HI - Menton Hostel

Warning! This hostel is contaminated with bugs! Stopped counting at hundred bites. Now I have great problems not to bring them home!

Some things never change — I biked through Europe in 1964 (41 years ago), and at that time the Menton Hostel was just opening for business. I remember two things: (1) the vista of the Mediterranean Sea out the southern windows was beyond description, and (2) the place locked up tighter than a drum at 10 p.m. We spent one night in the campground next door while our luggage stayed in the hostel. Bummer!

The point is they don't advertise the curfew when you are booking. Maybe it has changed inside the hostel since last summer when they enforced it in a draconian manner, often resorting to threats of violence. The place is hardly ever open! The staff are very rude and this is a 21st century IYHF hostel, which should be able to cater for mixed sex groups without turning it into an authoritarian nunnery. I would never stay here again if I were paid to.

I found this to be a very nice hostel with friendly staff. The curfew is advertised if you take the time to read the signs beside reception, on the front door and on the front gate. When talking about the segregation of male and females you have to consider other people's cultures — people around this region are Catholic!!!

We stayed here in July and the only good things about the hostel were that it was cheap and has a free breakfast. It was pretty dirty, and there was no hot water in the showers. It was also very difficult to find. It's on top of a hill with lots of stairs leading down to the town. The curfew was very strict. We had to take a cab from the Italian border station, which cost us twice as much as the room, just to make it in time for curfew. The manager refused the receptionist's request to keep the hostel open another ten minutes. We made it and avoided sleeping in the train station. We don't recommend this hostel unless you are really tight on money!!!

Menton is a lovely town, probably the nicest town in the South of France. However this youth hostel is the worst hostel I stayed in on my trip around Europe. Considering that I booked this in March and we were a mixed group and I had requested we be put in the same room (only 1 girl), I would have expected this to have been sorted out. When we checked in they told us they had to change the room plan for no reason and the woman got very worked up over it but eventually backed down after being pretty rude. I'ts very "prison like" with clearly labelled seperate areas and even seperate staircases for males and females to the same floor! The worst bit, however, came on the 2nd night. We had been out in Menton for a meal and drinks and came back at 12:45 at night. There are no signs in the hostel mentioning a curfew nor on the IYHF (International Youth Hostel Federation) website, and only when I looked on here after my stay did I discover this. So when we returned 45 mins after the curfew we banged on the main gate to try and get the attention of the staff. One man walked out with keys shouting that it was closed and then threatened me with CS gas when I asked him to open the gate and got very aggressive. Maybe it's me, but I don't think hostellers should be threatened with a law enforcement weapon when breaking a curfew which wasn't publicized. Also, it is up a massive hill with 3 buses a day, which is a massive pain. I have complained to the IYHF about this place and I advise everyone to avoid it, as the staff are rude and aggressive and generally incompetent.