As a backpacker I have stayed in some really basic hostels, however, the Pemberton YHA is by far the worst place I have ever stayed in! We were put in a double room in the cottage over the road and to be fair, the room and bed linen was clean and we were even provided with towels which is unusual for a hostel. However, the living room & kitchen areas were filthy. There were dead flies and bugs all over the kitchen so you could tell it had not been cleaned for months. There were cobwebs everywhere and you could not sit down and watch TV or hangout with the other travellers because there was no heating and it was freezing (when we were there it was 2 degrees on the evening!).

The shower room was covered in hair all over the sinks and in the shower so I doubt that is cleaned daily either. I must admit, the hostel ruined my stay in Pemberton because I just dreaded going back there on the evening.

Like I said, as a backpacker on a shoestring budget I am used to staying in basic accomodation, but one thing that really bugs me is hostels using that to mean they can provide dirty accomodation that you wouldn't even let your dog stay in! I honestly do believe that the hostel may have been quite nice not so long ago as when I told another YHA hostel owner our story, he informed me that the hostel had only recently changed owners (April 2006).