Na Smetance Aparthouse

This is by far my worst experience with any hostels! First of all, I’m afraid that it’s a stretch to call this place a “hostel”, it’s more like an airbnb or couchsurfing accommodation. It lacks many professional service you’d usually expect from a hostel or any professional accommodation providers. The place is an apartment with 2-bedroom full of bunk beds (8 in each room), so expecting to accommodate up to 16 guests, while there is only 1 bathroom and 2 toilets (one attached to the bathroom). We had difficulty finding the place, as there are no signs or indications of the “hostel” from outside, so even when we arrived at the right building, we had to call them. There lies my second issue. The staff are not fluent in English and were not able to assist us in finding the entrance. We called and described the building, yet they were not even able to say the building number?! While the yoga center in the same building has a big sign outside(which we described, yet the women on the phone was not even aware of!). That day, they had the door/gate of the building repainted, yet no sign was out up to warn us, causing my shirt to be ruined by the paint when I was trying to open the door. Inside the room, there were lots of flies! how disgusting! yet the “receptionist” did not care to shoo them away them beforehand(yes, again, there were only 2 rooms to attend to), it was only until we came to her did she gave us a repellent to take care of it ourselves. In the kitchen, trash can was not emptied regularly, neither were cooking utensils, plates,... cleared. The “receptionist” left in the afternoon, and even asked us to check another guest in!(who was supposed to come a bit later, at 10pm). I didn’t mind helping but was rather surprised and don’t think it’s professional. Then, the place was advertised as providing “free toiletries”, yet there was no shampoo. When I called to ask, I was told that “there’s no shampoo”, ok so Shampoo is not counted as “toiletries”?! The woman on the phone,who I suppose is the “owner of the hoste”/landlady, is not so handson for someone who runs a hostel. Upon checking in, we were asked to deposit €10, which would be refunded when we check out. Yet, today, when we checked out, no one was there to give us back our money! Comically, outside (in the door), the checkout time was listed as 8-10am, and we were not told the “receptionist” won’t come until 10am?!I called the phone number listed this morning at about 8.25am, repeatedly and only got through after a few times of long time holding (again, very “professional”), the woman on the other side sounded like she hasn’t woken up or something, I thought she responded that she was gonna come to give us back our deposit, so we waited (while we have train and bus to catch after 9am). She didn’t come after a while so at 8.50am, we called again, and was then told no one will come till 10am?! what?! She even cut the call midway when I said I’d take this to booking.com! Now it's been two weeks since our stay and we haven't got our deposit back! So stay away from this hostel!it deserves a rating of 0!

Cons- mattresses very very thin, no aircon, not close to main attractions or nightlife spots, not a party hostel- literally someone's house with two rooms that has 4 bunk beds in each Pros- cheap, free use of computer, iron and kitchen. Really nice host, spacey rooms, lockers for valuables, close to public transport- about a ten minute tram to get into old town attractions