Best Cat Hostel

The view is really good, and the beds are okay, though nothing special. It’s a cheap, decent hostel close to the subway, up on the tower’s 29th floor. The entrance isn’t marked, and you have to pass what looks like a hotel desk to get there. Staff were friendly and didn’t seem to speak much English, but they were proactive and helped me out, so it all worked out.

The location was the only good part. Inside, it’s basically a large apartment, but the rooms are cramped and filthy, with hair everywhere and cockroaches. There are just two bathrooms, one for the women’s dorm and one shared by the rest of the hostel. It was dirty and crowded, and there were no towels or dishes in the kitchen. I don’t understand why it’s rated so highly on Booking.com. Finding the place and getting in was a mess. There are no signs for the hostel. I walked around the building, then asked at the hotel if it was on the 29th floor, but they didn’t know. At the door there was no sign or doorbell, and nobody answered when I knocked. I called the number on Booking.com, but the person didn’t speak English and hung up. They asked me to add them on WeChat, which I did, but they never added me back. What would someone new to the city do without internet, WeChat, or the ability to call? I ended up finding an English-speaking Chinese person in the building to call the owner and translate. The owner wasn’t at the hostel, so I had to wait for him to arrive.

They put me in an eight-person room even though I’d booked a room for six. They said the booking website had the wrong information and they couldn’t change it, so in the end I asked for a double room. The place was dirty and messy, the worst hostel I’ve stayed in. It’s in an apartment building, and the rooms use bunk beds to save space. The bathroom facilities were badly inadequate, with long waits to shower and use the toilet.