Hostel Havana

The Hostel Havana has a great position on the Vlatva River with a garden area out the front but unfortunately the building is lacking in the maintenance one would expect.

The hostel is about two kilometers from the bus station down the hill and to the left before the bridge, but it is easier to get a taxi from the bus station or the gas station nearby. From the train station it is a twenty-five- to thirty-minute walk downhill most of the way. The hostel is not situated in the old town of Cesky Krumlov, but just outside.

From the outside, the hostel is quite an attractive orange-coloured building with a pleasant sitting area in the garden overlooking the river. This is the meeting place for fellow travelers and the resident friendly cat called Osama.

Inside, the hostel is quite rundown with dated and very worn interiors. Switching on the one hotplate in the kitchen can overload the circuits and make the lights go out, as they did during our stay. There are also broken locks.

Some dorms have views of the river. All the dorms are lockable and contain lockers. The beds in the dorms do not have proper mattresses but instead most are three separate cushions held together by a fitted sheet. One bed in the dorm is made of about two centimetres of foam on a wooden base and is more like sleeping on the hard floor than a bed. The hostel does not allow guests to leave their bags there after checkout if they are getting a late train or bus.

The bathrooms do not offer any privacy and on one side of the house are not separated into male and female. The kitchen is very basic, with only a small bench top hotplate and a fridge. The hostel rents out a raft for those who want to use it on the river outside.

The Hostel Havana is very cheap but similar prices are available at other hostels closer to the old town and with far superior facilities.

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