I knew early on that hostels were not for me. Tales from my InterRailing mates made hostels sound like an endurance test. Food eaten by mice in the night; drunk interlopers comatose in your bunk; and even a story about a bloke fried on LSD attempting to pile all the furniture against the dormitory door. At 4am.
Once, in Amsterdam (naturally, I was in a hotel), I ended up drinking with a group of Australian backpackers who appeared to be tolerating one another solely because, as solo travellers, they badly needed the companionship. The loudest of them was very proud of the large felt-tip penis that somehow (use your imagination), had been drawn on his belly in the red-light district. Were these the kind of people you had to put up with in hostels? Because, frankly, I am not a big felt-tip-penis kind of guy.
What I do like, though, is value for money, which in the hotel world is increasingly hard to find. A standard room in most UK cities is now £100-plus at the weekend, even in many supposedly “budget” hotels. Fundamentally, all you need is a comfortable bed, a toilet, shower, TV and mirror. Why are rooms that expensive?
Despite my historic prejudice, therefore, I was intrigued by Igloo Hybrid, a hip new “ho[s]tel” in Nottingham, which includes several private double rooms (some en suite), family rooms, pod-like “sleep boxes” for two (decorated by local graffiti artist Small Kid), and dorms with up to six beds. Private rooms start at £29, and, naturally, are basic. You have to bring your own toiletries and, unless you rent Igloo’s thin ones, your own towels. You are politely asked to strip your bed. But wherever you stay, you get a memory foam mattress and a guarantee, from personable owner Bettina Kristiansen, that there won’t be any stag dos rampaging around on Saturday night.
Bring ear-plugs anyway, because the thin walls of this former office building do not block out the general noise from the adjacent rooms, never mind any late-night larking about. I liked my loosely beach-themed room, though. The hardwearing carpet is an institutional charcoal grey, but there is enough homespun colour (a cartoon palm tree illustration; digital-print sunset wallpaper from eBay) that it feels warmly cosy. The idiosyncratic mismatching of Ikea-ish and vintage furniture pieces is also pleasing. The en suite bathroom (heated towel rail but no drinking glasses) is fine, despite the shower’s domestic power. Generally – plenty of hooks, if no hangers; idiot-proof TV; full-length mirror; clever, built-in writing desk – I like the room’s neat, clutter-free functionality.
Guests can cook in the ground-floor kitchen or hang out in the communal lounge and cute courtyard (there’s no bar or restaurant). On this midweek visit, it was far from raucous. A couple of people nursed beers, but there was little chatter. Most were sitting, headphones on, tapping at laptops. The Libertines had played Nottingham the night before. Perhaps everyone was coming around from that. Or were they just dumbstruck to see someone of my advanced years (in this context, anyone over 25) in a youth hostel?
Either way, I beetled off to Junkyard, an ace craft beer bar just minutes away. The Malt Cross, a bar and arts centre in a restored Victorian music hall, is also recommended and, again, close to centrally located Igloo. Next morning, two minutes after check-out, I was in coffee shop 200 Degrees, enjoying an excellent flat white and a bagel. Who wouldn’t prefer to swerve Britain’s overpriced chain hotels and spend the money saved at such local independents? It is a win-win.
• Accommodation was provided by Igloo Hybrid (4-6 Eldon Chambers, 0115 948 3822, igloohostel.co.uk); doubles from £29 room-only (en suite £39), dorm beds from £19. Travel between Manchester and Nottingham was provided by Cross Country Trains
Ask a local
Iain Simons, co-director, Nottingham’s National Videogame Arcade
• Eat
The Hockley area, just east of the centre, is exploding with eateries. Café Hockley delivers the best Marmite on toast (it’s all about slice thickness), and Annie’s Burger Shack has just opened a brilliant new street-food deli place, Pico. For me, The Larder on Goosegate serves the best steak in town.
• Drink
A bar disguised as a combi-boiler showroom, Boilermaker prides itself on offering “seriously comfortable and fun drinking”.
• See
The grounds of Nottingham Castle are great to wander around. It’s not a huge space, but with all those hidden paths, bandstands and caves, it feels it. The Galleries of Justice , in the old courthouse, is also fantastic.
GameCity Festival runs October 22-31
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