Baikal Hostel

I will come back
I didn't plan anything when i came back from Mongolia to Russia. A guide said on the page concerning hostels -- " Book a long time before if you come in summer " -- i didn't saw it. I phoned there in the train station, and i found a place immediately. The staff helped me to find its hostel. They are helpful, they plan your projects with you, like where to go, how to go. Thanks to them i went to Oklhon Island by hydrofol but because of a money problem. i had to come back to Irkutsk. I phoned to this hostels and they helped me to get a train ticket to Moscow. The location is direct from the train Station by local bus (matchroutka) and direct to go to the center. You'll maybe have to ask for exact location to a shop near it, but you can find easily. it's quiet calm, really simple, as all the backpackers like. The people and the staff are really sympathetic and they seem to enjoy their activities.

The accommodations are fairly basic, but are very clean and comfortable, and for a very reasonable price. The staff, though, were extremely helpful and friendly to me while I was there. I think the staff members were a little reserved at first, but once you get to know them, their company is very pleasant. In general, they seemed quite eager to hang around and get to know the travelers staying there, which was nice. During my stay in Irkutsk, I suffered some minor injuries and had to spend a week in the hospital (Russian hospitals keep patients there for a long time). During the time I was there, one particular staff member brought me things I needed, came to visit me, and even helped me to communicate with my family. Of course, the injuries I had suffered had nothing to do with the hostel, and my visa was not even registered in Irkutsk, so these folks gave to me was really above and beyond what was expected. It would have been very difficult without them.

we did book the private room and it turned out that this room was a homestay at one of the people working for this hostel. Ok, no problem, we thought, but when we got there it is the most horrible place I' ve ever slept.The house smelt strongly like kate pie and the woman (Anja) with whom we stayed was afraid to communicate or something (how is that possible if you' re working with young travellers?). We also booked a trip with her to go to lake baikal and first she tried to let us pay more.The prices she gave us were higher then the prices that were on display in the hostel itself.The price for the trip was supposed to be for the trip and all the food that whole day (information provided by the hostel) but she only had lunch with her and the evening meal we had to buy ourselves. I think if you would just stay in the hostel and don' t book a trip with Anja it will turn out to be ok. The hostel is a bit far out the centre though.

It is clean and the young woman who works there is sooo sweet and helpful! It is immaculate, has hot water and she gives you food and tea when you walk in the door. The only problem is that it's a hard place to find and it is 15-20 minutes outside of the city, but that is actually nice.