Hello and thank you for taking the time to write about our hostel but I just want to correct some points you make

Our hostel is located in a very safe area, as is Inverness as whole. The path way you mention to the hostel is well lit and also covered by CCTV. The car park besides the building is accredited by the Police for being safe and secure; the hostel benefits from this as well.

All of the windows in the hostel can be opened and all off the bunks have ladders, so I don’t understand why you say people would struggle to get on top? Or why it would be more difficult for a woman? The rooms are not as small as you state and are all different sizes – you only stayed in one for one night – and all have room for large luggage. We have focused on making our lounge area a comfortable place to hang out, relax and meet other people as we prefer the dorms to be used for sleeping only. The hostel atmosphere is much better when people are socialising … it’s what hostels are all about.

We don’t have any long term people stay with us at the hostel and the people you mention were from Poland and stayed with us for 3 days. We’re surprised you didn’t know this as you stayed in the same room as them.

Our kitchen and the hostel is always maintained to a very high cleaning standard and I encourage all people reading to check our reviews on all major hostel booking sites and they will see the glowing reviews from people who actually stayed at the hostel for more than one night.

We have plenty of toilets and showers. People tend to queue for the same two rather than walk down stairs to reception level where they are usually free.

All of our staff are well informed about Inverness and the surrounding area. You were asking questions about the whole of Scotland and not even the Scottish Tourist board have staff that well informed.

I like Bob Marley but the hostel does not pay homage to him, unless you call five postcard size pictures we have stuck up beside one of the showers one.

You insinuation that our staff take drugs in any shape or form is ridiculous – we don’t even smoke tobacco – and ‘Tripadvisors’ like yourself really need to sit back and realise what it is you’re actually typing, as it can cost people their jobs. I really hope you see this response and take that on board.

Safe journey and enjoy your travels

Hello and thank you so much for taking the time to write this review. We were just beginning to think that Tripadvisor was the revenge reviewer’s haven.

It would be great to see you again so we could give you some VIP treatment on a night out in Inverness!

Take care and enjoy your travels

We are very sorry to read that you did not enjoy your stay at the hostel. We now have a new system in place where only staff will stay in that particular room and I encourage everyone reading to do a Google search on the hostel and they will see that we are the top rated hostel in Inverness on all the major booking websites.

I just want to point out that you were made aware at check in that you were staying in the staff room and we offered you a further discount bringing the cost of your stay down to £6; more than half the normal rate for that weekend. You do mention the good value in your review but still gave 'Value' the lowest rating?

All our rooms can be locked from the inside and the fact that staff can feel comfortable enough to leave the door open speaks volumes about how safe the hostel is and the homely atmosphere we have created here.

We do hope you will pay a visit again and as discussed during our phone call today take advantage of the discount we have offered you. We are certain you will have a much better visit the next time.

Enjoy the rest of your travels

Hello LittlMiss Crab Aplly

Thank you for the review and I wish to apologise for the poor experience you had during your stay at the hostel. I want to assure you and others reading that what you experienced is not the norm. Guests are always satisfied with their stay with us and it’s why the hostel is so highly rated on all hostel booking websites, and I encourage everyone reading to do a quick Google search to confirm this.

Your presumptions about who were staff and who were guests was wrong and had you been correct I believe you would not have been as harsh on the hostel as you have been in your review. None of our staff are couples and the youngest is 25. The people who came into your room that night to collect their bags were guests. People off all ages stay with us including families with young children, so we are far from being an unclean cheap place to crash.

Your booking was moved into the shared staff and long term guest room as the dorm you were allocated too had a damaged door lock which could not be repaired until the following day. This should have been explained to you when you were checking in, rather than the tongue in cheek joke you received, which obviously you did not find to be humorous. It was unprofessional and I apologise again. It should also have been communicated with you about how to turn the light off after the dimmer switch was broken off. When this happened you lost the feature to control the brightness, but it just needed to be pushed to turn off the lights, as it was later when the staff member who does sleep in that room went to bed. Why the bunk was moved to have the ladder against the wall is a mystery, but has now been resolved and again my apologies.

Maintaining the kitchen to a high clean standard 24/7 is one of the biggest problems every hostel has and we were fully booked the night of your stay. Most guests do clean up after themselves but for the few who lack the community hostel spirit. But we will try even harder to keep it clean. We have just recently installed new hobs, ovens, fridges, freezers, pots, pans, toaster, microwave and we now have the best hostel kitchen in Inverness.

Again my apologies and we hope we have the opportunity to show you how the hostel really is someday in the future

Take care and enjoy the rest of your travels