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Galway · Hotel shortlist

Cheap hotels near the cathedral in Galway

Amara Nwosu

Amara Nwosu Africa

Updated 1 September 2026 · 7 Galway hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in Galway, out of the 7 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.6 down to 3.9.

Every one comes in under $130 a night, and the one I would book first is $92.

Galway City Hostel

Highest rated of the five

Galway City Hostel

★★★★★4.6 from 470 reviews

Galway City Hostel comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.6 from 470 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is a 2 star property, found under city centre and around $92 a night on the dates we checked.

7 hotels in Galway qualified for this list and five made it. Kinlay Hostel is the one I would book if the first is full.

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All five, ranked

  1. Galway City Hostel1

    Galway City Hostel

    ★★★★★4.6 from 470 reviews

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    • Kinlay Hostel2

      Kinlay Hostel

      ★★★★★4.5 from 1,129 reviews

      • Kid friendly

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    • Snoozles Galway City Centre3

      Snoozles Galway City Centre

      ★★★★★4.3 from 712 reviews

      • Kid friendly
      • Accessible

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    • Woodquay Hostel4

      Woodquay Hostel

      ★★★★★4.1 from 725 reviews

      • Kid friendly

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    • The Dawson Hostel Galway5

      The Dawson Hostel Galway

      ★★★★★3.9 from 221 reviews

      • Air conditioning

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    How this list was put together

    7 Galway hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.

    Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

    The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

    What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

    Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

    Amara Nwosu

    Amara Nwosu Africa

    Books holidays a year ahead because court calendars demand it, then travels hard for three weeks. West Africa most years to see family, somewhere new in between.

    Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.