The bail hostels provide temporary homes for men and women who, because of their personal or domestic circumstances, would otherwise have to be remanded in custody. Data were collected on the volume and result of applications to the hostels in 1977, on the characteristics of a sample of 351 defendants remanded to reside at them as a condition of bail, and on the use residents made of the hostels' facilities. Visits to courts and hostels and interviews with hostel and court staff were also conducted. Results are given on the numbers of defendants remanded to the hostels and the numbers who failed to arrive, on the reasons for their remand or nonappearance, on some of their personal characteristics, on the variations in the types and numbers of defendants being remanded to different hostels and the extent to which applications were rejected, and on outcomes of hostel placement. Results confirmed that bail hostels were generally being used appropriately by the courts. However, hostel beds were often underused even though demand for places was high. Communication between local probation services and hostel staff seemed inadequate. Probation officers who referred defendants could often have made more information available to the hostels, especially about defendants' backgrounds or whether someone accepted for residence was subsequently remanded to the hostel by the court. These measures would have reduced the unnecessary booking of places and might also have reduced the number of hostel failures by facilitating a more informed selection of residents. Data tables and a few footnotes are included. (Author abstract modified)