There is no sharp difference between a hostel and a bunkhouse; many accommodations can be described as either. The best bunkhouses are hardly different from hostels, but most of them are simpler.
Bunkhouses are usually located in country areas, often very scenic. Most are accessible by bus, with 1-3 km walk at the end. They nearly always have parking, but the last stage of the drive may be a rough track. Some provide only bunks, mattresses and pillows, and you have to bring your own sleeping bag and/or sheets. Many allow camping, with use of the bunkhouse kitchen. They usually have cooking facilities and a common room, but a few do not, saying you can buy a meal in their restaurant next door (which costs far more than cooking your own). The price, typically £9-11 (2006), is less than hostels, but if you do not take bedding and they provide it they charge an extra £3.
Not all bunkhouses that advertise in hostel guides are available as hostels. Many bunkhouses take only groups. Some seem to think that people are never willing to sleep in the same room as people they have not previously met; that's fine if they give you a room of your own at the same price per person, but it does mean that they may have no vacancies even when not all beds are taken. Others (as well as some places that are called 'hostels') only have private rooms and charge by the room; this means that single travellers have to pay at least twice as much as everyone else, and therefore such bunkhouses and hostels are not listed in UK Trail.
