also painted red which contrasted nicely with their bricked walls and complemented the hanging baskets of pink and purple flowers.

The reception of the building really honed in on their target customer; young backpackers. Plastered with graffiti, posters advertising music events and pub crawls, and vintage world maps, their walls were a sight to behold. The staff were so helpful and friendly. I don't know what it is about the Irish but, with few exceptions, everyone was so smiley and jolly, and it wasn't a fake, 'I'm hear to please you' type service; they were just so genuine and down-to-earth. With 24 hour service and free Wi-Fi, you really could not fault the place. No wonder it was named the most popular hostel in Dublin by Hostel World this year. As our schedule was so hectic and we slept in loads, we didn't have much time to explore and appreciate their extra facilities such as their free breakfast, reading and games rooms, walking tour and sauna but I'm sure they lived up to the hype too.

As we booked our room just a mere month before jetting off, very few beds and rooms were still available. As a couple we always opt for a double bed but none were available so we settled for a bunk bed/two single beds (not knowing which we would get). The odds were so in our favour. We ended up with a bunk bed but with the bottom bunk being a double bed. So we paid about two thirds of the price for practically exactly the same thing! Neat, huh? The mattresses were nothing special but you'd expect that from a hostel and after a long, tiring day exploring (or going mad at a gig), just a floor to lie on felt like luxury. The surrounding noise can also be temperamental depending on who is staying there at the time and the events going on. Typically, the atmosphere of the place, especially at night, is buzzing but you can buy earplugs at the reception if this proves a problem. When we got back from The Libertines at 1am, however, the hostel was completely silent. The room was also only a few metres away from the toilet and shower blocks making our stay super easy and so cheap (who needs a fancy en-suite anyway?) If I ever find myself back in Dublin, I certainly know the place to stay.

So, have you visited Dublin before? Where did you stay and what did you love about the place? Look forward to a Dublin photo diary and The Libertines gig review coming up very shortly!

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