YHA Castleton Losehill Hall — Hotel in High Peak

Excellent base for exploring the dark peak area of the peak district, with Castleton, Mam Tor, Losehill, Cavedale, Hope, Edale, Win Hill, the 4 Castleton Caverns, Kinder Scout, Jacob's ladder and the Ladybower/Howden reservoir walks. Large lovely refurbished characterful Gothic Mansion, with an annex (which can you rent whole), peaceful and extensive grounds (including 3 interesting glamping pods with solar power - which apparently sleep up to 4 each) and a camping barn with a good sized field to add more tents. Main house has an comfortable and impressive hall with wooden panelling and 2 sides of large windows and several large Chesterfield sofas to relax and chat and play games. TV in main hallway, which has several sets of tub armschairs to sit and chat. More tub chairs in the landing at top of the imposing wooden flight of stairs, and several bookcases overflowing with (mainly old, mostly irrelevant) books. Our room had 1 bunk bed and was spacious and en-suite with a cupboard and the normal YHA bedside integrated light/socket/table. There was a small hanging impliment to lock away things. Our friends stayed next door, but they did comment that the pipes kept them awake at night as the water was noisy. The large shared self-catering kitchen in the main building was excellent and had 6 cooking points with separate hobs, sinks and ovens, and several shared fridges (label your things with the provided stickers and pens or they will be thrown away nad one small freezer which needed defrosting). Note that unfortunately people will go through your stuff - happened to us several times in 2 nights - no damage done, they probably just wanted some milk or tea bags. No kettles, but better than that was the Burco wall boiler with instant hot water (not quite boiling so not great for tea). Clean provided cockery, cutlery etc, good knives and chopping boards. Several one cup cafetieres NO tea pots. Plenty of clean tea towels, new dish towels, washing liquid. Several microwaves. Mugs slightly small. Wine glasses. Obligatory YHA large warm drying room. Lots and lots of tables outside to sit and enjoy. Plenty of parking - worrying sign on entry about charging, but this is just to scare off people trying to park for free that are not staying - register your car when you check in. Long driveway to the house from the main road, but there is a walking route that is accessible directly from the car park by the main house at the rear of the property. Lots of sheep and lambs when we visited (April 2022) - all over the grounds including upto the doors. Good breakfast - book night before. Evening meal, can book an hour before, not sure if 'walk-ins' accepted. Reasonable range of ice-creams, souvenirs, snacks and drinks available at check in desk/bar including cold beers, cider and wine. Note very very flaky Wifi, sometimes unusable - best signal in kitchen - 'the cloud' - worse/none in annex. Poor phone signal, but just about usable (EE). Property is 15 mins walk from Castleton 'town', paved paths and bridge - think the old YHA in town is no longer there, but this property is much better/bigger/characterful/grander - just (?) unfortunately further 'out'. In our experience it was the ideal distance for a nice walk to dinner in Castleton and a return home walk. Annex seems to have smaller rooms (for number of people), but maybe ideal for groups to hire, and contains its own spacious kitchen and less grand lounge area - use main building. Staff friendly, especially the female staff. The cook seemed to be especially worried about counting people in and out of breakfast. Don't foget to strip your beds before departure. Conference room (library) and large meeting room - both in main building available for hire. For some reason also as a (pretend) Dr Who full sized Tardis / Police Box (can't go in) - another one at the internal entrance to Treak Cliff Cavern. General YHA Improvement Idea: perhaps being able to ask for free tea bags / coffee and a bit of milk at the reception desk might reduce people messing in other people's...

Accommodation: As usual with YHA, rooms that are great value for money. We had a 4-person en-suite (2 adults, 2 kids aged 4 and nearly 3). The bed are bunks so if you have young children that are out of cots, be cautious about the ladders. Our 4-year-old was on a top bunk and our nearly 3 was on the bottom. They love bunk beds. From visiting other YHAs, travel cots might be available if you call ahead.

There was a shower room and separate toilet room. The toilet was really low which was great for the little one. All nice and clean.

The room was a good size with a lovely view out the front through the massive windows. Normally I find YHA rooms too hot but this was just right. The other great thing that YHA Castleton apart was sound proofing. Most YHAs have banging doors, paper thin walls etc. But I was surprised when the doors didn't slam.

Food: The self-catering facilities are the same as other YHAs with never enough fidge or cupboard space. But definitely not a deal breaker, just need to play a bit of fridge Tetris

The food we ordered for the last night was good. And so was the breakfast.

Staff: Staff were friendly and happy to help.

Accessibility: There are a few parking spaces for those with a disability. Then there is a approx. 30 meter path to reception. There are a few seats at reception. The toilets I came across (in our room and one by reception) were very low. I cannot comment on accessibility rooms, but the website mentions ambulant and wheelchair accessibility.

Things I'd like done differently: One of the things that I'd like to see better (across all YHAs) is consistency when booking dinner. Some places let you order your meal on the day at any time so the chef can start sooner. While others you can only order at 5pm. I'd prefer to be able to order at any time so if we were out, we can get back for 5pm and dinner would...

We were there for 6 nights and thoroughly enjoyed every second.|Beautiful old building full of character - you can choose from a large selection of new board games and play in the dining room, library or lounge. There are tables outside where you can eat and watch the sheep grazing on the lawn.||All the staff is friendly, professional and helpful, without exception.||The staff has noticed that it can rain in the Peak District and there is a highly useful drying room which looks and feels like a sauna - much appreciated after a day in the elements. Big and warm enough to make sure everybody's kit is dry and ready to use the next day.||The location is excellent, easily accessible by public transport and near buses which can take you to the starting point for Kinder Scout, Stanage Edge, Derwent Dam or other stunning hikes. Castleton is a very short walk away, with a choice of pubs and tea rooms.||Excellent self-catering facilities for those who want to cook for themselves; wonderful breakfasts and a good choice of dinners for those who don't. I don't recommend the meal deal, there is little difference in price and the choice is more limited.||The rooms are clean and well prepared. Don't forget it's a Youth Hostel, so it's bunk beds even in double rooms.||Overall, if you want delightful accommodation from where to enjoy everything the Peak District can offer,...