Snoozles Galway City Centre
Forster Street's return-booker hostel — included breakfast, 2 min to Eyre Square
Snoozles Galway is the repeat-booker's hostel on Forster Street — 8.7 across 1,918 reviews, €27 dorms with an included continental breakfast, 2 min walk to Eyre Square on the quieter side. Long-running family-owned operation with a high return-guest rate.
Snoozles Galway City Centre sits on Forster Street, one block east of Eyre Square — the quieter side of the square, diagonally opposite Ceannt Bus and Train Station. The building is a Georgian townhouse expanded rearwards into a second linked building, giving about 80 beds across the two. It's family-owned, has been running for over fifteen years, and the return-guest rate is the thing regulars keep bringing up in reviews: staff recognise names, the breakfast rotation doesn't change much, and the whole operation has a low-churn feel you don't get at the bigger chain hostels.
The ground-floor reception opens to a lounge with soft armchairs, a small book-swap shelf, and the 'Snoozles breakfast' served 7:30am to 10am in the adjacent dining room: brown soda bread, Kerrygold butter, homemade scones on some mornings, porridge, cereal, boiled eggs, Barry's tea, and filter coffee. It's a step up from Kinlay's paid café and roughly equal to Dawson's included spread. Families with kids are a real part of the guest mix — the hostel has two family rooms on the ground floor with four-person setups.
Dorms are 4-bed, 6-bed, and 10-bed, mixed and female-only, with metal bunks (not new, not old) and curtain dividers on each bed. Individual in-dorm lockers take a padlock (bring or buy one at reception for €3). Showers are shared by floor and run hot reliably. The 10-bed dorm is the budget option and catches some noise from Forster Street until midnight on weekends, but the adjacent 6-bed rooms are markedly quieter.
Snoozles doesn't have an on-site bar, but the ground-floor lounge functions as the social hub in the evenings, and the tour desk books Galway Tour Company and Lally Cliffs of Moher tours at walk-up prices. The 8.7 rating reflects what repeat bookers trust: reliable breakfast, clean dorms, friendly reception, and the fact that this hostel has not had a major ownership change in the fifteen-plus years it's been operating. Pick Snoozles for second-and-third-visit Galway trips and for families wanting a city-centre hostel that accepts kids under 18.
- 01Family-owned for fifteen-plus years — no ownership churn, staff recognise returning guests
- 02Included breakfast with homemade scones on weekends and proper Irish black tea
- 032 min walk to Eyre Square and Ceannt Station, east side of the square (quieter than Shop Street)
- 04Two ground-floor family rooms — rare in Galway's city-centre hostels
- Georgian townhouse expanded rearwards to ~80 beds on Forster Street
- Ground-floor lounge with book-swap shelf and evening social hub
- Included continental breakfast 7:30am–10am with homemade weekend scones
- Tour desk for Galway Tour Company and Lally Cliffs of Moher departures
“Perfect location close to the bus and train station as well as the city center. Breakfast was good and the staff recognised my name from the previous visit, which is not something most hostels do.”
“Location, friendly staff, varied breakfast options — the hostel isn't new but it's clean and runs like it's been run forever, which it basically has.”
“I go to Snoozles regularly. The staff are friendly and make me feel at home. The breakfast is great — homemade scones on Saturdays — and the Forster Street location is close to everything without catching Shop Street noise.”
- Eyre Square (Kennedy Park)2 min walk
- Ceannt Bus & Train Station3 min walk
- Cliffs of Moher Lally pickup (Queen St)3 min walk
- Shop Street & Latin Quarter pubs5 min walk
- Tigh Cóilí (trad sessions)6 min walk
- Spanish Arch & River Corrib10 min walk
