The Arlington Gasthaus & Speakeasy — Restaurant in Hastings Highlands

This hostel will be memorable, but unfortunately for all of the wrong reasons.||||Upon arrival, we had to go hunting for the manager in order to secure our room keys... we were told if he wasn't around to "check the bar".||||1. Kitchen is small and unkept. Sink was full of dirty dishes and greasy pans requiring washing. The 'frig had no room at all - and something was leaking out of one of the vegetable crispers that prevented it from even being opened! Clearly hadn't been washed in quite a while. Lack of glasses, dishes, etc. A very disappointing first impression!||||2. Third floor bathrooms - the one with the large shower. The shower floor is awful - be sure to bring footwear to use when showering, and it was almost impossible to finally get water that was warm enough to bathe with. The sink has separate hot and cold faucets with no stopper. Everything requires a good scrubbing. The small washroom with toilet and sink - only the hot water faucet works and this might be acceptable if you normally brush your teeth with hot water! ||||3. Bunk bed mattresses are uncomfortable, with springs poking up and again - lumpy old pillows and dirty carpets both in the rooms and hallways. ||||Altho' there was a dining area, it was closed. Perhaps you could prepare your meal and eat in the TV room - the only redeeming quality of the third floor.||||Patio furniture is broken and dirty. Stinky, water filled containers that must serve as ashtrays due to the number of rotting cigarette butts floating in them.||||The "bar" is a dive but with the lights turned down at night, and after a few cold beers, perhaps you won't mind.||||Maynooth is an interesting town - small but serviceable with a gas station and general store. A couple of very nice galleries and a wonderful farmer's market on Saturdays in the summer. Get out of the hostel (where you will literally be overwhelmed by the heat), and head down Hwy. 127 to Lake St. Peter to enjoy the sand beach and beautiful lake to cool off in.||||I would NOT return to this "hostel" - which was more like a boarding house that would never pass a...

This hostel will be memorable, but unfortunately for all of the wrong reasons.||||Upon arrival, we had to go hunting for the manager in order to secure our room keys... we were told if he wasn't around to "check the bar".||||1. Kitchen is small and unkept. Sink was full of dirty dishes and greasy pans requiring washing. The 'frig had no room at all - and something was leaking out of one of the vegetable crispers that prevented it from even being opened! Clearly hadn't been washed in quite a while. Lack of glasses, dishes, etc. A very disappointing first impression!||||2. Third floor bathrooms - the one with the large shower. The shower floor is awful - be sure to bring footwear to use when showering, and it was almost impossible to finally get water that was warm enough to bathe with. The sink has separate hot and cold faucets with no stopper. Everything requires a good scrubbing. The small washroom with toilet and sink - only the hot water faucet works and this might be acceptable if you normally brush your teeth with hot water! ||||3. Bunk bed mattresses are uncomfortable, with springs poking up and again - lumpy old pillows and dirty carpets both in the rooms and hallways. ||||Altho' there was a dining area, it was closed. Perhaps you could prepare your meal and eat in the TV room - the only redeeming quality of the third floor.||||Patio furniture is broken and dirty. Stinky, water filled containers that must serve as ashtrays due to the number of rotting cigarette butts floating in them.||||The "bar" is a dive but with the lights turned down at night, and after a few cold beers, perhaps you won't mind.||||Maynooth is an interesting town - small but serviceable with a gas station and general store. A couple of very nice galleries and a wonderful farmer's market on Saturdays in the summer. Get out of the hostel (where you will literally be overwhelmed by the heat), and head down Hwy. 127 to Lake St. Peter to enjoy the sand beach and beautiful lake to cool off in.||||I would NOT return to this "hostel" - which was more like a boarding house that would never pass a...

I stayed 6 days at the Arlington, and I would return in a heartbeat. Booking the reservation was painless, all done by email but it only took about an hour start to finish. The manager even checked to make sure I was intending to come to Maynooth, Canada, not Maynooth, Ireland. My corner room #8 was very large with funky purple walls, 3 windows that opened and had completely functioning screens, a fan (no A/C in Canada), a large couch, a chair, a little desk with chair, a wardrobe, and a big, comfortable bed. The electrical outlets were high enough to reach without crawling on the floor. The TV room across the hall was never a bother. The kitchen down the hall was stocked with all the necessities for cooking and storing food, although I only made coffee and tea. The bathrooms are shared; this is a hostel, after all. The top-floor bathroom needs renovating, but the lower-floor bathroom was modern and up-to-date. I expected the live music from the pub to keep me up, but it didn't. Finally, all the other guests I met were extremely friendly. Don't get me wrong: this is not the Ritz. The building is old and a little worn around the edges. But it is a wonderful, clean, pleasant place to stay...