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Hostels Guide > Western Europe > Germany > Berlin State > Berlin Hostels > John's Cozy Little Backpacker Hostel Berlin

John's Cozy Little Backpacker Hostel Berlin

Berlin, Berlin State, Germany

51 of 68

Hostels in Berlin

Address	Waldenser Str. 30, Mitte - Tiergarten - Moabit, Berlin Map
Price	From US$12.58/€7.77/£6.38 per person. Price may vary by season - Check Current Prices by Date Here

Location/Contact

Details

Their Description

Features

Kitchen
Phones (public or in room)
Air Conditioning
Travel information provided
Lounge / Common space
Bike Rental
Swimming Pool
Currency Exchange
Bar

The Hostelz.com Review

John's Cozy Little Oriental Hostel is easy to find and a short walk from the U-Bahn station, though it is a bit far from any of Berlin's main stations. Be aware that this hostel advertises itself as a "haven for alternate lifestyles," so much of the literature is where to find gay bars and whatnot around town.

Some of the staff are rather limited in English, so some basic German knowledge may be handy. There is a small kitchen area with all the pots and pans you would need, and a dining table where people end up hanging out. The actual dorm area is in a separate building about two doors down and also has a common area with a lot of literature, a TV, and some couches.

The dorm itself is barren. It's composed of nothing but ten mattresses side by side on the floor. Seriously, there are no beds. There is one bathroom that is currently under renovation, at the time of this review it is currently missing a shower. If you want to take a shower you must make the trek back into the other building.

This is a minimal, but decently clean hostel. It's not a bad hostel for what you pay for it (very little), particularly for travellers with "alternative" lifestyles.

-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review

Your Comments

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We do not validate the legitimacy of comments posted on this site—so take what you read here with a grain of salt.

Comment by David, Australia

September 2007

Not impressed
I was rather disappointed by this hostel. The reviews made it seem quite decent and it has a good location close to a railway station and a bus stop for Tegel airport. But, it seems that the owner stays in one of the dorm rooms and has rather definite rules for people staying in that dorm room -- it is ok for him to get up early and make a lot of noise but he complains when people come back a little late and try to go to sleep, albeit making as little noise as possible. There are much better places to stay in Berlin.

Comment by Vaughan, UK

September 2007

Excellent
This is an excellent place to stay -- very friendly staff stayed up late to meet me, directions on website to the hostel are perfect and very accurate, very efficient and helpful welcome and check in -- own keys. Very quiet four-bed room with comfortable beds and reading lights, clean bathrooms and useful kitchen all leading off small hall. Close to U-Bahn. No smoking! Nice bar next door, no problems getting key deposit back, I would certainly come back here again without doubt.

Comment by Margaret

April 2007

I found this hostel to be quite interesting, and i really enjoyed the mattresses on the floor idea. I stayed in what could be considered an apartment, with two separate rooms of four beds, a bathroom, shower, and a small (pretty much unusable) kitchen. The witty staff was amusing, but the day i went to check out (after confirming a time the night before), i could not find anyone from the staff to return to me my 20 Euro deposit fee. We waited around, searched, and called the hostel number (turned out to be disconnected) in search of anyone on staff. Two and a half hours later, i got my 20 Euro back but was frustrated beyond belief.

Comment by Takis-John-Cova-Avavas, Greece

March 2007

The rooms are good. the atmosphere is rather gay as are the owners. no smoking is allowed and the bathrooms are barely good. The location is good and the staff is helpful. But most of all it is a Gay-Hostel.

Comment by Finn

February 2007

I was disappointed with the hostel. I walked there a long way and then nobody opened the door, though I rang the bell many many times. I waited outside about a half an hour. Some employee came but didn't let me in and told me to wait for the boss. I was sad and didn't want to wait. So I had to travel like an hour to the next hostel. Really rude, thanks for nothing!

Comment by Sarah

March 2006

The good is it's cheap and small, so there aren't many people to make noise at night, there's a kitchen and free internet and a living room. The not so good is doesn't seem very clean (especially the kitchen), everything is old, it's kind of far away from everything and in a boring neighborhood. I guess I'd try a different hostel next time, I was a bit diappointed after reading so many great reviews. It might be a good place to socialize, bt it's so small that we actually didn't meet many people there.

Comment by Mike

June 2005

Despite what others might say about this hostel, there is not an overriding gay energy about the place. Yes, David the owner is gay, but it pretty much stops there. The people who stay there are a good mix and generally very pleasant to be around. I stayed there for two weeks and met all kinds of great people. I slept comfortably and found the facilities to be just right. But by far the best thing about the place is the staff. Megan and Madonna are absolutely the greatest. They will phone museums for you, recommend plenty points of interest and help you with directions. And if you're lucky, Megan will give you British accent coaching lessons and Madonna may just dance you into the ground. (More fun than it sounds) I highly recommend this place, no matter what your race, gender, nationality or sexual orientation is.

Comment by Alexis, Greece

February 2005

John's Cozy Little Oriental Hostel is homey, little with just a few rooms, a small kitchen and a larger living room with DVDs and Playstation games to use for free. The highlight for me was the special gay boys' room, which I found very much fun, with four other gay guys, which I found quite rare. And there is mainly gay staff as well. John's is in fact a branch of David's Hostel, five minutes away, which is run by John's father David. I was first in David's and moved for the gay crowd to John's. But I recommend both places.

Comment by Aref-al-Masri

January 2005

I found it very friendly and nice there, more like a bed and breakfast in fact. It was small and had very nice guests and staff. Highly recommended. The owner speaks several languages, like Arabic, Italian, and English. It's very central, two minutes from the underground station.

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51 of 68

Hostels in Berlin

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