A warm and friendly welcome always awaits you – the kettle is always on!
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COViD-19 Changes (until informed otherwise)…
- Each room will be for one household only. Our rooms are not big enough to enable all occupants to socially distance, thus we can only accommodate one household in each room.
- We have had to unfortunately close our open plan kitchen/dining/lounge area, downstairs communal toilet and drying room. There isn’t unfortunately enough space to allow social distancing, plus the time taken to deep clean all communal areas every day outweighs the value of it.
- Due to the kitchen being closed we will be providing a tea station in every room, containing a kettle and the usual complimentary items we normally provide in our self-catering kitchen to make hot drinks.
- Secure bike storage will still be available.
- Our opening and check out times remain the same, at 5pm and 10am respectively.
- For those staying more than one night we are temporarily offering day access!! Our “guests must vacate during the day” rule is being relaxed for the time being so there is no need to be out by 10am or stay out until 4pm.
- We will be doing contactless check in. To this end balances will be taken one week in advance. We will use the card you booked with to take the balance. If the card doesn’t work, we will contact you and you will have a further 4 days to provide a new card, before your booking is cancelled. On arrival your key and all the important info will be in an envelope with your name on stuck to our reception door. Simply find your envelope and away you go! On departure we ask you to drop your used key card into our key drop box.
- We will be available in reception (from a distance!) from 5pm for questions and queries – you won’t be completely alone!
- For the remainder of 2020 we are offering a minimum 15% discount off our standard rates. We understand we are not offering everything we normally would, thus to allow for this we have knocked off at least 15% off our standard pricing. Any existing 2020 bookings will have their booking balance amended to reflect these new prices.
- Included in this is a discount of up to 65% for individual occupancy for 5 of our 7 rooms. We understand for those hostellers who just want a bed in a shared mixed dorm at a budget rate there is nothing out there for you at the moment. We are therefore heavily discounting the majority of our rooms to enable these individuals to still have a place to stay, but in a Corona safe way.
- To assist with this, we have also reduced the minimum occupancy in our larger private rooms to one (previously set to two). Where you had to previously pay for at least two people, if you are on your own, you only need pay for yourself.
- For the remainder of 2020 there will be no charge for cancellations made more than a week in advance of arrival. Cancellations made during the week of arrival will be subject to our standard cancellation policy (or the policy at the time of your booking if it’s since changed and it’s better for you!).
- Sole use of the hostel (with kitchen!) is available, provided current government guidelines are met. If you are a group, within the current government guidelines, we are happy to open up the whole hostel to you for sole use, including the use of all communal areas. Get in contact with us directly and we can discuss your requirements. It will be on a case by case basis as we will need to close the hostel after departure for 3 nights and therefore make it viable.
- Hand sanitiser will be available as you enter the hostel and we kindly ask all guests to use it every time they enter.
- It goes without saying we will also be carrying out an even more rigorous than usual cleaning schedule. We pride ourselves on doing thorough cleaning throughout the hostel, but this will be pushed even further now, including a deep clean of all guests’ bedrooms following departure…
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- washing mattress and pillow protectors every time
- spraying mattresses / pillows / duvets with disinfectant
- no bedroom will be re-entered after it has been cleaned
- stronger cleaning products will be used that specifically combat CoViD-19
- any unnecessary furnishings will be removed
…to name just some of the changes.
- Cleaning materials will be available in all bedrooms for guests to use throughout their stay.
- To assist with track and trace and in line with government requirements we will be keeping a note of all guests (name, address & contact telephone number). We will contact you one week before arrival to confirm guest details.
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How to get here
Coming from Aberdeen – on entering Ballater on the A93 with the River Dee on your left - you’ll past the Riverside Garage on your right, then CLAN cancer support charity shop on your left - just before road splits turn right onto stony track (if you reach T-junction you‘ve missed turning) - we are 20m down on your left.
Coming from Braemar – on entering Ballater on A93 drive through the village passing church on your right - turn left with A93, just past Rocksalt & Snails café (if you go over river you have missed turning) – take first left onto stony track – we are 20m down on your left. If you pass the CLAN cancer support charity shop on your right you have gone too far.
Transport
By air: Nearest airport is Aberdeen. 757 Stagecoach bus connects Aberdeen airport to Aberdeen bus/train station (bus every 15mins, journey takes 45mins). Take bus as below.
By train: Nearest train station is Aberdeen. Take bus as below.
By bus: Nearest bus stop is Ballater. Take 201/202/203 Stagecoach bus from Aberdeen bus/train station to Ballater (bus every 30-60mins, journey takes 2-2.5hrs). See www stagecoachbus.com for further info.
