I stayed with YHA Stow with my family during August 2009 for one night. The actual building is very nice from the front and is in a prime location in the town square. There is limited parking to the rear but parking in the town square outside is free but time-limited to 2 hrs and patrolled by a warden during the day. Outside business hrs it is free.

The historic town square is very nice with many antique shops, pubs, restaurants, hotels and the obligatory estate agents along with afew shops selling clothes etc. The late night Co-Op is handy only afew yards away. The Town Hall in the middle of the square is of historic interest. Quite afew tourist coaches arrived and the occpontents spilled out into the various shops with cameras clicking away. Scotts of Stow, the well-known household appliance and ideas shop was very busy. We actually purchased one handy item whilst there.

We had Room 2 overlooking the square. As with many other YHA hostels, the bunk beds creaked alot during the night . Alas the following day we all suffered from bites which must have come from bedbugs of some sort. Yes we had clean sheets, duvet covers and pillow cases but the disposable under sheets are not changed so regularly and I think that is where the problem lies. The shower was fine but again as with other YHA'S the toilet next to our room was used by other guests after we had gone to bed and this also woke us up. The self-catering kitchen is adequate and you may eat your food with other guests in the main dining room. Internet access is unecessarily expensive as we found elsewhere within the YHA accomodation in the UK. Lastly a car alarm activated in the Square at about 1am which echoed around thge area for ages, not good for a light sleeper.

If you wish for a guarenteed undisturbed nights sleep I suggest you do NOT use YHA's.

We were on the top floors, and one of the mornings the showers were just a drip! There were signs about running the faucet to get the pressure up, but it still didn't work. Maybe the ones on lower floors would have been better.

We wanted to check in a bit early, or at least drop our bags, and called ahead to check on this. We were told that's fine, we could leave our bags. But when we arrived, there was no one at the desk, then when we asked a waitress walking by, she said she'd let the woman know and it would be just a minute. We waited no less than TEN minutes before we heard or saw anyone else, except the same waitress one more time. When the woman finally came out, she was short and rather rude with us, practically tossing the key across the counter to us.

I'm sure it's the best cheap place to stay in Stow-on-the-Wold, but if you can stay somewhere else in the Cotswolds, probably you should.

I stumbled across this YHA Hostel when looking for a central location to drive around the Cotswolds and would go back at any time. While it had an odd lock-up time, since I had a car, I was oblivious to it.

Just down the road from the hostel was a great little coffee shop where I went from breakfast each morning and got to know some of the locals. Very welcoming over all.

Its location was so central that on May Day (May 1), as I came into my room, I looked outside into the square and saw a group of Morris Dancers and one trained owl, performing their dances. Neat and unexpected!!

No lockers! If you show up before check-in, expect to haul your bags around all day!! The lock-out is between 10:30-5pm (i'm sketchy on the exact time). Why you would remove the lockers from a hostel is so far beyond me that it makes me furious.
Basically, the YHA is never a good idea unless you plan to stumble in and fall asleep - but before the curfew. Which is between 11pm and midnight. Also, on my list of complaints about the YHA, no refunds. That's right, you can't get a refund if you book within a month of your stay. Also, no free breakfast. And the cost of breakfast is not competitive.
Terrible shower pressure in the attic room. It was almost comic that the water went out 10 seconds after my face was soaped up. The shower also wouldn't work until i forced my friend to get up and try to fix it. At which point the shower came on as she was leaning in to press the button again. Oh, how we laughed. No, wait, we didn't. Staff was weird, made us feel uncomfortable and intrusive. If this is what it means to be a backpacker, count me out.