Karim, who cooked our breakfast and dinner, was the one bright spot. He was attentive, always available, and the food he made was delicious. He deserves real credit. The hostel itself made this the worst part of our trip. We stayed a week for a school project, and the place looked modern and new in the photos, but it was filthy. Our first room was a stuffy ten-bed space with no windows. The staff were kind enough to move us, but it would've been hard to spend a whole week there with all our luggage in the middle and hardly room to walk. The next room was bigger and had a window, but it was broken, so dust and mosquitoes came in constantly. There was dust all over the beds. When housekeeping changed the sheets after we asked, they climbed onto the beds wearing shoes. One roommate put a towel down so she wouldn't sleep directly on the sheets. I'm prone to allergies, and all that dust made it miserable. The windowsills were piled with dust and sand from outside, and there was visible dirt under and around the beds. It looked like the room hadn't been cleaned for years. During the entire week, nobody cleaned, dusted, or vacuumed our room. They only emptied the bin. There was dust throughout the hostel, including on the carpets and curtains, which looked as if they'd never been cleaned. We removed the two carpets from our room, and someone swept up afterward, sending dust into the air. They didn't even have a vacuum. One evening I saw someone sweep and mop around a carpet as if that were enough. The place needs a thorough clean and disinfection. We complained to our agency, which contacted the hostel. Apparently, the answer was for us to clean the areas ourselves. We bought cleaning products, gloves, masks, and sponges, then cleaned on the second day. The photos show what we found. The bathrooms were disgusting too, and there were too few for all the women staying there. The hostel needs stricter cleanliness rules and tidy shared areas, or housekeeping that cleans properly morning and evening. Hostels have people checking in and out all day. The location wasn't great either. It's a 20/25-minute walk to the city centre, with no Metro station nearby. The number 8 bus around the corner goes to the centre but only runs until 11:30 pm. Otherwise, it's a walk, bikes, Uber, or taxis. After we got home, I had to see a doctor and take prescribed strong antihistamines. It was a terrible experience.
