Heraklion Youth Hostel

There are no blinds or curtains, and the place felt kind of dirty and really old. They only allow the AC to be on at night. Church bells ring every half hour, and quiet hours take up much of the day, from 14-17:30 and 22:00-8:00am.

The hosts were calm, kind, and reasonable, and the facilities were clean and comfortable. The building is quite beautiful, with a lovely rooftop space to hang out. I stayed for two nights, close to the activity centres and the port. Altogether, it felt like a clean and safe place to stay.

The hostel area felt shady and dirty, and the building itself was old and shabby. It needs renovation and has little comfortable common space. In the morning, the cleaning lady shouted that it wasn’t a hotel and we needed to get up and leave our room at 10/11 am, so sleeping later wasn’t an option. Many people have early flights, so expect to be woken at night by others.

I only stayed one night and wish I’d chosen somewhere else. At 9pm, the cleaning lady came into our room shouting that there was poop in the public shower cabin. None of us had seen anyone acting suspiciously, but we locked our room door for the night and didn’t feel safe.