Elements Hostels

The administrator was genuinely cool and very helpful, but my experience with the other staff was unacceptable for a service business. They were unfriendly, didn’t seem interested in helping or talking with guests, and created a hostile atmosphere. I’ve never encountered hostel staff this rude. During my nearly two-week stay, I was waiting for my train when a staff member told me, “our hostel is not a waiting place, after you pay you must leave.” I also heard a guest ask for the front-door code because they hadn’t received it. The response was a sarcastic “you never asked.” On a few nights, staff and friends who weren’t staying there drank and talked loudly in the common room, and some of them kept coming into the dorm and talking loudly there too. It kept me awake. The bathrooms and showers were gross most of the time, and in those two weeks they were cleaned only three times. The good reviews seem to be from several months earlier, when a different staff team was working here. Right now, this hostel is terrible.

The beds were really old and uncomfortable, and the kitchen was dirty, with people leaving their dishes unwashed. I stayed five nights. The rooms were okay and the bathrooms were clean, but there was always a smell of food around the hostel, especially fish. Staff were so-so, often busy chatting with friends instead of helping or engaging with guests. We also had a couple of power outages while I was there. That wasn’t the hostel’s fault, but it’s worth mentioning.

We hosted students from across Europe here for an event. The common room had a projector, and there was plenty of kitchen equipment. The place was clean and welcoming, with friendly, polite administrators, and it had everything we needed. The only drawback was that there weren’t many bathrooms when the hostel was full. I really liked the place!

At just £5 a night, this relaxed hostel had a great kitchen and plugs in the bedrooms, and it was easy to meet other travelers. There’s a 24-hour off-licence next door. The staff looked after me well and helped arrange an airport taxi at the right fare. It’s worth paying a little extra for the comforts here. Best hostel in Kiev.