The Hostelz.com Review
The Snuffel Hostel is a friendly and social hostel in a good location close to the main attractions. The staff are helpful and can provide advice on things to see and do, but are often very busy. The person working the bar is also the receptionist, so it can take a while to check in if the bar is busy.
The Location
The hostel is easy to find, and not too far from the train station. A bus is advisable though. The buses available from the train station are bus 3 or 13, which go to the market place, and from there it is not too far to walk. There is a bus which goes right out the front, but it comes less often and seems to wind around the whole town before it gets there.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The rooms are clean and tidy, and sheets can be provided if needed. The large room (fourteen beds) can be a bit noisy, but is reasonably spacious for a dorm with so many beds. If you are after a bit more privacy, smaller rooms (four or six beds) are available for an extra cost. If you want a private room, then a four-bed room can be booked as a private. The bathrooms are the biggest letdown. You have to walk through the bar and kitchen, and outside across the courtyard to get to the bathrooms. Once there, the showers are not the best. They have curtains and pull chains, and are not always hot.
Common Spaces
The common places at the hostel are good. The bar is spacious, they have a good variety of Belgian beer, and happy hour provides good value. The bar is a good place to meet other travelers, but can sometimes get a little bit smoky. There are board games to borrow and a library/book swap too. The kitchen is small, but adequate and clean. It has all the essentials for a quick meal.
Summary
Overall this is a decent place to stay and meet other people.
The Location
The hostel is easy to find, and not too far from the train station. A bus is advisable though. The buses available from the train station are bus 3 or 13, which go to the market place, and from there it is not too far to walk. There is a bus which goes right out the front, but it comes less often and seems to wind around the whole town before it gets there.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The rooms are clean and tidy, and sheets can be provided if needed. The large room (fourteen beds) can be a bit noisy, but is reasonably spacious for a dorm with so many beds. If you are after a bit more privacy, smaller rooms (four or six beds) are available for an extra cost. If you want a private room, then a four-bed room can be booked as a private. The bathrooms are the biggest letdown. You have to walk through the bar and kitchen, and outside across the courtyard to get to the bathrooms. Once there, the showers are not the best. They have curtains and pull chains, and are not always hot.
Common Spaces
The common places at the hostel are good. The bar is spacious, they have a good variety of Belgian beer, and happy hour provides good value. The bar is a good place to meet other travelers, but can sometimes get a little bit smoky. There are board games to borrow and a library/book swap too. The kitchen is small, but adequate and clean. It has all the essentials for a quick meal.
Summary
Overall this is a decent place to stay and meet other people.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
December 2007
Their Description
Snuffel Backpacker Hostel Details
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Snuffel Backpacker Hostel Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Well worth a return Great hostel, excellent bar which is renowned in Bruges. Very cheep belgian beer and lots of people from all over the world. The staff are extremely friendly and very helpful always. Can't think of any downsides other than the fact the showers are downstairs, through the back court yard and in a different part of the hostel from where the dorms are. Location really is excellent and is only helped by the fact every major attraction is no more than 15 minutes walk from each other making it almost impossible to get lost. Excellent hostel overall, recommendable if you're traveling and want somewhere to party and meet new people in such a small, but excellent city. — o'd , Ireland (2011-06-21) If you stay here you get a Bruges pass! alright, so the price is right at this hotspot. friendly staff, breakfast included, small but useful kitchen, plus a bar/common area right at your disposal. close enough to the city but not close enough to feel like you're in a tour group. the negative points would be the really cramped rooms (neighbours' feet at your head kind of situations), to get to the shower you walk through the bar, the stairs make you practice your balance and coordination, and they still smoke in the bar. however, you're in bruges, so how much time are you spending at your hostel anyway? go to the used bookstore down the street, if not to buy a book go to have a good laugh at the used 1970s romance novels. — Kathy , Canada (2008-06-12) Great We had a great night at Snuffel. the rooms were really clean, they all had fresh folded ironed sheets, a nice blanket and pillow for us on the beds. the beds were really comfy! the staff were cool, and the bar downstairs was good too. they have a beer card where you can get five beers for 9euro, and they're full sized beers, not sample ones or something! you get a brugge card where you can get discounts on certain things in town. it's pretty close to the amazing square, and really easy to find! i cant really see why anyone would put in a bad review about this place, we couldn't fault it. it's not small and dodgy but its not huge and commercial. it's big enough to have good facilities and a lot of people in there. i would recommend this place for any traveler, alone or in a group. — Jacqui , Australia (2007-06-18) I was not impressed when I stayed here in August 2006. The bar was ok but not for the people sleeping in the rooms above it. Be warned -- try to stay away from room 15/16 -- the one with fourteen or so beds. Very noisy, even with earplugs. I was not impressed with the showers and bathroom. You can't check out or shower before 8 a.m. because the door to the bar is locked and you have to go through the bar to get to the showers and the reception desk. — Inky (2006-09-29) Back packed through Europe with my friend Zach. Stayed at many hostels throughout. We came here not knowing what to expect. Both of us ended up having an absolute blast here! Meeting new people and drinking way too much beer. My only complaint is of course the bathrooms were not the best. Also cold water for showers was definitely a wake up call. But all minor to the overall experience. — Christopher Peters (2006-06-12) oh my god i had so much fun here. the staff is great and the cheap beer is awsome, teh only thing is you ahve to clean up after yourself right away or the cleaning ladies will yell at you in flemish. — jenna (2006-01-13) I'm impartial to the Snuffel, it was neither great nor bad. When I was there it seemed as if the entire hostel was empty. There was only one other person beside myself in a six-person room, and most of the other rooms seemed to be as empty. But those that I met there were very cool people. There are some flaws with the hostel, such as one has to go through the bar and across the courtyard to get to the showers, the pull chain showers and the fact that sheets cost extra. But if you're looking for a cheap place to sleep, these things shouldn't be a problem. — TU Dave (2005-02-28) This place is dirty, shabby, and you have to go through the bar and cross a backyard in order to get to the showers. There was a dog pissing inside the loo when we were there in October. I don't believe it has changed since then. It was awful — the worst hostel we visited!!! — Anonymous (2005-02-05) I stayed one night in this hostel in October 2004 and it's easy to find the hostel. The room was clean. But the toilet and shower weren't so clean. In our room with six beds we couldn't lock the door, so the others opening and closing our door up to three times when all of us were sleeping disturbed us. — Ellen (2005-01-27) I guess you get what you pay for. This place was one of the worst places I stayed at when I traveled across Europe. You can do better, although it was cheap — one of the cheapest. The bar isn't that hot but it might be what you're after. I remember it was very smoky. If you can handle smoke and crappy showers then you could save a few bucks by staying here. — Anonymous (2005-01-25) The bathroom facilities left much to be desired. Don't plan on a nice warm shower here, apparently they use a temperature gauge from the Middle Ages: cold hot cold hot! It is SO annoying. But the bar's not bad, they have many board games and a good library, and also a kitchen, which is a must in such a pricey town. Recommended. — Shackleton (2005-01-16) This is one of the best places I've ever been. The city is lovely, as well as the hostel itself. It is built inside a stone building, with maze-like stairs connecting the base and the first floor. The receptionists and people working in the bar are pretty cool. The bar itself has more than 20 different types of Belgian beer. The accommodation is really cheap, 11 euros for a twelve-bed room, 12 euros for a six-bed room. The rooms are clean and big. The only problem is with the showers. You have to hold down a handle, which tries to let go, and makes some stupid noise. The kitchen is rather small, but it's useful with all the fancy and expensive restaurants around. You can also rent bikes for 5 euros a day from this place. This hostel is as lovely as the small medieval town of Bruges itself. — ömer (2004-10-13) I loved this hostel. The staff were really friendly and helpful. We had a free walking tour included in the cheap price. The showers were a bit dirty by late morning but everything else made up for it. — Liz (2004-09-12) I just stayed at the Snuffel- it was woooonnnddderful! I loved it, and so did all my travel mates! Everything is clean, everything is very social, and happy hour is wonderful. I am willing to say that during my trip (I'm still doing it) the Snuffel has been quite possibly the best place we stayed at. We loved it...STAY THERE! You won't regret it! — Zack (2004-06-12) My fiancé and I loved this hostel! We stayed here one night in the 6 bed room, and then after having a dirty time in Amsterdam, we elected to come back to Snuffel and Spend a night in the 4 bed "blue room" (if you can, get that room since it has its own shower). The staff were excellent, cool guys who run the whole show, and are chill to shoot the BS with while drinking all those high alcohol content beers. Do the walking tour, it's a good time and you get to see the parts of Bruges that normally you wouldn't know about like the windmills and the archery teams. Don't forget to roll down the big hill by the windmill! I was the only one to do it, but it was sweet. Bruges is amazingly clean and so is Snuffel. Plus their happy hour is an awesome deal (1 euro mugs) and the Snuffel beer is by far the best beer I've ever had, and take it from me (a man who enjoys his brew), that you won't be disappointed with Snuffel Beer or the Hostel. Cheers! — Brett and Olivia (2004-06-04)