Alcatraz Jail-Hostel

The crowd is hit or miss, but at least it’s interesting. It’s a jail-themed hostel, with cells and bars, and very good value for money. The balcony is lovely and overlooks the city. The seating options could be better.

The service staff are friendly and helpful, but I don’t understand the hype. The hostel is basically one room divided by “stylish” bars, so noise from the kitchen, balcony, and other dorm carries everywhere. The Wi-Fi is really bad and cuts out regularly. One toilet and one shower aren’t enough for the whole place.

I booked through hostel world when it showed four beds available, but when I arrived at check-in I was told the hostel was full. The employee said he’d forgotten to block one bed on hostelworld, which didn’t add up when four had been shown as available. He said they usually use booking.com and told me to cancel my reservation and find somewhere else. So I was left looking for somewhere to stay without a reservation. What kind of hostel forgets to update hostelworld?

I liked this hostel. I stayed a couple of nights in a single room, which was okay. It’s clean and cheap, with a nice kitchen and a distinctive atmosphere. The administrator was very friendly to me. Wi-Fi worked normally most of the time, though there weren’t many people around.