HelloBCN Hostel

There was a lot of construction work happening right outside the hostel, so it got very loud. Inside, though, the room was clean and comfortable, the luggage lockers were big, and the bathrooms were very clean. Amelie was an incredible host for our pub crawl. Highly recommend.

I spent 10 days at hellobcn with a friend and met so many great people. The staff were always smiling and exceptional, and the pub crawl was a lot of fun. Lola and Malika deserve a shout-out, they’re so sweet and made us feel at home.

The worst place I’ve ever stayed. The internet kept dropping, and the reply to this review is completely bogus. I can’t recommend anything about it. I’ve asked Booking.com why they offer this place at all. Barcelona has loads of good hostels, and any of them would be a better choice. I thought this would be somewhere decent to stay, and that was a costly mistake. My bag was stolen in just over a minute from right in front of the reception desk. The attendant gave me the key to the luggage store on floor one. I took the lift there and back, and in the two minutes I was gone, he buzzed two men through the controlled ground floor entry. They came in with no bags, took mine, and left. The attendant saw them and said he thought they looked sketchy. I can’t tell whether he was in cahoots with them, but it happened right in front of him. My bag had my passport, bank cards, phone, purse, medicine, makeup, groceries, and all sorts of other things. I was meant to leave Barcelona the next day, but the robbery changed my plans entirely. The hostel had the incident on video and wouldn’t show it to me. It seemed they might have been protecting the robbers’ privacy. The hostel didn’t care one bit. The area around the hostel is full of thieves and feels very low-grade. There are huge roadworks, so you have to walk around them to reach the hostel, and it’s uphill too. I checked other reviews to see what had happened to people there. A lot of women have had a very bad time, so it may only be suitable for men. One woman was expected to sleep in a room with five men, which sounds very intimidating. There have also been instances of men acting very inappropriately in the rooms, and the hostel does nothing despite complaints from women. This seems to have been happening repeatedly for many years. I’m very surprised Booking.com still lists the hostel. The operators seem despicable and carelessly indifferent to guests’ well-being, particularly women’s. I’m very sorry I ever went there. There are loads of great hostels, including TOC, Creative Youth Hostel, and St Christopher's. I’ve stayed at plenty, and Hello BCN Hostel Barcelona isn’t trustworthy or nice.

The cleaning staff were great, but I wouldn’t stay here again. I was robbed right outside the hostel. They weren’t responsible for that, of course, but when I asked about the cameras, I found out there’s only one, pointed straight at the entrance, and the staff weren’t helpful. They seem to focus on safety, but the practices didn’t make me feel safe. My friend was also made to wait outside late at night for an Uber instead of waiting just inside the door. Laundry was very expensive too. I’d suggest heading up or down the coast from Barcelona. The trains are free!