The Nest Boutique Hostel
Boutique Salthill seaside hostel with rooftop terrace and included breakfast
The Nest Boutique Hostel is the Salthill-side option — a boutique-styled hostel on the Salthill promenade, 8.8 across 2,777 reviews, dorms from €32 with modern wooden bunks, a rooftop terrace looking toward Galway Bay, and breakfast included. Quieter than the Eyre Square hostels and closer to the sea.
The Nest Boutique Hostel sits at 107-109 Upper Salthill Road, the inland end of Salthill where the promenade meets the residential streets. It's a different Galway — you wake to gulls and the sea air, not the Shop Street pub crawl. The Salthill Prom is a two-minute walk down the hill, the Blackrock diving tower is six minutes along the prom, and Bus 401 runs every 15 minutes from Eyre Square until 23:30 (€2.20 single). Most guests call it either a day-one Salthill escape or a multi-night base for hiking the prom, coastal walks, and Cliffs of Moher day trips.
The boutique framing is real, not marketing. The building is a 30-bed purpose-built hostel opened in 2018, with wooden-finished bunks (not metal), private curtains around each bed, individual bedside USB ports and reading lamps, and en-suite bathrooms in most dorms. The ground-floor reception opens to a café-style lounge, a proper coffee machine (Lavazza, not filter), and an included continental breakfast spread — brown bread, granola, yogurt, fruit, eggs when the kitchen feels like it — 7:30am to 10am daily.
The rooftop is the talked-about feature: a small terrace on the third floor with four teak picnic benches and sea-view-ish (you see the Galway Bay line between buildings). Open 10am to 22:00, BYOB, frequent sunset groups in summer. There's no on-site bar — drinkers walk four minutes to O'Connor's Famous Pub or the Salthill Prom pubs (Galleon, Westwood isn't far).
Dorms are 4-bed, 6-bed and 8-bed, mixed and female-only, all with en-suite bathrooms and towel rails. Privates are doubles with small en-suite showers. The 8.8 rating is earned on cleanliness (deep-cleaned daily), breakfast (above the Irish hostel average), and the quiet Salthill location. Trade-off is the 30 min walk or 10 min bus from the city centre — so if you want to stumble home from Quay Street at 2am, Kinlay or City Hostel is the pick; if you want to wake up to the sea and take the bus into town on your own schedule, The Nest is the Galway hostel.
- 01Only boutique-styled hostel in Galway — wooden bunks, curtains, en-suite dorms, designed feel
- 02Rooftop terrace with teak benches and a sea-view angle, BYOB, open 10am–22:00
- 03Continental breakfast included and notably better than the Irish hostel average
- 04Salthill Prom two minutes down the hill — walk the promenade, climb the diving tower
- 30 beds across 4-bed, 6-bed and 8-bed dorms, most with en-suite bathrooms
- Third-floor rooftop terrace with Galway Bay view and teak picnic benches
- Ground-floor café-lounge with Lavazza machine and included breakfast 7:30–10am
- 10 min by Bus 401 to Eyre Square (€2.20), 2 min walk to Salthill Prom
“Myself and my son went, he loved it and loved the brekkie — they kindly made him eggs on a Saturday. Super clean, en-suite 4-bed dorm, and the rooftop at sunset was the photo of the trip.”
“It's such a nice atmosphere, very modern and cosy and clean, super friendly staff. Not a party hostel — people come here to sleep well and walk the prom — and that's what we wanted.”
“Arrived early to the hostel on the day of check in and they allowed us to store our bags. Ended up on the rooftop with four other travellers an hour later, BYOB, and that was my first proper Galway evening.”
- Salthill Promenade (coastal walk)2 min walk
- Blackrock Diving Tower6 min walk along prom
- Bus 401 stop to Eyre Square1 min walk
- O'Connor's Famous Pub (trad sessions)4 min walk
- Eyre Square (by Bus 401)10 min by bus
- Galway Bay beach (Grattan Road)8 min walk
