The Hostelz.com Review
Barocco Hostel is essentially an apartment-turned-hostel run by a group of friends who live in the space. Positives include easy access to the metro and cheap prices, but that's about where it ends. It's a bare-boned hostel that gets the job done if you are looking for a place to sleep for a few nights, but lacks atmosphere.
The Location
The hostel is located about two blocks from the Kalvin ter (blue line) metro stop, which offers an easy connection to the bus that takes you to/from the airport. The hostel is on the Pest side and within walking distance to the Liberty Bridge that connects to the Buda side of the city. There is also a bus stop a block away from the hostel. The hostel itself is unmarked, which can make it hard to find for travelers without exact directions (it's #5 on the bell!).
Rooms and Bathrooms
The hostel offers two private rooms -- one with one double bed and the other with four beds. There are also two dorms -- one with ten beds and the other with twelve beds. The dorm rooms come in your typical bunk-bed fashion, but the rooms are rather spacious. The doors to the dorm rooms are unlocked, but there are lockers in the rooms. However, these lockers need to be opened with a master key from reception, which makes getting things in and out inconvenient. Sheets and towels are free and are changed every four days. The rooms are basic but clean.
There are only two bathrooms for the entire hostel. The smaller one is located near the entrance and is quite cramped, with little room to change or move around. The larger bathroom is located near the dorm rooms and has a bathtub/shower combination. This bathroom is a bit awkward to use because it's connected to the four-bed private room. You need to close and lock the bedroom door as well as the door to the hallway in order to use the bathroom. This means that whoever is in the four-bedroom room is locked in whenever someone is using the bathroom.
Both toilets are clean, but have no hot water (so you'll have ice cold showers). When reception was informed of this, they claimed that the boiler needed to be lit to get hot water in the bathrooms. Shouldn't the boiler always be lit? Guests shouldn't have to inform reception that they want to shower beforehand just to be able to get hot water.
There is a mandatory lockout from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for cleaning; checkout time is 10 a.m.
Common Spaces
The kitchen is decently sized, clean, and comes with typical amenities such as a microwave, fridge, stove, and storage spaces, plus free coffee/tea/hot chocolate all day. During our stay, dishes occasionally piled up in the sink from the owners and someone had his food stolen from the fridge.
The hostel claims to have internet computers, but there aren't any. There is also free Wi-Fi, but it was not working during our stay. There is a common room with a large television, but the space is often taken up by the hostel owners. During our stay, none of the guests were spotted using the common room, since the owners pretty much took over the space playing video games and watching loud movies late into the night (even though there is a 10 p.m. quiet policy).
Summary
Overall, Barocco Hostel is a decent place to stay for one or two nights. The hostel is clean and offers basic amenities (except for the lack of hot water). Aside from the non-working Wi-Fi and cold showers, the keypad to the outer door was also broken during our stay, which made getting in and out of the hostel a nightmare.
The staff are all right; they don't go out of their way to offer recommendations or assistance when something goes wrong. They treat the hostel as their home instead of a place where guests are staying; they are often loud late into the night (bring earplugs!) and make it impossible for the guests to use the common spaces. Barocco Hostel is not the place to be if you're looking for a place where you can hang out.
The Location
The hostel is located about two blocks from the Kalvin ter (blue line) metro stop, which offers an easy connection to the bus that takes you to/from the airport. The hostel is on the Pest side and within walking distance to the Liberty Bridge that connects to the Buda side of the city. There is also a bus stop a block away from the hostel. The hostel itself is unmarked, which can make it hard to find for travelers without exact directions (it's #5 on the bell!).
Rooms and Bathrooms
The hostel offers two private rooms -- one with one double bed and the other with four beds. There are also two dorms -- one with ten beds and the other with twelve beds. The dorm rooms come in your typical bunk-bed fashion, but the rooms are rather spacious. The doors to the dorm rooms are unlocked, but there are lockers in the rooms. However, these lockers need to be opened with a master key from reception, which makes getting things in and out inconvenient. Sheets and towels are free and are changed every four days. The rooms are basic but clean.
There are only two bathrooms for the entire hostel. The smaller one is located near the entrance and is quite cramped, with little room to change or move around. The larger bathroom is located near the dorm rooms and has a bathtub/shower combination. This bathroom is a bit awkward to use because it's connected to the four-bed private room. You need to close and lock the bedroom door as well as the door to the hallway in order to use the bathroom. This means that whoever is in the four-bedroom room is locked in whenever someone is using the bathroom.
Both toilets are clean, but have no hot water (so you'll have ice cold showers). When reception was informed of this, they claimed that the boiler needed to be lit to get hot water in the bathrooms. Shouldn't the boiler always be lit? Guests shouldn't have to inform reception that they want to shower beforehand just to be able to get hot water.
There is a mandatory lockout from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for cleaning; checkout time is 10 a.m.
Common Spaces
The kitchen is decently sized, clean, and comes with typical amenities such as a microwave, fridge, stove, and storage spaces, plus free coffee/tea/hot chocolate all day. During our stay, dishes occasionally piled up in the sink from the owners and someone had his food stolen from the fridge.
The hostel claims to have internet computers, but there aren't any. There is also free Wi-Fi, but it was not working during our stay. There is a common room with a large television, but the space is often taken up by the hostel owners. During our stay, none of the guests were spotted using the common room, since the owners pretty much took over the space playing video games and watching loud movies late into the night (even though there is a 10 p.m. quiet policy).
Summary
Overall, Barocco Hostel is a decent place to stay for one or two nights. The hostel is clean and offers basic amenities (except for the lack of hot water). Aside from the non-working Wi-Fi and cold showers, the keypad to the outer door was also broken during our stay, which made getting in and out of the hostel a nightmare.
The staff are all right; they don't go out of their way to offer recommendations or assistance when something goes wrong. They treat the hostel as their home instead of a place where guests are staying; they are often loud late into the night (bring earplugs!) and make it impossible for the guests to use the common spaces. Barocco Hostel is not the place to be if you're looking for a place where you can hang out.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
April 2011
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