The Lost Hostel

The roof terrace was my favorite, a nice spot to relax as the sun goes down, and clothes dry really fast up there. The rest didn’t offer much. Reception wasn’t welcoming, barely said anything beyond asking for my ‘passport’. The filtered water was warm. I stayed in the basic 8 bed room, which was sweaty and full of mosquitos. The shower is always cold, with no way to adjust the temperature. It’s also quite far from town.

The owner was incredibly rude, and the hostel felt dirty and boring. I’d arranged to hang around after checkout because I had a late bus. He said it was fine and that I could stay until my 11 o’clock bus. When the bus was delayed by 90 minutes, he started yelling that I could only stay six hours after checkout and had to pay for another night. He wouldn’t listen when I tried to explain, so I left and ended up over two hours early for my bus. I saw two other people check in separately, and both had problems with him going back on what he’d promised. I’d seriously recommend staying somewhere else. He needs a reality check about treating guests if he wants to keep running the hostel.

It’s a pretty quiet spot with plenty of ventilation. Since it’s the only hostel in Madurai, it covers the basics, though the toilets and showers need a lot of improvement. I hope it gets popular over time.

Clean, friendly, helpful, and cheap, so there’s not much to complain about. It’s a bit away from Madurai’s main sights, but still easy to get to, and there’s a kitchen to make your own meals. Staff helped us book a fleet cheap taxi to the airport, about 30% less than the Lonely planet guide.