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Please see Prague for other available Prague hostels and accommodations.
The Hostelz.com Review
The Hostel U Melounu (Watermelon, in Czech) is an attractive, well maintained hostel on a quiet side street well away from the hustle and bustle of the city center and old town square. That said, this is Prague, and the brilliance and vibrance of its nightlife should be near the top of your sightseeing list. So the location is not ideal if you like to walk everywhere (about an hour to the castle, about 20 minutes to the old town square). It is in a non-touristy area of Prague, where funny local pizzeria discos and cheap beer abound. And the IP Pavlova metro station is about a 10 minute walk away, so it is very easy to hop on the metro and be anywhere in the city in a matter of minutes.
Despite its sleepy location, the hostel itself is very nice, very clean, and has the best showers we have ever experienced in a hostel. Add in the free breakfast (coffee, cereal, and bread), 24 hour reception, no curfew, no key deposit, a cute little kitchenette, huge lockers (100 Kc deposit), laundry facilities, and a high speed internet connection (2 Kc per minute), and you have a heck of a good hostel. The highlight is a lovely courtyard complete with BBQ grill and tables that fills the center grounds.
Our only complaints are the location and the fact that the beds aren't very comfortable. Other than that, this hostel is great.
Despite its sleepy location, the hostel itself is very nice, very clean, and has the best showers we have ever experienced in a hostel. Add in the free breakfast (coffee, cereal, and bread), 24 hour reception, no curfew, no key deposit, a cute little kitchenette, huge lockers (100 Kc deposit), laundry facilities, and a high speed internet connection (2 Kc per minute), and you have a heck of a good hostel. The highlight is a lovely courtyard complete with BBQ grill and tables that fills the center grounds.
Our only complaints are the location and the fact that the beds aren't very comfortable. Other than that, this hostel is great.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
November 2004
Their Description
Hostel U Melounu Details
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Map
Location/Contact| Address | Ke Karlovu 7/457, Prague (Prague 2), Czech Republic |
| Location | |
| Website | www.hostelumelounu.cz |
| Telephone | +420 224 919 330 |
| Fax | +420 224 918 322 |
How is Hostel U Melounu rated on other websites?
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Hostelz.com Guest Reviews
Not as expected Well, i also got the room that looks like it must have been a single, but they put an extra bed in it. It is the smallest room I have ever stayed in in Europe. There was no place to put your bag but on the bed. I reserved an apartment with a private bath but I got this awful room and had to share the bath with the other "apartment." It was the smallest bathroom I have ever seen. The sink was in the shower stall! Plus, when I checked out -- early, because I could get a real hotel room for the same money -- they charged me more than my original price! And, my bed was against the wall next to the laundry, so I could hear the washer and dryer all night long. Terrible, no sleep. The breakfast was good and the staff were friendly. I like the location very much -- it is a quiet part of Prague. I left because I found a hotel in the same district that was the same price but I got all the amenities of a hotel. — Yoga traveller , USA (2009-07-15) Meh, alright. i stayed here in march. the hostel has good size rooms, clean bathrooms/showers, no common area, and a small kitchen, but prague is cheap, so eat out. the back garden looks like it would be great in the summer. breakfast is included and is nothing special. a good walk from the city centre, but manageable. not much character. — Kathy , Canada (2008-06-12) Very unfriendly staff I will try to be objective -- the facilities were great, clean, good breakfast. Unfortunately I had an emergency back home and they needed to reach me on the phone urgently, so I gave the hostel's number. The night shift receptionist started to make noises and to mumble in his language making me understand he was very annoyed by me talking on the phone. I asked him if I was bothering him, he said nothing. I would have gladly stop talking on the phone if he would have told me i was bothering him or something. He was not helpful and maybe I was asking him too many questions, but it was an emergency. The women in the hostel, like Monica, were friendly, I was just unlucky that I got the mean guy while I had a bad time. Still it ruined my experience in the hostel. — Luisa , Chile (2008-03-06) Excellent Hostel -- very clean, very helpful, sincere, and honest staff, reception staff speak English which is very helpful. we stayed there for a week and found it very good -- also the proximity to the underground train station and also the tram and bus stops linking most of the city helped. The main city-sights are all not very far off if one prefers to walk about half hourexcept the Hradchany castle and the Vyserhad for which one can travel by public transport. The hostel offers very good breakfast; and the toilets, bathrooms, and kitchenette are clean and well maintained plus the additional facilities of free internet and (paid) washing mashine and ironing etc. An added advantage is the garden with tables and chairs to relax and TV in the breakfast room whole day. on the whole -- very good value for money. — Uday Rao (2006-07-28) This hostel wasnt so bad. My only complaint is its location. There is no real bars or nightlife that is really close. It will take about 7 minutes to the nearest bar which is a hole in the wall but has cheap beer. There wasnt really a lounge again making it less social. The room itself wasnt too bad at all albeit a little small. The breakfest was ok but not much to it. There was internet but it was slow at the time. I would say that if you want a more quiet hostel, it is perfect otherwise look for something more center. — Scott (2006-01-30) I think this hostel may have the potential for a better rating, but I just didn't have a great experience here. My number one problem: I reserved a private double, expecting it to be like the one pictured on their Web site (with lots of space and even a table in the room). NOPE. The two beds had about an inch of space between them and there was, literally, about three square feet of floor space and a small cabinet in the corner. It was usually a struggle to get the door open just because there wasn't enough space for two people to put their things. I asked for some kind of a discount, referring to the picture on the brochure that they even had copies of at the front desk, to two different receptionists and they both turned me down, in very broken English. My guess is that they just put another bed into a room meant to be a single, and hoped we wouldn't notice. When the room was reserved, a specific room number was assigned. I happened to peek into that room and it would have been nice, but I guess they just thought it was okay to screw over a pair of young travelers.
Also, it's not that central. And the Metro isn't far, but it's still a multiple minute walk. Also, it's in a pretty quiet and dark area so walking there at night could be a bit scary. The building itself is pretty old and it's not the big white one they have a picture of on their Web site, it's across the street from that. The paint is peeling off, the door handles need replacement and it's just overall dirty. The garden is okay but I didn't spend any time in it.
The breakfast is there and free, which is good, but don't expect much more than bread and jam. They also have a tiny breakfast room so if you catch a rush (of about 10 people) you may have to stand. There is one Internet computer and they charge by the minute, which ends up being a lot higher than ALL of the Internet cafes I saw in town. BOTTOM LINE: there are a lot of hostels in Prague to choose from — I won't be coming back to this one ever again.
Reply from the owner: We would like to react on Filip's comment.
* About twin rooms: Yes this twin room is very small but it s the only one so small in our hostel. Other rooms are larger. We have 3 types of rooms: room with own bathroom, room in apartment and room with common bathroom. Filip had reserved room in apartment but for that period wasn t any other available. The picture here on www.hostelz.com is from a room with its own bathroom.
* About the discount: This isn't correct information. If he would have said at the reception he isn't happy with the room he would get a discount!
* About the location: It's not true. It takes 15 minutes to walk to get to city center, it is only 7 minutes to walk to underground.
* About the neighbourhood: Some guests like the way from the underground with historical buildings and historical Pragues street lights, neighbourhood is preserved under UNESCO. In this area there are all historical buildings, the picture of our building is correct on our website! We dont know about which building he is talking about.
* About the cleanliness: This all is not true, all rooms are clean. We are cleaning our rooms every day!
* About breakfast: It is not true, about our breakfast please see this page: www.hostelumelounu.cz/ceny_eng.html, breakfast is more that the continental breakfast. In our breakfast room there are 15 seats and the breakfast is served from 08:00 till 11:00, but nobody has to eat breakfast without the seat, they just have to wait about 2 - 5 minutes.
* About internet access: We charge 2 CZK per 1 minute, we are not internet cafe, we offer free internet 30 minutes to every guest which make the booking directly through us.
Filips phrases are to strong and incorrect, we are sorry that he wrote this about us. Most of the guests are satisfied. Also we want to invite everybody to our hostel, then you will see what is the true. We are looking forward your visit, reception Hostel U Melounu. — Filip (2005-01-10) This was a clean and quiet place to relax. I think maybe it is better suited for summer or warmer weather months (it is a bit of a walk to a Metro stop and definitely a long walk to bars or the old town). It was also pretty empty (solo travelers looking to meet someone should opt for a hostel closer to the center, as there is no central meeting room). But this would be a nice option for a couple or group of three who want a cheap, clean hotel. — Seattle (2004-12-17) The location here is not great. We spent a good deal of time exploring Old Town in the rain and once we were wet and cold we wanted to go back and change, but the hostel was out of the way. The hostel itself, however, was clean and nice, if a little cold. We had a huge room with an excellent shower. The staff were very friendly and helpful. Security in our first-floor room was not great. The windows didn't lock, which we were a little wary about. As girls, we really didn't want to be on ground level. Overall, it was a good hostel. — Anonymous (2004-11-13) The best hostel we stayed in. The courtyard is a really nice touch and there is the cutest dog that just hangs out there--a fantastic laid back feeling, you almost forget that you are in the middle of a city. It's about a 15 minute walk to the old town. Everyone was really helpful and they will even give you a wake-up call (literally they come and shake you awake) even if it is at the ungodly hour of 4:15 in the morning. Highly recommended! — TB (2004-08-16) This hostel exceeded our expectations. It was on a nice, quiet street and was within a fifteen-minute walk to the Old Town Square (a very central location) and about a three-minute walk to the nearest metro station. The quiet street was especially satisfying because many of the other hostels we saw were on loud, traffic-y streets. The staff were all very friendly, English-speaking and helpful and the breakfast was beyond the typical pastries and coffee. The garden was a nice feature. Definitely worth returning to. — Anonymous (2004-06-21) I stayed here for just one night in mid-June. The rooms are on the ground, so I was just a bit worried about the insects from the garden. It has nice staff and is pretty clean, though. — Dami (2004-06-16) Very good, breakfast in the garden, amazing. Rooms are clean and comfortable, walking distance to the city center. I'll be back. — Anonymous (2003-01-24) I really loved this place -- it's sort of on the borderline between hostel and cheap hotel, with a beautiful courtyard, helpful staff, and very clean (and private!) bathrooms. It's a fairly sedate place, so if you're looking for a party hostel you should probably look elsewhere, but if you're looking for someplace clean and quiet, I recommend it highly. A little more expensive than some of the other places I stayed in the Czech Republic, but worth it. — nlc (2002-12-31)