The Baxter Hostel in Edinburgh is a boutique ‘poshtel’ in the centre of the city. First opened in 2014, this small but charming hostel is situated above a pub near Edinburgh Waverley train station and features a selection of dorm rooms. I stayed here for two nights during the Edinburgh Fringe in August 2019 and this is my review of my visit. To give you a real feel for the hostel, I’ve included my video above and images below. If you find my review for The Baxter Hostel Edinburgh helpful, be sure to leave me a comment below and let me know! 👇
Location
One of the best features of The Baxter Hostel is its location. Situated across the road from Edinburgh Waverley station, you can go straight from train to check-in in two minutes. That’s if you can find the hostel, that is. The photos of the interiors look so stylish, I was expecting a slightly more glamorous entrance than a doorway down an alley at the rear of a pub. It took me a couple of minutes of walking around to realise it was inside a stairwell that also serves as the entrance to another (less chic) hostel. Don’t be put off though – once you’re inside, it’s lovely.
The hostel is in Edinburgh’s New Town neighbourhood, which means it’s also within easy walking distance of most of the city’s main attractions. Edinburgh isn’t very big and it’s very easy to get around on foot, which makes The Baxter Hostel a pretty convenient location no matter where you want to go.
📍 Address: 5/2 West Register Street, New Town, Edinburgh, EH2 2AA
☎️ Phone: +44 131 503 1001
Price
The Baxter Hostel has only dorm rooms, that range from four to twelve beds per room. Prices also vary depending on the season/time of the year, but according to TripAdvisor, you can pay anywhere between £13 – £60/night. Click here to see the price for your dates:
Hostelworld
Booking.com
Hostel’s website
Are there any benefits to booking directly with The Baxter Hostel Edinburgh? They don’t seem to have their own loyalty scheme but they do offer room discounts if you sign-up to their mailing list.
The Baxter Hostel rooms
I stayed in a Standard 6 Bed Female Dorm for two nights. This is the smallest dorm room size, although there is a four-bed dorm that is available as a private room (as in, you have pay for all four beds). The hostel also offers a nine-bed female dorm and a six, nine and twelve-bed mixed-gender dorm. These rooms are usually around the same price per bed, especially in the low season, so there isn’t a huge amount of variation in price between these options.
My room was stylish and tidy, with three-bunk metal bed frames, metal lockers, a full-length mirror and a window that opened onto a pedestrian-only street. The window was nice, considering some dorm rooms can be quite airless but it could get noisy, especially when a nearby busking bagpiper played a musicals-medley. There was also some noise from the pub downstairs, but I imagine this was due to it being Edinburgh Fringe.
I really liked the beautiful tiling on the floor and the exposed stone wall in my bedroom. Seeing as it is Scotland, I really hope the room has decent heating, as the combination of the window, tiled floors and metal beds gave the room a cool feel, even in August, so I could imagine it being quite chilly in the winter. I’m sure they keep it pretty toasty though.
Each bed has one UK power point, a reading light, a small alcove for your phone and a hanging rail. There were two options for lockers, both medium-sized although the free-standing ones near the window seemed bigger than the ones next to the bunks. These were lockable with your own padlock. My pillow cover and bed linen were clean and of decent quality, and the mattress and pillow itself were comfy.
The bathroom
There are no ensuite rooms at The Baxter Hostel, as the bathroom is separate from the dorm rooms, with four shower cubicles and two toilet cubicles in the same room. It has the same combination of stylish tiles and soft-toned paint that is featured throughout the hostel. If you’ve read any of my other hostel reviews, you’ll know I’m freaked out by anything remotely gross about bathrooms. This bathroom was relatively clean, only let down by some black mould on the roof above the showers which wasn’t very nice to look at. Otherwise, totally fine.
Breakfast
One of the best features of The Baxter Hostel is their breakfast. It’s free, tasty and served in their beautiful kitchen/lounge, complete with chandelier and a large Kate Moss (the classic cover of The Face, of course). As this is a small, boutique hostel, the staff whip up scrambled eggs on toast on demand, which was a really lovely touch. Alternatively, you can opt for cereal and milk, which is served alongside the orange juice, tea and coffee. Honestly, its freshness, simplicity and beautiful surrounds make this the best hostel breakfast I’ve ever had the option of experiencing (and I’ve stayed at quite a few hostels).
Amenities
As mentioned above, the kitchen/lounge area is a really lovely, stylish space, which I really enjoyed hanging out in. It has a cafe feel, with a couple of tables and a cosy nook for chilling in. It was such a lovely space to come back to after running around Edinburgh Fringe all day.
The hostel has free wifi, which is very strong in the kitchen/lounge and a little weaker in the bedrooms, but still useable. Aside from this, the small hostel doesn’t have room for much else, so there aren’t any other amenities here, but it didn’t need. I think the only thing you might miss is a laundry/washing machine if you were staying there for more than a few days but I’m sure the staff could point you in the direction of one nearby.
Bottom line
If you’re looking for a chic hostel in Edinburg, then I doubt you would find a better one than The Baxter Hostel. I had a lovely stay here and would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting the city, especially for the Fringe.
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📌 Disclaimer: I paid for my stay at this hostel and did not receive any discount or freebies.