Backpacker Guesthouse

Definitely one of the best hostels of my trip. Very chill! I loved the hammocks, gazebo, and chill-out areas, all nicely scented with incense sticks -- very hippified, my kind of scene. The people who run the place are clearly well-traveled, with pictures of their trails everywhere -- such an inspiration! The staff were very friendly and helpful throughout my stay, even gave me directions to the hospital, which very conveniently for me was just down the road! (As Little Britain's Lou would say, I was in a bit of a "kerfuffle") I had no problems finding people to talk to either, as this place seems to be the hotspot for like-minded people. Also when I was there, a woman came to offer discount massages, which for me was very surreal (massages in hostels?), yet relaxing! The main drawbacks are the location and the kitchen -- it can get very crowded, so you have to wait your turn if you want to cook something. Although it's out of the centre (but well-serviced by buses), it's well worth the hike, and I would definitely come back!

Ordinary to say the least. Horrible toilet downstairs and shower where the door doesnt close nor can you fit in the damn thing. Now after being bitten and complaining about spiders in our room for two nights and getting some smug remarks from the reception that we carried them spiders with us, something was finally done. Surprise Surprise a Spider nest was found in our room. We were totally pissed off and all we didnt even get a sorry. Very poor! Overall, not a bad place eventhough it is little far from town but it definitely needs some maintenance but the spiders nest took the cake. I will never go there again and have not recommended to any of my friends either.

The hostel was pretty clean and a decent location. The staff was friendly and helpful, though would sometimes ask us to quiet down post three a.m., fair enough I suppose. The atmosphere here is its real selling point. It's not a huge hostel, but you the crowd it attracts is great. You live life as one massive family and gather together everynight in the common area for drinks, movies, and some of the best pizza I've ever had. Try the garlic, chicken, and sour cream. Trust me.

Stayed here back in the spring of 2004. After going to other parts of the world this is STILL the best hostel I have ever been to. I came by myself and arrived around midnight and had no problems with my reservations or anything. I found it clean, cozy, with a nice kitchen and lounge area and good location in regard to transport. Thanks to the cool cats who brought me to the top of the mountain that night, Witt, bro, "the Irish girls" and the brit (Denis?)!

I fully endorse the previous high-rating reviews. This is, without any shadow of doubt, the best hostel I have ever stayed in and I have been around Europe 4 times and stayed in all the "Name" places. The staff are just wonderful, more like friends than workers and always willing to get the party started. Coolest of cool chilled out vibes, clean rooms, great lounge and kitchen, my own little chill out platform out thru the lounge room window and hammocks hammocks hammocks!! The people I met here will be friends for life and I will be going back (again) next time I am in Budapest (great city in itself). Totally addictive (as the sign says), like many others I came for three days and stayed for three weeks. Hi Bori and Kutzi! :-)

The ONLY place to stay in Budapest! Clean, friendly staff 24/7, kitchen complete with pots, pans, and dining table. Hundreds of movies to watch in the common room, free Internet, and always a clean bathroom and shower available. Come here to party or to chill or a bit of both. No matter what you want to see or do in Budapest, the amazing staff will help you find it all, and both Buda and Pest are easily reached by tram. Close to grocery stores and a place that delivers 55 cm pizzas for 10 euros! Free towels, beds made for you, the list goes on. I had a bag stolen in Prague — they not only hooked me up with some warm clothes from lost and found but washed it for free! Seriously, you'd miss out big time if you stayed elsewhere. Walking and caving tours are available, and they'll tell you how much you should pay for a cab to or from anywhere. DO NOT MISS: the baths in City Park or All-You-Can-Eat Mongolian Barbecue!!!

One of the best hostels I've stayed in. I booked in for two nights, ended up staying seven. It was that cozy. Friendly staff, great facilities, cheap beer, and it attracts a great crowd. I'm thinking of going back there soon actually.

This place is so laidback and relaxed, it had this mix of Jamaica/Asia to it. I could easily spend more then three nights here. Most of the staff is really helpful and cheerful. I was surprised to see my bed being made every day. Don't be scared by the location, you are not that far from nightlife (lots of things are going on at the river, and walking back from Pest is just 30 minutes). I had no reservation problems. The only downside is the somewhat small kitchen/living room. It gets a bit cramped after they close the garden and balcony. Though that encourages you to go out in town (or have a good early sleep) as well.

I loved this place and will go back next time I'm in Budapest! Pros: It seemed to attract a wide variety of people from all over the world, had a kitchen, a big backyard with hammocks, well traveled staff, and fun rooms. Cons: Far from the city center (but that could also be good), and the bathrooms were a little dirty. If you do stay here, make sure you do the caving trip that they help sponsor. It was great!

My boyfriend and I stayed in the hostel's only double and it was a nightmare. Not only does the hostel let the double, or "love shack" as it is called, be advertised as having the "most shagged on mattress in the Hemisphere" but said mattress was completely infested with bedbugs. We woke up to bites all over our bodies including my face. The worst thing about our experience with the Backpack was that they promised that our room was going to be fully cleaned (which we assumed meant fumigated) after we discovered our bites. We agreed to stay another night in the room under the condition that cleaning would take place. When we asked, we were assured that the room had been properly cleaned and it did, in fact, look much cleaner. However, we woke up to more bites in the morning. The person working at reception that day admitted that nobody could come to clean until the next day. The management of this hostel knowingly let us sleep in an infested room and when we confronted the woman at the reception desk about this she merely shrugged her shoulders and said, "It happens." To understand how disgusting this situation was, see the following Web site: http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef636.htm. Beware MacBeth—You've been warned.

We've stayed there in both summer and winter and found it a great place to stay. It has very clean bathrooms, which is a nice change from a lot of hostels I've stayed in before. Having a few double rooms is a great idea for couples who want to go hosteling but still want some privacy, too. The "love shack" double room with its red/orange walls is great. Plus it has its own fridge — a bonus! On our first visit we intended to stay only two days and stayed a week, as it was just so relaxing and too hard to leave. We met some great people — both travelers and staff there. I loved the themed rooms — they reminded me of a traveler's house I used to live in, which endeared the place even more to me.

Nice hostel. The rooms were superb, and clean, too. It's a little bit out of town but Budapest has some good buses.

When we eventually arrived after taking the night train we found the staff extremely unfriendly, considering we were paying customers. I would go so far as to say they looked at us as if we were an annoyance. I found the bathrooms small, and to be honest, not very hygienic. And looking at the rooms, they seemed very cramped! All this could've been forgiven as I've stayed in much worse places in my time, however I then found the other guests very rude and not at all welcoming. We slept out on the gazebo, as they couldn't find our reservation and there were no rooms left. Sleeping in the gazebo left me eaten half to death, with nine bites on my face alone (not to mention everywhere else). We had booked for three nights but left after the first! I found the staff unprofessional and rude. We were left waiting to check out for 20 minutes while one of the staff members was busy giggling on the phone! I know this was probably a once-off experience, considering all the other good reviews, and I can't blame the hostel for the other guests' lack of respect. But all in all, that one night I spent in this hostel had to be the worst night I've ever spent away from home! I work in a hospital and if I treated one of my patients the same way the staff treated us I would've been fired on my first day.

This hotel might be great, but personally we never got to experience the vibe. When we rang to book, they were extremely rigid about our reservation. They wanted to know the EXACT time we were arriving, what train we were arriving on from Vienna, and they wanted us to ring the day of our arrival to confirm. That's all okay — we went out of our way to do all of this. We rang to confirm, got there when we said we would, and found they had messed up our reservations! Even though we had booked three days, confirmed three days, they had booked us in for one night — the night BEFORE we got there! It was really lame and very unprofessional. They also couldn't care less — and didn't even offer to try and find us a bed or to ring other hostels. The end result is we were left trying to find a hostel in Budapest at 9 o'clock at night. It was hard, given the first eight hostels I rang were all booked full!

The best hostel ever! It has a nice vibe, it's clean, and has great staff and cheap beer. No other hostel will ever compare to it. It has cheap beds; it's a must!