Youth hostel is first for Gwent

3:27pm Monday 21st January 2008

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GWENT's first Youth Hostel Association (YHA)-affiliated hostel was opened in Abergavenny on Friday, making the town accessible to millions of travellers from around the world.

The Mulberry House Environmental Studies Centre at Pen y Pound is a not-for-profit organisation that has offered field study trips to schools and colleges for the past 30 years.

But it has now opened its doors to backpackers, travellers and holidaymakers from all over the world.

Centre director Vivienne Compton said: "We already attract around 3,000 students a year from all over the UK, but through YHA can now attract a much wider audience.

"As the gateway to the Brecon Beacons, it will give people a chance to stop off here and explore Abergavenny and the surrounding area."

It has 76 rooms, a mixture of single, twin, double and triples and its staff of 20 serves breakfast and a selection of traditional local food.

Karl Shepherd, 29, a meteorologist from Exeter is a YHA trustee and one of the first people to stay at the hostel. He said: "It's a lovely Georgian building, with a grand stair case and is warm and appealing.

"There's lots of common areas, so is good for meeting people, which is what travellers want to do."

It has already taken over a thousand pounds in bookings for bed and breakfast up untill August.

The average cost for a night is £24 per person.

The Riverside Hotel in Monmouth is the only other premises in Gwent that is YHA affiliated.