Just returned from a 3 night stay at the Abraham House. We were a group of 22 lads on a stag do, and we had two 10-bed dorms and one 4-bed room. The accomodation is what you expect from a hostel - bunk beds, less than glamorous bathroom facilities, basic breakfast etc - but as long as that is what you expect and that is all you need, you won't go wrong with this place.

The hostel has a nice friendly atmosphere to it - we were there on the Ireland - Wales 6 Nation rugby weekend, so the hostel was taken over by large groups of Welsh rugby fans, as was most of Dublin. That gave the whole place a good party feel to it.

Also it is handily located - about 2 minute walk from the bus station (which is handy is you arrive by ferry as that is where the bus from the Ferryport drops you off), 5 minutes from the Spike, and 10 minutes from Temple Bar.

For breakfast you get a big bread roll, jam, tea, coffee and juice, which if nothing else tides you over until you make it to a cafe for a Full Irish (there's a good one nearby - left out of the hostel, left at the lights, on the opposite side of the road). Breakfast is served between 8am and 10am - watch out for the scary Eastern European women who work in the kitche - at 10am on the dot one of them will appear and shriek at the top of their voice "Breakfast. Finish". Can give you a nasty jump when nursing a stinking hangover!

One negative point about the hostel was that our two 10-bunk rooms were on the top floor, and the plumbing struggled to cope with getting water up there when anyone else was using water in the hostel. Hence on the Saturday morning, between 9 and 10am we had no water for showers, washing or flushing the loo. And we there are 20-odd lads who have been drinking heavily the night before, you really do need a working loo! That said though, the hostel quickly gave us access to a vacant room that did have a water supply!

One word of warning about Dublin generally - it is very very expensive. It is rare that I go to places and find them more expensive that the UK (not helped by the recent weakening of the pound against the Euro) but the cheapest pint we had was €4.50 and the most expensive was €6 in the Gaiety club (good club by the way - with a cinema in it too!?!). A fry up was €8, and a 5 minute taxi ride at midnight was €9. Go armed with plenty of cash...

Where the rooms were average (we stayed in a ten bed dormer), it was the fun social aspect of the Abraham that I liked the most. Of course, the social aspect also kept me from getting enough much-needed sleep.

I would definitely say it was geared toward a younger crowd, but it was comfortable for all age ranges. There were plenty of common areas to hang out in, and a nice kitchen that closed earlier than I would have liked.

It is conveniently located, close to transportation and a light rail/tram stop. It is near the heart of Dublin, and shopping and eating is within walking distance. The Abraham offers (at least when I was there) inexpensive lockers so you can leave your stuff during day trips.

Staff was friendly and helpful during my stay, and it has a fairly clean and secure atmosphere.

This is the second time I have stayed in Abraham House and it was just as good as I remembered. The hostel is in a really good location for transport, shops, and pubs and clubs.

We spent the majority of our stay in a 20 mixed dorm and there were no problems at all. The room was clean and bedding was changed on a regular basis.

The staff were all really friendly, especially Seamus. He was always willing to help whatever the problem and advised us where to go out, places to avoid and how to stay safe around Dublin. He was clearly concerned when one of us was ill and he always made sure that if one of us was on our own then we knew where we meeting the others.

I am planning on staying here on all my future trips to Dublin

Reasonable hostel accommodation. Wasn't perfect but then with a hostel you do not expect perfect. The shower was falling off the wall a little and it could do with a lick of paint. However the accommodation was clean, staff helpful and atmosphere friendly. They also have free internet which was useful. Breakfast was basic but filling and finished quite late (10am), useful if you've been out the night before.

However, Dublin itself was not quite what I expected. The city is seriously filthy, there is garbage everywhere, the streets can't have been given a good pressure wash for years. Quite disgusting. The city is also jammed with traffic and fumes. The people are very friendly though and a trip to the Guinness storehouse is worth it. Just take note that the bar at the top closes at 6pm pronto if, like us, you were hoping to enjoy an early evening pint of Guinness there.

It was a pleasant trip but I won't be going back to Dublin any time soon.