Reviews: G_James

I had a fabulous stay at Hostel Old Plovdiv, and can highly recommend it as a wonderful place to stay in Plovdiv. The hostel is in a fantastic location in the Old Town, and is in a really old, beautiful period building. It's like staying in a museum - with truly affordable prices. The whole hostel is spotlessly clean. The staff are exceptionally helpful and friendly, and speak excellent English. You are welcomed with a map and a welcome drink of lemonade. You won't regret staying here.

During my three-night stay at Lviv Dream Hostel I was bitten severely by bed bugs in room 405. I received around 30+ bites - suggesting more than just a few bugs, including all over my hands and face. When I approached staff to let them know I thought bed bugs were in the room, they did not apologise, or seem overly concerned and suggested it was a mosquito - without even looking closely at my bites. I had come from Kiev Dream Hostel - their sister hostel.

I stayed in Kiev Dream Hostel for 5 nights, so got a pretty good feel for the place. It's a good price, in a fantastic location in a cool area of Kiev, great English-speaking staff who were very helpful, and good facilities, along with a popular cafe/bar downstairs. Only thing I would say is the bathrooms were cleaned at weird times (9am - when everyone wants to use them) and aren't always very clean. Other than that, I would recommend staying here.

Excellent, modern, super-clean hostel in the center of Nuremberg, 5 minutes from the train station, with amazing bathrooms and comfortable rooms. I'd recommend staying here, although I found there wasn't heaps of atmosphere, and the staff weren't particularly helpful or friendly. Normally, I appreciate some recommendations/a map/some tips about the area, but none of that was given. Other than that, you can't go wrong with this place.

I stayed at Envoy for a week in August. The staff are incredibly friendly and accommodating, and up for a conversation rather than just checking you in and out. The day trips and tours Envoy offer are also great quality, and hostel guests get a discount. Location-wise, it's unbeatable, and people from other hostels came to enjoy the roof terrace views in the evenings. Wi-Fi can be a little patchy - but who wants to be on the internet when there's Tbilisi to explore! Thanks for a great stay!

Nice hostel in Brasov, around a 10-15 minute walk to town. The staff are very friendly and helpful, and give a great intro to the city upon check-in. You also get free drinks vouchers for each night you stay. A quiet, considerate hostel, not party-central - which suited me perfectly. They organise some good, reasonably priced trips for guests e.g. to the bear sanctuary, Bran Castle, Rasnov Fortress. There's a cute bakery, Gigi, around the corner for breakfast if the free breakfast isn't enough.

Podstel is an extremely chilled out hostel, located in non-central but nice (and safe) neighbourhood around 15 minutes walking from central Bucharest. The staff were super friendly and helpful with recommendations and getting to know their guests. The hostel was clean, and the people staying there are a nice bunch, not the partying type, so very considerate. My only suggestions would be to replace the mattresses - they really suck - and to update the doors on the toilets, they're too flimsy!

This is the only hostel option in Lux City, so if you're hostelling, you're staying here. It's very much a HI hostel, not much atmosphere. Rooms are clean, beds are fine. It's quite centrally located, though down a fairly steep hill. Price is good for an otherwise expensive place. Overall, an okay place to stay, but not memorable.

Absolutely aweosme hostel. Great atmosphere, lovely, friendly and fun staff who bend over backwards to help you feel at ease and help you out e.g. direction-giving, advice and printing out things for you for free. Fabulous location in the centre of Lisbon. Offer great value tours, group evening meals and ONE EURO wine at the bar. You really couldn't pick a better choice in Lisbon. My only grumble would be that the pillows on the bed aren't that great. Otherwise it's perfect!

I stayed at Soul Kitchen for 3 nights, it is the BEST hostel in Europe. The staff are the friendliest and most helpful I've ever met, baking cakes for the visitors, arranging trips and Borsch-making nights and give great advice about St Pete. The hostel is amazingly located in the center in a safe, quiet area in a beautiful town house. The rooms and common areas are v.clean and have great facilities. Only downside was that it was off-season, so it was quiet with not many people - not their fault

Stayed here in July. It's a 15 min. walk from the Markplatz, though you can also catch a tram. It's in a cool, eclectic area with nice cafes and bars. Hostel is clean and has good facilities and comfy beds. One staff member was v. nice and recommended a great place to eat in town and traditional Northern German food to try. Only downside was the lack of community spirit/organised activities in the hostel. Definitely not a party hostel, but lacked much soul, so hard to meet follow travellers. B+

One of my all time favourite hostels. I've already recommended it to everyone I know who wants to visit Riga. Big, comfy beds with reading lights and privacy curtains (just how I like them) AMAZING staff, who are super friendly and offer a shot of Black Balsam (local drink) on check-in. Great atmosphere even in February at very affordable prices. It's right in the centre of Riga too and feels super safe. Good work Naughty Squirrel team!

A bit of a mixed review. I ended up here for a night after the rail strike debacle. I booked a 10 person room but was upgraded to a 6 (thanks!) free. The rooms are gorgeous and very clean, they look more like a hotel, the bathrooms in particular are incredible. Nice bar downstairs too. My problems were 1) Location - south of the hostel feels very dodgy and I didn't feel safe wandering around there alone, 2) I was bitten in my bed there, and noticed another comment about bedbugs below, worrying.

I was meant to stay at Lybeer for two nights, but unfortunately due to a rail strike had to leave after one. The staff were accommodating and refunded me for the night I didn't stay, which was very generous. Rooms were clean, modern and comfortable, location is unbeatable and there is a lovely little bar downstairs with cheap beers. My only gripe was that my room (4 person female dorm) didn't include any lockers, so I just had to leave my luggage on the floor, not great for peace of mind!

Stayed here for 6 days in June. Incredible location in the middle of the Old Town. Friendly and very helpful staff. Free popcorn and Croatian 'champagne' made by MIke! Bedrooms and bathrooms were regularly cleaned and well decorated, hot showers and spacious light dorms. Helped me book day trips to Bosnia and Montenegro with Amico Tours (highly recommended) Only downside was that people often stayed only a night there and didn't socialise at the hostel, but that's not their fault at all.

I stayed at KEX back in May for my birthday. It's a great hostel, very centrally located in Reykjavik. The staff helped me organise day trips to the Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon which were great. Rooms were spacious, clean, trendy and had great views. The bar downstairs is incredibly cool with great decor. Alcohol was super expensive there, but that's just Iceland. KEX is a bargain in an otherwise expensive country, highly recommended.

Great little B&B - booked last minute after having to leave the ridiculously noisy Rio Playa Hostel. Lovely owner showed me to a very cool room facing a monkey-filled forest. Nice, clean room with a double bed and ensuite bathroom. B&B was peaceful and in an excellent location (one minute from a lovely beach in the gated Playacar area) and 10 minute walk from the main hub of PDC. Stored my bag free of charge before I checked in and after I checked out. Fast wifi. Hot, strong shower.

Good - rooftop terrace with (v.shallow) pool and bar, friendly staff, excellent location. Standard dorm rooms (bad linen and uncomfy pillow) Bad - Stupidly loud. I was booked for 4 nights but had to leave after one. Got NO sleep at all. Music so loud the window was shaking. Only refunded 2 nights despite checking out 4 hours before check-out first day. Stayed in plenty of party hostels and never had to leave but this was til 5am (restaurant below - not hostel's noise) Wouldn't recommend.

Lovely little hostel in Valladolid. Amazing garden out back filled with an outdoor kitchen (lovely breakfast) and hammocks. Had a private room one night (spacious, double bed, nicely decorated) and a dorm the next, had its own reading light and charge point. Clean and chilled out too. Reasonably priced, centrally located, safe, friendly staff (great guy from Nicaragua - can't remember his name but really sweet) Only bad thing was the showers weren't always warm or working. Amazing otherwise!

Great location (own beach area) on a beautiful island. Only real hostel on Isla Mujeres. Staff were pretty miserable and unhelpful though. Several people there were attacked by bed bugs - including myself. (Rooms 1 and 8 both had them) When I informed the staff they seemed pretty unbothered. Some dorms are better than others. Full of people, cool hang out area, nice hammocks and generally speedy wifi. AMAZING yoga teacher called Greg who runs free lessons on the beach every morning.