Pastoral - Hostel

The couple had left by the time I returned, and the bunk had been cleaned. The male staff member later knocked on my dorm door and apologized for their behavior, especially since it was a female-only room. I accepted his apology. At reception, he agreed to cancel my last two nights and refunded those nights. Getting to that point was awful. I came back in the morning to collect my bags after spending the night elsewhere, since I’d been locked out despite the hostel claiming to have a 24/7 reception. I had trouble with the door codes, tried calling several times, rang the bell, and knocked, but nobody answered. The staff member who let me in the next morning said he’d been at reception all night and by the phone. That didn’t match my experience: I’d tried for about an hour to reach the hostel, and even the alternative accommodation I stayed at had tried to contact them without success. I explained that being stranded outside at night felt very unsafe as a solo female traveller, and politely asked for a refund. He was defensive and initially refused, though he did give me the door codes and explain how they worked. Then I went back to my room to freshen up and get my things. At around 7:30-8am, there was a man and woman having sex in the bunk by the door of my supposedly female-only dorm. Nobody else was in the room. They kept making out while I entered and gathered my belongings. I was furious; it was completely inappropriate. I told the staff member, and he immediately went to check. They were still there, making out. Other guests interrupted our conversation, so I left and came back about an hour later. The place was dirty and far from glamorous, and the shared bathrooms and toilets were unclean and smelled terrible. I’d booked a six-bed female dorm with an ensuite. Its floor was soaking wet and the bathroom was disgusting, with a door that had no lock. I wouldn’t recommend staying here if you want a comfortable, enjoyable visit to Nice. Between the dirty hostel, being stranded outside, and finding a couple having sex in my room, I had more than enough reason to leave.

The showers were pretty mouldy, and the pet tortoise looked like he needed a lot more affection in his little pen :’( The location is great for getting into the city and Old Nice, and the staff are friendly. There were always plenty of people around. The fridge was small and the beds squeaked a lot. As hostels go, it was okay, but I wasn’t over the moon.

I wouldn’t trust Hostelworld’s rating of 8. This 72-hour hostel challenge nearly did me in. The bathroom smelled rancid, as if something had died in there, and there was mold growing by the toilet. We kept the bathroom door shut because the smell was so bad. The towels looked really janky, and we bought our own. The sheets looked like they hadn’t been changed in 12 years. There were four of us girls checking in, and a man behind us was acting erratically and talking to himself. The receptionist said our room number out loud, which made us uncomfortable. Then we went up dark stairs with water dripping from the ceiling and a corner full of moldy trash. I felt like I might get murdered. I’ve never felt dirtier. I checked the bed for bedbugs every night, and even a public bathroom felt cleaner. I skipped showering the second time because I thought it would leave me feeling dirtier. Not worth it.

We booked a private room for four people weeks ahead, but the hostel put us in an eight-person shared dorm and said they’d overbooked. We later found out that wasn’t true. Staff hadn’t told us there was an active COVID outbreak, which had shut the wing where our original room was. We were also put in a room with a traveler who had COVID. All four of us were bitten by bedbugs on the first night. A bed spring broke and collapsed, and the room was overcrowded, dirty, and smelled like garbage all the time. We canceled after that one night because the conditions felt unsafe. The owner promised a full refund for the unused days, then blocked our number, so we had to dispute the charge with our bank. My earlier review from 2021 was deleted, so I’m posting again in the hope it keeps even one person from staying here. Avoid this place.