Hektor Design Hostel

I liked the room, but the kitchen was messy. At least there was free coffee, which suits a simple woman like me. The location wasn't good.

For a day or two, staying here is tolerable, though still unpleasant. A longer stay, which they offer as residency, is much worse, and that's what I'm reviewing. The building sits between a club, a highway, and a train track, so there's almost constant noise. Ventilation is minimal or nonexistent, and the walls and doors are thin. The shared spaces and their contents work, but are in questionable condition, largely because of some foreign tenants' behavior. That's not just my opinion, management has said the same. Rooms are only adequate if you're fine with extreme minimalism. The beds are very small, even for shorter people. The bathroom is cramped and always smells odd, and its poorly designed floor means a shower can flood the whole room. As someone put it, it's “about one step up from a prison cell.” You can expect noise and chaos, with no accountability from the people responsible. Management seems not to care. The rules exist on paper but aren't enforced, and promises made in the agreement or written in the contract turn out to be fairy tales when problems come up. Don't count on help with questions. Even simple requests are ignored, forgotten, or delayed, and then you're told “unlucky.” Complaining about other tenants gets nowhere. Management is incompetent, while the tenants you approach respond like hostile children, play the victim, and blame everyone else for their own shortcomings. Some are foreign and seem unwilling or unable to follow even basic shared-living rules, like keeping quiet, cleaning up, and not disturbing people. The 4-5 star reviews are worth questioning. Many seem to come from shallow, blind tourists more interested in repeating clichés or mentioning external details than describing the actual stay. Look past meaningless comments like “the city is so nice,” which say nothing about the hotel, and there's little this place can boast about. Read the 2-3 star reviews for what I consider a more accurate picture. Pay a bit more somewhere else for a much better short or long stay. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

The breakfast was acceptable, and the place was clean. I liked the minimal design, private parking, and contact-free check-in, but otherwise it left me with no positive feelings. There was no TV, and the double bed was very narrow. It's an extremely noisy hostel, with the city's busiest street right outside. You can't shut the window because there's no ventilation. Lots of little things were frustrating too, like the huge bathroom with the tiniest sink ever, the cheap plastic shower curtain, and nowhere to hang a hand towel.

A really nice hostel and great value.