Jugendherberge Passau - Hostel

The medieval architecture is really cool, and the bedrooms were clean. The payment issue at the front desk, though, made me uneasy, and I wouldn't stay here again. I checked in on the evening of April 12th with a helpful woman, who confirmed I'd paid online through Expedia. She said there was a problem with the transfer and suggested I speak to her colleague in the morning. After breakfast, I went to ask about it and was met with “cash or credit?” I explained that I'd already paid. She tried entering Expedia's virtual card details, but when it didn't work, she asked again how I wanted to pay and said, “Well I like to have my money.” I asked whether this had happened before and if we could contact Expedia. She wouldn't answer, then told me, “YOU can call Expedia. I’m not calling anybody.” I called from the lobby. The representative put me on hold while he called the hostel, and they spoke for about a minute. He told me it was an issue with the virtual card, that he'd pass it on, and that he would call the hostel back to sort it out directly. As I went back to the desk, the woman put a sign in the office window and walked away. The phone rang three times, presumably with Expedia calling back, but she wasn't there. I tried to find her so they could fix it, since without a resolution she was still asking me to pay for the whole stay twice. When she eventually returned, I told her Expedia had been trying to reach her for about ten minutes and could resolve the card problem if she spoke with them. She said, “Ok, well maybe it will be fine, but I’ll see you in the morning.” I still wasn't comfortable, so when I went into the city center I called Expedia again. I explained the whole situation, including that the hostel wouldn't call them and was demanding payment again. The representative tried calling, but nobody answered. He said he'd email the correct virtual card information instead. When I returned that afternoon, a third person was at reception and told me everything was fine. They printed a receipt, timestamped 20 minutes after my second call to Expedia. It seems the email worked, but the angry woman at the desk made the process needlessly difficult.

The view is nice and breakfast is decent, so it's a pretty good youth hostel. The wifi, unfortunately, is poor. And be ready for quite a climb up all those stairs.

It's a cozy place in central Passau, but you need to belong to the hostel chain or pay an extra fee. They also required half the price upfront, with no option to use a card, so I had to pay a fee for a SEPA transfer. That wasn't transparent. By the end, the cost felt high compared with hotel rooms in the old town, where you don't have to make your own bed.

Really lovely atmosphere and a great breakfast. Getting there with loaded bikes is a little tricky, especially at night. Still, I'd definitely recommend it!