YHA Boswinger

This hostel is a great find. Its just 5 minutes from a fantastic sandy beach, safe for swimming, and 2 other great beaches are within an hours walk along the south'west coast path. Its easy to get to by public transport - 5 buses a day from the main town of St Austell and then an easy 1 mile (20 minutes) walk. Also, you can reach the Eden Project by changing buses in St Austell. The hostel is centred around a nice courtyard with picnic tables and parasols in the summer, and theres a small garden with chairs for reading in the sun. The kitchen was the best-equipped kitchen I have ever found in a hostel, with plenty of crockery and cooking utensils for everyone. The hostel also offers a good value evening meal with lots of choices for children as well as adults; most of it using Cornish produce. The staff were really friendly when I checked in, and had lots of local information. They were eager and enthusiastic about the area and the hostel, and were very approachable. The young hostel manager is an avid traveller, and she apparently goes overseas each winter, so knows all about what a hostel should be like! I can highly recommend this hostel. (Date of experience: Oct, 2009 )