Riga Hostel

No locks or lockers, people hanging around and moving in and out of the room, and no real quiet time. I was woken at 5:30 by a surly Russian shouting at someone to get up and work. The showers had broken floor tiles and were disgusting, and the bathrooms were even worse. This was the worst 'hostel' I've stayed in. It looks like accommodation for foreign workers who may be getting taken advantage of. It might once have been a hostel, but don't believe what it says about itself or the fake reviews. Avoid. Sketchy.

The room was noisy, near a window where I could hear cars past 2 a.m., and the sheets weren't clean. I booked an 8-bed room at CityBox, but on arrival the place was called Riga Hostel and I was put in a 10-bed room. There were only two bathrooms and toilets for around 50 beds. They also took my passport and sent it to someone through WhatsApp or something. Breakfast was included, but the man said the person responsible for cooking was sick and it would be available the next day. I bought my own food, since there was still no breakfast around 8 or 9. At 10 I saw eggs, bread, biscuits and tea, but no coffee. Maybe by cooking he meant boiling eggs. There was no proper kitchen. When I asked about a locker, reception said I could get one tomorrow when the manager was there. I don't know why I was sent to a different hostel, and it didn't feel transparent. Booking.com should look into this.

We gave up on sleeping and went straight to another hotel at 1 a.m. The room was tiny and extremely dirty, with very thin mattresses, and the bathrooms, especially the shower, were filthy. I'm okay with what the hostel cost, but it should at least be clean. Getting there had already felt dodgy: the entrance stank of piss, and after we finally reached the fourth floor, an older lady who only spoke Russian tried to make us sign a paper banning photos and videos, with a 50€ fine as the penalty. She also demanded a 10 euro cash key deposit. We had no cash, and she got angry, but eventually accepted it, went quiet, and showed us the room.

You can’t beat the location: the train station is a two minute walk across the street, and there are three other hostels in the same building. I saw staff cleaning four or five times a day, and they were kind, helped with anything I needed, and even shared their dinner with me. It isn't shiny or brand new, and some beds are older, as you find in many places in the Baltics. Do people live there? Yes, like at every hostel after the many wars going on. The complaints seem to come from people who don't backpack often. It's still a good hostel.