Artist Residence

Really disappointing service. I was turned away at check-in after telling them I’d found bedbugs at my previous hostel. I’d been honest because I wanted to ask about a nearby laundry service. After I came back having washed all my clothes, the clerk said they couldn’t risk letting me stay, but assured me there’d be no extra charge. Booking.com still charged me for a no-show the next day. They also told me to leave right away and wouldn’t even let me sit in the common room while I looked for another hostel. With a high score on Booking.com, this was a shame. They seem to put their own interests first and treat customers badly when there’s a problem. I’d avoid this hostel.

The view and location were the only good parts. The bathroom and toilet were dirty, and I suspect there were bedbugs because we got very itchy whenever we lay down. The sheets and everything else were dirty too. There was no heat, so we were freezing. Customer service said someone might be able to fix it the next day, but I didn’t want to spend the night cold in a room I’d paid for, so I insisted they send someone sooner. After 40 minutes, someone came, first tried the broken air conditioner, then switched on the heater for the whole hostel. Other guests were cold too. They brought extra covers so thin you could see through them, though at least we got clean sheets. I made them promise they wouldn’t turn the heat off. Light from the hallway also came through the glass in our doors, and we couldn’t switch the hallway lights off, so we rigged something up on the doors to get to sleep. A horrible stay.

It was okay, and generally clean, though the beds were really uncomfortable. On our last day the electricity was switched off, leaving us with cold showers and no way to get back into the room. That was annoying, but the problem was sorted once the cleaner arrived.

Bedbugs! We couldn’t get a refund, and the staff acted as if they didn’t know what was going on. I’m pretty sure we’d told them about the infestation before the couple from Spain booked that room, based on these Google reviews. They didn’t hire an exterminator, which makes it seem like they don’t care. The place is dirty and noisy in the morning. The cheap price isn’t worth the risk of taking an infestation home. Looking through the reviews, it seems these bugs have been here for two years already, so I can only imagine how bad it’s got. I’ve attached a photo of the bug and the bites on my back. Bedbug bites are usually in a line, like these.