Meelmore Lodge - Hostel

The perfect Hiking place to stay Really enjoyed my stay again. To wake up at the foothills of the Mourne Mountains is truly special

Myself and the kids camp here as often as possible and love the place , Dessie and the staff are fantastic. I have read some reviews here and think this is not a true refection on this place. Dessie even went out of his busy schedule to go and collect a young lady who hurt her knee and he assisted on giving her a lift in his Quad.

Honestly I don’t know where to begin. We camped one night and were woken by half naked man hassling the girls wanting into their car with them. We all got in our cars and left the campsite out of fear of our safety. When we came back in the morning, the toilets had been vandalised with blood everywhere. When we reported this explaining how petrified we were and wanting to call the police, the owner just brushed it off like it was just an odd occurrence. No attempt at an apology or refund, nor anything done about the man harassing us. There is some CCTV but conveniently broken around the toilets. Owners are more concerned about money then their customers safety!

Really poor experience. Had hiked the butter mountain loop a few months ago and thought we would camp for a night with friends as the location is perfect and views are brilliant. Unfortunately we had a man who was also camping, knock on our car window at 5am in the morning and then try to get into our car (we slept in the car because of the rain). The ladies bathroom were also damaged and blood was left. When we discussed this with the staff and owner the next morning, they instantly knew who we were talking about as he had stayed the previous night as well. When we explained the man had tried to get into our car at 5am , he didn’t seem concerned. The owner then didn’t know whether he should ask him to leave and we said yes as we felt unsafe and wouldn’t want it to happen to someone else. Owner didn’t seem to put anyone else’s safety above the money. No compensation offered to us. Would not recommend staying here and we had to notify the police.

Unfortunately have to give just one star. Booked in April, paid, arrived August Saturday night all the way from Dublin to find out they put someone else in the room..girl at reception mentioned overbookings happen here all the time apparently. No apology, no alternatives given. Sadly had to drive all the way back to Dublin as everything booked pit being bank holiday weekend. Definitely not going to stay again.

Stayed one night at Meelmoore Lodge on Friday of early May Bank Holiday. We had no car so got a taxi from Newcastle which was easy to do and cost £12. I had booked online a few months ahead and received confirmation emails near to the stay, however, when we arrived they didn't have any record of our booking - it seems the online system isn't always tying up with the paper diary - they said we were lucky there was space - funny that, seeing as it was us that booked it!! Then owner told us that they had no heating as had been let down by an oil delivery. We weren't too worried about the heating as it wasn't specially cold, but only realised after this meant no hot water also which not good not being able to shower - at least we were only there one night. No apologies or compensation offered from owner. Also my friend and I ended up sharing the king bed as my request to split it into two had also been missed. Having said this, the lodge has well equipped kitchen, is nicely decorated and clean, lovely rooms with very comfy beds, tea, coffee, biscuits and kettle. Good value for money as quite high standard for a hostel. The views and location are fantastic, you can walk straight onto footpaths out of the lodge. Beautiful flowering yellow gorse in May. We also had a great breakfast in the Bistro with good prices and service and could leave our bags in the lodge while we did a days walk. The campsite was full of DofE / outward bound young people camping - didn't disturb us at all. There were only a handful of other tents on the campsite and no problems or noise.