Dans L'Atelier

Horrible, just horrible. I hadn’t dealt with bedbugs before, so at first I thought the itching came from the nylon sheets. About two days later, the redness on my body got serious enough that I went to the hospital, and by then I was sure it was from bedbugs. I contacted the hostel owner, who said nobody there had ever reported this before, that it wasn’t a major health issue, and that the hostel wasn’t responsible.

The common areas had a nice atmosphere, with art in all sorts of forms, and the city itself is beautiful. There’s potential here, but I didn’t get a key after paying for a night and had to ring six times before anyone came to let me in. There were no lockers for bags, and I wasn’t given the room I’d booked. The other guests were cool, though. Hot showers also cost extra.

Drunk guests woke us several times overnight, smoking a doobie and making a lot of noise, and there was no receptionist around to help sort it out. The bed feathers dug into my ribs badly, too. When we arrived, the crew didn’t seem to know we were coming. Nobody was there to meet us, and after we rang several times someone finally answered. I’m pretty sure they were very high. They kept saying there wasn’t room for four, even though we’d booked for three, and it took a while before we were finally taken to our rooms. A really bad experience :-(

The one good thing is the location, close to the bus station. The building itself feels neglected, and I’d question whether it meets basic safety and cleanliness standards. The bathroom was disgusting: the ceiling above the shower was peeling, leaving drywall on the tub floor; there was no toilet paper, and flushing meant reaching inside the back of the toilet. Our pillowcases and comforter were wet, one pillow was moldy, and the bedroom and hallways smelled of aerosol. Twice, people walked into our private bedroom. We weren’t shown the kitchen, so assumed there wasn’t one even though it was listed. Too late, we found a kitchen upstairs and another bathroom they hadn’t mentioned. It also wasn’t clear which areas were for staff and which were for guests. We messaged about our reservation through Airbnb, WhatsApp, and email several days ahead and got no reply. Major renovations are needed to make the place basically safe, along with clear cleanliness and service standards. I wouldn’t recommend staying here.