YHA Brecon Beacons Danywenallt

Lovely hostel and campsite in a great location. We camped and it felt luxurious being able to use a proper kitchen! Camping area is secluded and has plenty of picnic benches and fire pits for barbecues. The kitchen is well equipped but not huge, so can get quite busy if people are trying to cook different things at the same time. Brilliant for cycling, it's right on the Taff Trail and there is a new secure cycle storage shed to keep bikes dry. Talybont is close by with a good village shop and cafe, bike hire and several pubs on the canal.

Absolutely beautiful place. Value for money big time. Service and accommodation as good as you will get at the price if not better. Staff were attentive and always had time for you even though cleaning away. Staff had great knowledge of all Welsh and local area. Can’t find a fault as this is exactly what we wanted and expectations were more than met. Thanks again and see you soon. The Curtis Family Harlow, Essex

I've stayed here twice now and it already feels like a home from home! The little campground is really sweet with apple trees, picnic benches and a rugged feel. I love being surrounded by the mountains and access to the hostel itself is a bonus.

So this place is handy if you’re hiking Pen Y Fan or similar. Only 20mins from the trail head. Unfortunately it’s outweighed by the poor service and quality of the hostel. We chose to leave early after 1 night. Pros: Location. Price. Drying room. Large communal dining room. Cons: Long uncut grass making outside space unusable due to damp and bugs. Poor water pressure causing shower to cut out mid shower; had to find a member of staff downstairs at 7am while wet and soaped up to get it fixed; staff member explained this happens often - so either get it fixed or leave instructions on how to reset shower in the room? Mattresses in our room were plastic which were loud as we moved in our sleep causing disturbed sleep and were very warm to the point that we woke up sweating. The duvets were inexplicably thick and rigid, almost like mattress toppers. No bug net on the windows despite a noticeable presence of midges. Very thin walls and doors meaning that all noises can be heard and resulted in disturbed sleep. Our room was above the communal kitchen meaning that our sleep was disturbed by banging and talking late into the night. Doors throughout the accommodation are either stiff, get stuck, or the door closers cause them to slam, again adding to the noise and disturbances. Despite another reply from YHA in these reviews re decorating each year, our room was poorly decorated and not finished, there were marks on the walls, unpainted skirting boards, cobwebs, cracks in walls. Despite the YHA website advertising that the accommodation provided pizza in the evenings, we were told upon arrival that only breakfast was being served; so coming unprepared to cook ourselves food we would have needed to find a local shop unexpectedly; the YHA staff member didn’t suggest local shops when advising dinner was not available. We had some items in the fridge, the next morning the fridge was out of order and our items were kindly placed in a second fridge; unfortunately there was no note as to how long the first fridge had been broken or when our food was moved so we were unsure how long it might have been sat in a warm fridge before being moved; a note slipped under our door would have sufficed. Upon arriving our first interaction was from a chap in the staff accommodation asking that we move our car to make space for others (we hadn’t parked unreasonably and to move meant parking too close to another car); didn’t introduce himself; no pleasantries. WiFi didn’t work, only 3

Visited with family, booked glamping tents. The camp site was nice, beautiful views around the hostel, the tents were clean and tidy. We self catered but chose to have breakfast from hostel on our first morning, good breakfast despite it being very busy, the service was great even under pressure. Indoor areas were nice, if some a little small. Kitchen was well equipped, due to size of room & our party we timed our meals around quieter times and it worked well for us. All areas we used were clean and tidy including the shower/toilet designated for camping area. Our family felt comfortable relaxing in the lounge area on an evening. Good visit would book again.

Starting with the positives: - Stunning location, set within a scenic Brecons valley overlooking sheepfields. - Great for access to the Brecons for outdoor activities. The unfortunate aspects: - YHA is a dying organisation and this is evident in terms of the care and maintenance of this hostel and its heyday is clearly in the past - The kitchen was closed following the condemnation of equipment though the self-kitchen remained available though missing some basic equipment such as tin-openers! - The plumbing is shot. No hot water to the sinks in the rooms; the tap in the kitchen 'blew off' its fitting; the airlocked pipes reverberate around the building. - The building is in clear need of a major refurbishment.

A well kept Youth Hostel with a comfy lounge where we met some other people and soon got talking about the days events and much more besides. And a friendly atmosphere. Kept clean and tidy with a good choice of breakfast freshly prepared.

Camped with my girlfriend and we loved it. Majority were families enjoying time away togther and escaping usual responsibilities. The orchard was a great camping spot, not too busy but a nice environment nevertheless. The food is good but get there early to make use of unlimitability. The mountains are amazing to walk as is the reservior if up for a proper circumnavigating expedition. Staff are friendly and all facilities do just fine and remind us of how lucky we are with our home comforts.

This YHA is in seriously need of some TLC. The staff also have no authority to help so any problems is just 'Sorry' which of course is appreciated but doesn't help. Although in a beautiful location, this hostel is not relaxing; Cold water in bedroom sinks dirty - needed vacuuming and there was a used ear play on the little bedside shelves. Only 1 bedside light was working in a 6 man dorm. Toilet roll dispenses kept jamming No hot water in downstairs toilet. Only 1 cooker working, making it very busy in the self catering kitchen. most frustrating for us was that although paying for such facility of an electric car charging point, they haven't worked for over 4 months (complete false advertising) We had to back track our journey the next day.