The Pro’s and Con’s of Staying in Crew Houses

I have slept in crew houses with charming twin rooms or triple rooms that are comfortable, spotlessly clean with friendly and helpful staff who couldn’t do enough for me.
I have also, for my sins, slept in a crew house with twelve people to a cramped room, deafening traffic outside, filthy showers and management that were downright rude and unpleasant.

But despite my unpleasant experiences a crew house is where I would choose to stay every time because to my mind the advantages are many.

The Pro’s

• Crew house accommodation is frequently shared therefore it is less expensive than most other facilities. If you are looking for work which is taking it’s time coming your way, this penny saving exercise can be very helpful.
  
  
• Many crew houses have notice boards advertising vacancies or day work, discounts for local restaurants and bars etc.
  
  
• Crew houses will often have internet and other facilities on site like resume printing services etc.
  
  
• For those going into the industry it can be an ideal way of networking. Over the course of an evening you can sit and chat with many of the other crew house guests, finding out from them who is looking for crew or day-workers, which skippers/owners/agents to avoid working for (and why), where to be a certain times, what trains and buses to catch, what marinas to visit etc.
   
• For those who have been in the industry a while it can be a way of getting the industry gossip and learning that 80m Steve ran his yacht into a nice big concrete buoy which brought his ego down a peg or two.
  
  
• Many crew houses are centrally located, conveniently placed near marina’s or local crew hang outs.
  
  
• What else can you think of to add here.

The Con’s

• Very few crew houses seem to have websites which can be major drawback as you don’t know the quality and standard of accommodation in which you will be staying.

• Some crew houses can be dirty and cramped where you stay with more backpackers than active crew.

• For some crew who have been living on yachts and sharing a cabin for months on end, the thought of sharing again has little to no appeal.
  
  
• Many crew houses do not bother to reply to email queries