The stay at Backpackers was noisy, but pleasant enough FOR A HOSTEL. IT IS NOT A HOTEL. Cleanliness was ok. A lot of the 'mess' was caused by us students. I think the lady who cleaned did the grandest job in keeping up. She in particular was absolutely lovely, put in 101 %, and was very helpful, as was Bern and his lady. There was a 'stoned', very unpleasant man there tho who was part of the management team. The lady who cleaned's partner. He was not very professional, being agressive toward his partner, and insulting his partner in front of guests. In my opinion he should be sacked. It was obvious he was intoxicated on something. He did actually say some quite unpleasant stuff to me too, when I walked in on him insulting his partner in the kitchen. Bad practise if you want your guests to return.
The dog added a friendly feel to the place. The rooms were clean, if somewhat 'dark'. Five of us in one room designed to hold 6, did feel a little overcrowded. The bed sheets were clean, and bedding was adequate.
Kitchen facilities were basic but more than adequate for our needs. Toilets and showers were clean.
Overall, I did actually enjoy my stay at Backpackers, though I am not sure I would return on my own. I would feel unsafe.
Best wishes to Bern, his partner, and the lovely lady who cleaned up after us. Thank you. xxxxx

The writer of the previous review was very unfortunate. Since middle of August this backpackers hostel has new management. They have mounted a big cleanup and repairs operation and so far are doing really well. I shared a twin room on 4th, 5th and 6th September 2010 and it was very clean, pillows were brand new, sheets freshly changed. Nothing much can be done about outside noise if you have a room at the front (main road). Over the winter Bern and Amy (really pleasant and helpful management) are redecorating the hostel. Some work is needed on I would definitely stay there again.

I know hostels are cheep accommodation and not as top quality as a hotel but there is no excuse for having a dirty hostel. :( staff were very friendly and helpful though!! I moved on to the outskirts of St. Ives and found lovely cleaner hostels.

We stayed at St. Ives Backpackers for 2 nights over August Bank Holiday. Unfortunately we decided to have this short break at the last minute and everywhere else was fully booked - so we ended up in this rightful [--] hole. Our room was old, dark, dusty and hadn't been vacuum cleaned in months. The lady wasn't even sure the bed sheets had been changed - but she deemed as they were ok anyway. We weren't AT ALL sure, so we slept in our sleeping bags (also because there was no sheet between the mattress and the bed sheet - really disgusting). Also the room was overlooking the road and with old single glazing we could hear everything that was happening downstairs (drunken youngsters hanging around till 4 am, with no one bothering at all) and to be honest I couldn't get any sleep whatsoever. The toilets on the 1st floor were MIXED and they were absolutely DREADFUL. I still feel sick thinking about them. The other toilets and showers were on the ground floor on the opposite side of the building, ie. you had to go through lots of communal areas in your towel and slippers before getting there... WTF??? And they were disgusting anyway with just a feeble amount of water coming out of them... The common room was a mess, with people sleeping on the sofas at every time of the day. The staff Is as filthy as the place they run (walking BAREFOOT in the kitchen when everyone else is cooking - BLEURGH), they seem like some hippies who still think they're living in the 70's in some sort of commune.

It's such a shame because it is in an ideal location a few steps away from the centre of St.Ives, which is an adorable place.

I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone!! Stay away!!