Bern Backpackers Hotel Glocke

Not so great but not terrible.
I stayed there a night in sept '08. The rooms are clean but the bathroom of my floor was terrible. It was with a really horrible smell that you could felt in the entire floor. Below the hostel is a club, so you can find a kind of noise in the night, especially if you stay in the firsts floors. They don't have Wi-Fi in the rooms, only at the common room that appears more like a smoke room, terrible. Very well located but Bern is small, so I think almost everything is near to each other.

Couldn't sleep at all
True, the place was very clean. And it had better be, since they kick you out every day to clean it. But we were there in July 2006 and it was hot, the sunlight poured in through the uncovered windows, and the noise from the street never stopped, what with the bar-goers on the street all night and the street-cleaners and clocktowers in the early morning. Ok, it's clean, but I'd rather get some sleep!

This is a great choice to stay in Bern. Not too far from the town center or train station. The staff were really helpful and spoke perfect English and were very friendly -- except some cleaner who yelled at me for taking a shower after she had cleaned it. The room was great, comfy bed and spaced out well. Common room and facilities are excellent. The negative is there is only one PC for internet access. Also there should be a men and women separate shower room and I am not too keen on the mixed dorm I got put in. But the hostel really nice. Plus there is a cool bar downstairs.

Definitely my favourite hostel. I booked the night before and could only find a single room which I payed 65 CHF (a fortune!) although after I already checked in, I found out that there were available beds in cheaper rooms. It was the safest and cleanest hostel I was at. The lounge was very nicely decorated. It is centrally located. I'd definitely go there again!

I travelled to this hostel in July of 2003 and found it to be excellent. The one drawback was that I arrived a little early and was locked out for an hour or so, mid-day, but that was ok there is plenty to do until the hostel opens back up. You can walk from the main trainstation, Hauptbahnhof, ten minutes or so. The staff are very nice and accommodating, I remember when I checked in there was a girl who missed her train to Rome and the lady at the check in made sure she could stay the extra two days and even found the time the train departed. The rooms were very cozy and clean. The communial area was also very nice, met a lot of nice people from around the world. Bern itself is a very nice city, but if you are used to bustling and lively capitols such as Prague, Coppenhagen, or Berlin you might be surprised. I did like that aspect though of Bern being relitively quiet and calm for a capitol city. Once you see everything and are there in the summer, the Freibad is free and open to everyone and has a spectacular view of the Swiss parliment. If I were to go to Bern again I would definitely choose Glocke Backpackers!

A clean place. In true Swiss form, there are strict rules about everything. Even after spending several months living in Geneva (an equally uptight city as far as I'm concerned), I did not feel comfortable with the barrage of security cameras and reminders of what not to do. I understand that "naughty" people exist, but they went a little overboard with the signs. I came in on a late train after my friends (who all received the spiel about rules) and was quite put off by the gruffness of the woman as we checked out the following morning, both to us (we did not fold our used sheets to her liking) and to her staff. Maybe I am being picky, so let me just reiterate: stay here if you want something clean and very regulated. Don't even think about generating any type of heat (READ SMOKE) in the place...strict rules about the fire alarms. Bern itself is quaint but boring.

This hostel was pretty cool. The rooms were clean, as were the common room and kitchen area. The South African couple that run the hostel were really friendly and we met loads of cool people in the evenings. I would definitely recommend this hostel to backpackers, as it's nice to stay somewhere clean after staying in so many filthy prison-style hostels. While in Bern I suggest jumping into the river and letting the current take you downstream. On a sunny day you can sit on the bank and see people floating past. However, the water's freezing.

The hostel is immaculately clean and the rooms are extremely nice (especially the duvet covers). The woman at the reception goes through a litany of rules and procedures when you check in. It can come off as unfriendly, but it's also very professional. The common room is the most beautiful common room I've never seen anyone use. There are tons of signs around the place listing and reminding of rules and regulations ("naughty people beware"), to the point that it makes the place a less than comfortable place to hang out, even if you're just looking for a quiet evening. My only complaint is about the kitchen. They've obviously had problems with guests setting off the smoke alarms (the kitchen doesn't get good ventilation), so they have signs up (surprise!) saying that you will be held financially responsible for the costs of a false alarm if you set off the alarm. Fair enough, but they also say that if you argue with the "fact" that you are responsible, they will call the police because it's "all on tape." Again, not a problem, except that the only video camera I saw pointed at the kitchen was in the neighboring laundry room (I didn't see a camera actually in the kitchen), and there's no way that camera gets a shot of the pots on the stove. So if more than one person is cooking at a time, how would they know who caused the alarm? And, as someone else already mentioned here, there is a lockout but on my floor it was in the 4-5 hour range. Also, there was a really loud restaurant or bar right next door on the side of the building I was on.

This is a wondeful hostel for lone female travellers. It's not a place to party, but for a good night's sleep and friendly staff, stay here!!

I loved this place. It's clean, and has a friendly staff, pool tables, Internet, a big kitchen with all the amenities, and a bar right downstairs. What's not to like? People were very friendly and sociable when I was here. I only got to stay here for one night and would have liked to stay longer to be with the people, but the city itself isn't that interesting. I prefer the Jungfrau region to the cities in Switzerland.

It's not half as centrally-located as they claim, the staff are very rude, and there is not too much to do in the city. I found it over-rated and frustrating. Be ready for a three to four-hour room lockout in the middle of the day, every day.

This was an excellent hostel in the middle of Bern. The atmosphere was very nice, and the rooms and bathrooms were clean. I can't say as much for the city - I found nothing to do in Bern.

Outstanding hostel! Prime location, right price, and as described, spotless accommodations. One tip: though it's not remote at all, we walked past the entrance 2-3 times - just don't take the directions half-ass, like we did.

In the spring 2003, I traveled Western Europe for two months. This spot was by far the best of all. Everything was super clean and the beds were comfortable. For the price and location a backpacker could not go wrong at this cozy, pleasant, historic hostel.