Kismet Dao Hostel

Balconies are saving grace
I arrived in the middle of the night after a dodgy taxi ride to the hostel itself, alarmed that when I walked in no one was there. When I finally got up to my bed, top bunk with no ladder! tricky! ladders would be excellent additions. bathrooms are a bit weird, different sexes on different floors, with one girl shower and several boy showers? seems backwards. TV room is pretty good, lots of seats and lots of good DVDs. Washing service is pretty good, despite losing two of my socks! kitchen is well equipped and spacious. Breakfast is only bread or toast if the electricity doesn't go off in the morning. Tours are expensive, just get the 4Lei bus, much better value! Saving grace of the hostel is the views from the balconies at the back. Lush sunset every night, despite the howling stray dogs.

Trying too hard.
The hostel was decent. A bit pricey though, and quite hard to find on foot. Do take the bus, do not try to walk there. Also cabs are just as cheap as the bus for groups of three or four so grab one if them if that's the case. Also, you should, in no case take their tour of Bran and Risnov. It is a ripoff and the people at our hostel who went were envious that some of the other of us had done it for something like 10 Euros total including transportation and entrance fees. Also, we got to meet some cool Romanians, which they didn't.

Disappointing
Not a great place. I've stayed at a hundred hostels and this one ranks poorly. They tried to overcharge me when I checked out, telling me I'd been given a better room than I'd originally reserved. Free "meet and greet" at the train station is misleading. This doesn't mean they pick you up. Instead, they send someone who discourages taking the bus (which I found out later is clean, cheap, and reliable) and instead offers private transport for a fee. Free laundry comes with free attitude. They waited to wash my clothes until the night before I had to leave. When I asked if my laundry had been washed and if it would be dry by the next day, the staff member on duty wouldn't tell me. Beds are like rocks. The "all you can eat" breakfast is white bread and jam. Two showers -- however, they do fit a toilet, a bathtub, and an actual shower into the same room, divided by curtains -- emergency-room style. An unguided "tour" to Bran and local castles that doesn't cover admittance fees and involves overpaying for transportation (20 euros). However, they do have an extensive DVD movie selection -- all of which is burned, so the audio/video quality is poor and of course comes with Romanian subtitles.

Great atmosphere, free laundry, free internet, free beer!
This hostel was great. The dorms, showers and toilets are all kept clean. There is a large kitchen for self-catering as well as a balcony on which you can eat your meals and enjoy the view. Breakfast is pretty average, there is a free internet terminal and a lounge with cable TV. What I liked best was the basement which turns into a bar at night, where the staff help you party along with some of their friends. Being tucked away downstairs means that those who want an early night don't need earplugs. A great place to stay and a great place to meet fellow backpackers.

I thought the staff was pretty friendly and the place was clean. The breakfast is pathetic but it is free. Only hostel I went to with free beer and free laundry! I really liked the castle tour and could have never organized that solo (and I thought it was cheap anyway). The TV has cable and there are lots of movies (almost all in English). Their computer breaks a lot but they always managed to fix it.

I did not find this hostel as good as I have expected.The staff was not very helpful (some I did not find even friendly). They did not have enough information about the traveling in the area, transportation. The breakfast, if you can call it, consisted of white bread, cheap margarine, and jam (plus tea and coffee). And the trips they offer to the close by castles are not really a good deal (especially Bran and Rashnov). You can do it yourself easily for at most half the price.

These guys are very friendly, helpful, and well informed. Free Lockers, free internet in lobby, free breakfast, free beer, free book exchange, free movies, free laundry-wash dry and fold. Well equipped kitchen with great view of the mountain. No smoking indoors. Bed mattress could be thicker. They keep the place really clean too! I stayed here twice and would go back again.

A lovely hostel, in a nice part of town, and with lovely views from the balcony. Nice atmosphere -- lots of friendly fellow-guests to chat to. Not being a late night person I had been worried about noise from drunken guests in the middle of the night, but in fact everyone was really considerate (well, except the dogs!). The only thing that didn't quite work was the food sharing. Basically, self-catering on the move can only work if people really share. instead, stuff seemed to just disappear without being replaced. Remember karma, guys! NB I did not get a booking ref -- just an email dated 24/05/06 saying "your reservation request is confirmed for one dorm bed for the nights of 11-13 August 2006."

We really enjoyed our stay at Kismet Dao. The staff was very friendly and helpful, and arrange day tours of the area for a very reasonable price. The rooms and common areas were generally pretty clean (only the couch smelled like feet!) and everyone we met were very nice and a lot of fun. The breakfast is pretty simple (toast and coffee) but adequate, and the setup is such that you can feel comfortable and welcome doing anything, be it party in the basement or chill out with a movie in front of the tv. Also, the free drink per night you stay is a nice plus. The only negative is that there is only one girls shower for the hostel, and so sneaking in can be tough, especially in the mornings!

Not bad, not good. Very adequate. I did go mid-week in the middle of winter though with only 1 other person staying there and 3 or 4 staff members - so there wasn't too much atmosphere. The staff were sometimes really friendly and sometimes rude. Location is good, price is good. Rooms are okay. Neighbours dogs are extremely loud and start up at 7am - so don't plan to have any late nights in Brasov - it's impossible to sleep over the dogs.

Sorry guys, you need to do a lot better. Brasov is a great place to visit, but not at Kismet. The staff were quite rude and far from hospitable. It seemed to me they take the tourists for granted and try and squeeze as much cash out of them as possible.

I had a great time. This place had good people and fun things to do. The parties were fun, as well as the card playing at night. This place really makes people feel like friends.

I really enjoyed my stay here. The facilities are as good as you can expect in Romania (a hot-water shower with a curtain, comfy beds), and the staff are friendly. Ho (the owner) is a cool bloke to share a beer with. They also organise bear-watching trips, and trips to Bran Castle.

This hostel has it all. When in Brasov, you should definitely go here. The crew are extremely friendly--they regularly arrange all kind of trips, and talk to the cabdrivers to cut you a deal, etc. Go on a trip to see the bears that come into the city at night, go to the Dracula castles, go out to party; it's all there. It's probably not the cheapest place to stay, but it is worth it. They even have free cigarettes (although they are local Romanian quality, which I don't recommend). It's a nice place to hang out; there are lots of nice packpackers to hang out with, although you'll have to drink your beer with them inside after 22:00 because the neighbour is a total d*ck. The crew will call in some food if you want, which tastes nice and is not too expensive. We had planned to move on with our trip, but staying in Brasov was so much fun that we stayed the entire week! The crew were extremely friendly (not to mention good-looking), and they took us several times to parties. This hostel was WAY above all the other ones I visited.

The facilities are fine; they are certainly not run-down. To lock the door, all one has to do is turn the key. The Internet facility is a five to ten minute walk from here, basically in a straight line. And it's free. I will gladly walk ten minutes for free Internet. And who cares if the breakfast is just toast, jam and coffee? It's free. The only thing preventing me from giving this hostel five stars is that the staff are often indifferent, and not extremely helpful.