The Hostelz.com Review
Hostel Lika is making a concerted effort to be Zagreb's best hostel and provides guests with a warm welcome and many services. The owner-operators, Ilona and Marko, do their best to ensure that guests have a wonderful time whilst at their hostel and in Zagreb. They can help to organise tours to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Plitvice Lakes -- a must while in northern Croatia -- as well as offering helpful advice on local restaurants, services, and transport.
The Location
Hostel Lika is located within approximately thirty minutes' walk to the city centre and about fifteen minutes' walk to the main bus station. Additionally, the hostel is located down the road from a convenient tram stop which will take guests to the bus station and city centre easily. Street parking is available should guests be driving. The hostel is situated in a quiet residential area and guests should be aware that while there is no curfew, common and outdoor areas are off limits after 10:30 p.m.
Rooms and Bathrooms
Hostel Lika offers double rooms as well as four- and six-bed dorms. Rooms are bright and airy, providing enough room for guests' luggage and comfort. Lockers are available to rent and easily fit a laptop computer, for example. Toilets and showers are located on the floor outside of the rooms and are maintained to a high standard. Showers are hot but not terribly high-pressured. Some showers require the shower head to be held, rather than being mounted on the wall.
Common Spaces
The hostel has two large communal areas. Indoors is a large room with two free internet terminals, lounge seating, and a television. In this room is also helpful information about Zagreb, transportation, and tours. Outside is a lovely terrace area where the owners cook a well-priced barbecue each night. Seating is provided outside underneath the grape-vine where a cheap, simple breakfast is available in the morning. Hostel Lika does not have kitchen facilities available for guests and common areas must be vacated at 10:30 p.m.
Summary
Hostel Lika is a fun and sociable hostel run by owners who have been backpackers themselves. Guests can expect to meet other like-minded travelers while staying at this property and despite the relatively early closure of the common areas the atmosphere is not overbearing or disciplined. Rather, guests are comfortable and well-cared for at this hostel.
The Location
Hostel Lika is located within approximately thirty minutes' walk to the city centre and about fifteen minutes' walk to the main bus station. Additionally, the hostel is located down the road from a convenient tram stop which will take guests to the bus station and city centre easily. Street parking is available should guests be driving. The hostel is situated in a quiet residential area and guests should be aware that while there is no curfew, common and outdoor areas are off limits after 10:30 p.m.
Rooms and Bathrooms
Hostel Lika offers double rooms as well as four- and six-bed dorms. Rooms are bright and airy, providing enough room for guests' luggage and comfort. Lockers are available to rent and easily fit a laptop computer, for example. Toilets and showers are located on the floor outside of the rooms and are maintained to a high standard. Showers are hot but not terribly high-pressured. Some showers require the shower head to be held, rather than being mounted on the wall.
Common Spaces
The hostel has two large communal areas. Indoors is a large room with two free internet terminals, lounge seating, and a television. In this room is also helpful information about Zagreb, transportation, and tours. Outside is a lovely terrace area where the owners cook a well-priced barbecue each night. Seating is provided outside underneath the grape-vine where a cheap, simple breakfast is available in the morning. Hostel Lika does not have kitchen facilities available for guests and common areas must be vacated at 10:30 p.m.
Summary
Hostel Lika is a fun and sociable hostel run by owners who have been backpackers themselves. Guests can expect to meet other like-minded travelers while staying at this property and despite the relatively early closure of the common areas the atmosphere is not overbearing or disciplined. Rather, guests are comfortable and well-cared for at this hostel.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
August 2009
Their Description
Hostel Lika Details
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Hostel Lika Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Social place, friendly people I enjoyed the stay, I even came back for one night at the end of my trip. Staff is friendly, they made me feel like being in a welcoming family, we had nice evenings in the garden, there even was barbecue. Unfortunately, they close the garden at 10.30. The bathrooms are the cleanest I ever saw in a hostel. — martina , germany (2010-08-27) Worst Hostel I have stayed in! 1st of all the owner was extremely rude and unhelpful. When sitting outside having a beer, the sun was strong so we sat in the shade. He shouted from the window to get out of the garden, that it was closed, and asked where we stupid not to read the sign. I asked would the garden be open earlier and he said no. I tried to tell him that it was advertised on his webpage to be open. He also double booked our rooms. There were supposed to be six in the room altogether, we had met 2 other serbian girls in the room. When we came back from a night out all the beds were full. 1 of the girls from serbia had told us that she told the owner that he had overbooked and there were extra guys in the room but he told her that them guys were us, but she tryed to explain that they wernt as she had already met us. So when we came back and went into common room to tell him, he shouts that common room is closed! I explain to him that he has overbooked. He tries to tell me he hasnt! In the end we had to move to a dirty room with noisy beds. Overall this guy is an ignorant, nationalist, extortionist rude person. — Eoin , Irish (2010-06-12) Impolite! We tried to book this hostel for our friends (re-enactment groups from Europe) for festival we are trying to organise in Zagreb. Since they don't have any information about their accommodation, we called them for more information, about price and number of beds -- so we would know should we book them or not, since we need twenty-five to thirty beds for our guests. We asked for those information, but the guy on the phone told us to email everything on his e-mail. Since we needed this information really urgent (just the number of beds in hostel), and didn't have access to the internet we polite asked him to just tell us the number of bed they have. He started do be really rude and impolite, and he literally told us to f*** off -- that this is not anyone's "dowry/whorehouse"! Can you imagine that! Since they were so rude and impolite over the phone, we hang over and never called them again. What was such a problem?! We only asked them for number of bed in their hostel. — Order of the Silver Dragon , Croatia (2009-06-09) Like being back with your family The two hosts are also the owners and I've never met better owners in my travels and I've traveled a lot! Though I can't give five stars 'cause of lack of kitchen, it deserves more because of Marco's interest and especially because of all the beers we had! He invited us back and back we will be, hopefully soon! — barry , ireland (2008-10-16) Bad I spend two nights in Hostel Lika, and the owners really made me feel uncomfortable when they were around. they seem to be a bit paranoid about people getting in touch with their staff, cause every time i started a conversation with one of them suddenly the lady of the house showed up to talk about something "important." the lobby is stuffed with the most horrible nationalist croatian thrash, and the drinks you get (tea, coffee, and beer) are of poorest quality at a high price -- you get decent coffee at the center of zagreb for the same price. it's a very boring neighborhood close to the motorway, the beds are uncomfortable as hell, and the rooms quite ugly. — Boris Ivulic , Germany (2008-09-07) I have stayed in hostels in other countries with perhaps a similar reputation of dishonesty (Brazil for example), and I found this to be a terrible excuse for a hostel. Cramped rooms, uncomfortable and noisy beds, unaccommodating and downright rude staff (one of which, the owner's 'boyfriend', reduced one of our travel companions to tears), no lockers, and a seedy crowd hanging about in the courtyard. This really felt like someone's house just stuffed with beds rather than a hostel. It's too bad because Zagreb is such a beautiful city otherwise. Go to Zagreb but stay elsewhere. — Tony , The States (2007-05-23) Reviews from many sites suggest positive experiences with staff and so perhaps my group simply caught them on an off-day, but our experience was overwhelmingly negative -- needless inflexibility in room allocation (despite what seemed to be prior agreement) followed by unnecessarily aggressive confrontation by two of the proprietors who seemed inclined to argue and bully long after we had accepted their request. Other reviews suggest that this is not a chronic problem (though I would be wary) but other problems, while less serious, seem more ingrained in this hostel -- crowded rooms; noisy and rickety bunk beds with thin, uncomfortable mattresses; extremely late breakfast time not conducive to early-morning travelers; and no functional lockers in many rooms. These would cause me to think twice even if the staff had behaved better. I wish them luck with their endeavour but there are many problems to be solved. — Kevin Deegan-Krause , USA (2007-05-22) I would like to give this hostel a five but I cant because the facilities dont compare to other hostels I have stayed in. The couple that run this place are really very nice people who know a thing or two about hospitality. The rooms are very comfortable. The showers are communal but the cleanest showers I have seen in any hostel. However, there isnt a lot of room to towl off after in the bathroom. There is no internet access which is a shame. It is very difficult to find and make sure you find it on a map before trying to follow the confusing directions. It is 20 minutes walk from the city center but I would say it is worth it because you will have a very comfortable stay. — Dan (2007-02-17) This is a great hostel! Ilana and Marco make you feel like a guest in their home. This place is very clean and has comfortable beds. The only reason that I didn't give them five stars is because they don't have internet use as of yet and they aren't in the center of town. They are however in a quiet residential neighborhood and are only five to ten minutes away from the train station by tram. I would definitely recomend this place to anyone including my best of friends! — David (2006-09-07)