I'm looking for good, reasonably priced, family hostels or apartments in Scotland, Wales and London. Ifr you know of any that would work for my husband and 4 daughters (13, 11, 9, 5) please let me know.

Some hostels don;t allow children and many are party spots with s lot of drinking and quite possible drugs. Unless you can find hostels that genuinely welcome and are set up for children I would look at apartments instead (assuming you will be in one place long enough).

I believe that Hosteling International are usually reputable - but don;t know if they have family rooms or allow children.

I would caution against hostels also - for the same reasons as nytraveler. I would mostely be concerned about the noise level and also common bathrooms with young girls. There are some hostels that have inexpensive apartments attached, but you still have the noise issue.

Instead, can you find apartments ?

I think you'll have more luck with organizations like HI or YHA, versus independent hostels. Independent hostels tend to be geared more toward the 18-25 demographic and, while I've never run into drugs at the several I've stayed at, I'm not sure I'd want my young kids there.

Hostelling Scotland claims to offer family rooms at some of its hostels, though I checked the two Edinburgh ones and couldn't tell if they have those rooms or not.

http://www.syha.org.uk/

There's at least one YHA hostel in London near St. Paul's, I believe, and there may be more.

All that said, though, if you can find apartments in your budget I think you'll enjoy that much more. Hostels definitely have their uses, and I've stayed in quite a few, but there's a lot to be said for having your own space (especially with kids).

"Reasonable" means different things to different people. What is your actual budget?

Scotland and Wales are big places - where in particular? And when is your trip?

If you are looking into hostels - check out http://www.hostelworld.com/ for reviews so you get some idea what to expect.

I'd be more inclined to try to bag a couple of cheap Travelodge rooms. Basic, cheap, clean and private. Most are near or have easy access to motorways.

http://www2.travelodge.co.uk/saver_rooms/

oh oh someon dared mention Travelodges! But though many seem to disdain these budget places that are all over the UK with several in London these may be the best places for a family like the OPs and the cheapest option as well - they actually have a limited number of rooms at 29 pounds that some Fodorites actually say they could get. Travelodge is a modern motel-style hotel - dependably modern plumbing, etc. To me one of the great deals for budget-minded folks in London and UK - ditto for Premier Inns, a similar group of budget hotels.

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This is a family of six. Neither Travelodge nor Premier Inn will accommodate that many. They would have to book two rooms and neither guarantees adjacent rooms. So Mom and Dad would have to split up each taking two of the children.

This situation is where a hostel actually makes more sense -- since they can book a whole dorm room for 6 or even 8.

And cottages/flats would be good too.

But we need to know budget/when/and where before giving any useful advice.

Premier Inn??? No thanks, we stayed in one last year in Ascot and it was dreadful the television and lamps were screwed to the table. The bathroom was dingy and shabby, thankfully we were only there one night and only used the room to sleep in.

The cost was 70gbp per room - we booked 2, after we came back to the US I wrote a scathing email and they replied offering to refund our money. An offer gratefully received but the experience has put me off Premier Inn for now.

Janis - In the past we have booked 2 rooms and we have slept in separate rooms with our children, it's not ideal but if the OP is looking into hostels? I'm assuming that they are budget minded and won't care too much about the inconvenience, especially if the accomodation is simply to rest in.

But, as you say, until we have more information we are potentially giving advice that is useless

We are looking in the Iverness area for 3 nights the beginning of August. We had hoped to get something in the $100 - $150 CAD range.

CAD$100 is only about £60 --- that is VERY low for a party of 6.

$150 = approx £95 -- a bit better but still a bit tough to sleep 6.

You can try the Inverness Youth Hostel on Victoria Drive - they have family rooms. But even there it will run a little over £100 for all of you.

www.yha.org.uk has excellent hostels in England and Wales. There are four or five in London alone. Most have family rooms and many offer self-catering kitchens, so you can save a little money by packing a lunch or cooking dinner now and then.

Unfortunately, we didn't use a YHA hostel in London, but we stayed in their properties in Stratford-upon-Avon, Hartington Hall in the Peak District, Snowdonia National Park in Wales, Bath, and Salisbury.

Lee Ann