York hotel: Abbey GH, Galtres, Minster

I have only stayed at The Minster Hotel, so cannot comment about the others. The Minster Hotel area was quiet at night and it had very comfy beds plus a good breakfast. It's walking distance to York Minster; about 6 blocks. I felt it was centrally located yet not on a street with any traffic at all during the night. I will stay there again. Highly recommend this hotel.

Just to clarify for Abbey GH, Rob's recommendation (which I really appreciated) for using the main roads back to the guest house was for at nighttime!

Rebecca I appreciate this feedback on The Minster hotel! (My phone keeps wanting to autocorrect to The Monster :-/) I've emailing with them for rates, as their website isn't yet booking out that far.

Hannah, when you book, ask for a room in the annex, where the beds are the newest in the hotel. I am 100% sure you will like The Minster Hotel. Right across the street there's a small supermarket where you can buy snacks, sandwiches, groceries, bottled drinks, etc. A couple of nights I was so tired from sightseeing, I just bought a sandwich, small package of crisps, and a Pepsi (meal deal for about 5 pounds) from that store to have in the room before collapsing into bed.
Supplies in the room (by the hotel) include a kettle for hot water, cups, instant coffee packets, selection of teas, sugar, and some cookies. (Walker's Shortbread...yummm!)

Rebecca you are selling me on The Minster! This all sounds absolutely lovely, which is exactly what I want.

Hey Hannah, glad to help.
The price should be right, too. It's not an expensive place, but it's very clean and furnished very well.
One thing I like is that all the buildings around there are older, historic buildings, with a couple of cobblestone alleyways.
Nearby is the Yorkshire Museum; definitely worth a visit.
https://www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk/

ask for a room in the annex, where the beds are the newest in the hotel.

Ohhh, wish I had known this before I stayed there last year. Although we liked the hotel/location, the bed felt like it was 1000 years old.

I can recommend Abbey Guest House. I stayed there Sept 2023 and it was perfect for me.

It's right across the bridge from the train station, so it was easy access to and from using just my feet.
Walking to the places I wanted to go was also very easy.
Rob was a thoughtful and helpful host
I look forward to staying there again on my next visit to York.

I cannot speak about the road/streets from city center to Abbey GH, as I walked the river route each night. (I'm male, and I DID notice several darker places along the river where somebody could lie in wait or simply emerge and startle somebody walking that route)

Another vote for the Abbey Guest House. We spent 2 nights there last June and were very happy with the location (especially because we had taken the train from London and were taking the train to Edinburgh next) and Rob's attention to detail. Because it was summer, it stayed light very late and we were able to walk along the river until 10 pm.

Hi, everyone! Thanks so much for all the feedback. I continue to welcome hearing anyone and everyone's experience at each of these places, as it'll hopefully help future York travelers.

I heard back from The Minster and the price is absolutely right, and given that plus Rebecca's enthusiastic endorsement plus the location as a solo traveler, I'm sold!

Hello Hannah,
Glad to hear the price is right for the Minster Hotel.

Just one quick restaurant recommendation here......
In York, a good place to eat Indian food (if you like it) or to pick up a to-go order (they call it "take away") is The Viceroy, 26 Monkgate.
http://www.viceroy-restaurant.co.uk/menu/

Vegetarian and vegan dishes are available.
The Chicken Tikka Massala is especially good. Saag Paneer (spinach with cheese), a side of rice, and an order of naan (bread) go well with that.
http://www.viceroy-restaurant.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-viceroy-a-la-carte-menu-white-prices-copy.pdf

You might want to look at the varying opinions on the Minster Hotel in this thread:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/best-of-england-in-14-days-hotels

It wasn't our favorite on the RS Best of England tour but not the worst either.

It sounds like I wasn't the only one who got one of the older, unrenovated room.