The best budget hotels in Bristol
An expert guide to the best cheap hotels in Bristol, including hostels with private rooms, with the top choices for city centre locations, Avon Gorge views, chic décor and good restaurants, in locations including Clifton, the harbourfront and the city centre.
All prices below are rates for double rooms, based on two people sharing. These prices are subject to change in high season and during popular holidays and events.
Clifton House
Bristol, England
7Telegraph expert rating
This is a family-friendly Bristol hotel that is handily positioned halfway between Clifton and the city centre. It occupies a huge double-fronted Victorian house, clad in the amber stone characteristic of Bristol’s buildings. Inside, the rooms have been comprehensively modernised, but there are still a few period features on show – including original cornicing and plasterwork, and a magnificent pair of curved bay windows. From the lobby, a staircase climbs to the upper floors, where rooms have been simply but smartly decorated: white walls, cream carpets and pine furniture throughout, livened up by the odd fuschsia-pink bedspread or metallic mirror. Read expert review From £60per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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9 Prince's Buildings
Bristol, England
8Telegraph expert rating
This cosy, old-fashioned and very British b&b is located in a classic Georgian townhouse in the genteel suburb of Clifton, with views over the River Avon, verdant parkland and the world-famous suspension bridge. With its Georgian features and antique furniture, the house feels full of heritage: tall sash windows let in the light, oil paintings and watercolours adorn the walls, and sofas, table lamps, armchairs and objets d’art seem to fill every corner. There are various sizes and configurations to the guest rooms, but all share a similar country house feel, like they’ve been decorated from a Laura Ashley catalogue circa 1973. Some have original fireplaces, and several of the bathrooms are really rather grand, with stately china sinks, clawfoot bath-tubs and built-in showers. Read expert review From £69per night
The Kyle Blue
Bristol, England
7Telegraph expert rating
This Dutch river-barge has been transformed into an upmarket hostel, docked along Bristol’s historic harbourside. A nautical theme abounds, and a quirky interior makes it a fun option for a visit to the city. A huge amount of care and imagination has obviously gone into converting the boat into a comfortable and stylish space to stay. It’s spotlessly clean and surprisingly contemporary, with plush grey sofas, fitted carpets, wooden fixtures and cute porthole windows peeping out onto the harbour. There are 30 beds in total, laid out in various room configurations: four private cabins, a four-bed stern cabin, a trio of five-bed cabins, and a seven-bed bow cabin. The vessel’s architecture results in some awkward spaces, so you might find yourself ducking your head or squeezing along the corridors, but it all adds to the fun. Read expert review From £24per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Brooks Guesthouse Bristol
Bristol, England
8Telegraph expert rating
The building that houses Brooks Guesthouse is a former Sixties office block that has since been converted into a backpackers' hostel, with an open plan ground floor, including comfortable sitting area with leather sofas and honesty bar. There's also a breakfast room with homely open-to-view kitchen, as well as a spacious outdoor courtyard where breakfast and drinks can be taken in summer. The style is simple, but attractive, with Farrow & Ball paint on the walls, wooden floors and assorted country pine breakfast tables. Four gleaming aluminium retro Rocket caravans have been put on the flat roof, each equipped with a 5ft bed and small bathroom. Read expert review From £60per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Avon Gorge Hotel
Bristol, England
7Telegraph expert rating
Simply put, the Avon Gorge has the best view of any Bristol hotel - bar none. It looms over a cliff plunging straight down into the Avon Gorge, and its terrace offers a knockout panorama of Brunel’s Clifton Suspension Bridge, completed in 1864 and a much-loved symbol of the city. It’s surrounded by the elegant Georgian terraces of Clifton, the city’s most prestigious postcode, with smart boutiques and restaurants aplenty. As the main selling point here is the cliff-top location, you need to insist on a ‘Gorge View’ room; nothing else will do. Bedrooms are plain but comfortable, although some have been renovated more carefully than others, so it pays to be fussy. Read expert review From £89per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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The Greenhouse Bed & Breakfast
Bristol, England
7Telegraph expert rating
A homely b&b with an eco-friendly focus in the quiet, residential suburb of Southville, on the south side of the river. It’s a five-minute walk to the bars and museums of Bristol's harbourside district, but it’s a bit of a trek to the city centre if you’re planning on shopping. There are six rooms, all named after English trees. They’re small but quite smart, decorated in cool tones of off-white and cappuccino, with Orla Kiely style fabrics, blonde-wood furniture, organic cotton bedding and a small work-desk in each. Bathrooms are nice, with inbuilt shower cubicles and Hansgrohe fixtures. Read expert review From £115per night
The Curious Cabinet
Bristol, England
8Telegraph expert rating
If you’re keen to escape the endless bland chain hotels in the city centre then this small b&b on the northeast side of Bristol is just the ticket. It’s run by a local artist, and is a haven of quirky design, packed with imaginative, arty touches ranging from vintage furniture to antique ephemera, from fairy-lit mirrors to kitsch flower pots, vintage Fisher Price toys and battered old travel trunks. Everything’s carefully chosen, like a personally curated museum, and it makes for an enormously entertaining place to stay. The bedrooms themselves are less cluttered, decorated in soothing whites with bare wooden floors. Read expert review From £79per night
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YHA Bristol
Bristol, England
7Telegraph expert rating
What a cracking position this hostel has – in the bustling heart of the city, directly on the harbourside. It’s just a few steps from the Arnolfini Art Gallery, and a short walk around the harbour to Bordeaux Quay and the Watershed Arts Centre, and the main shopping district at Broadmead beyond. It has been converted from an old wharfside grain warehouse, so it has bags of industrial character – a handsome red-brick façade, hefty beams and columns, old-fashioned paned windows and whitewashed walls throughout. There are 133 beds in all, arranged in various combinations, from private doubles to triples, quads and a few larger ones too. Read expert review From £16per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
