St Christophers Bauhaus

The Bauhaus Hostel in Bruges is relatively clean, up-kept, and in an excellent location. But it may not be the best choice, depending on what you're looking for.

The Bauhaus is a large hostel with a bar. Or perhaps it should more accurately be called a bar that also happens to have hostel rooms upstairs. The bar is very much the focal point of the place, and it's where you check in (which may take a while since the receptionist is also the bartender, so you may have to wait to check in while people in the bar order their drinks). Unfortunately there is absolutely no common space anywhere in the hostel (not even a kitchen) except for the bar, which is often smoky and crowded with locals since it's open to the general public. And outside food isn't allowed in the bar area since they want you to buy the food they serve there (which is good but overpriced). But having said that, the bar can be a fun place to hang out and it may be a good place to meet people on most nights.

There are a fair number of restaurants and cafes nearby. The bar serves a simple breakfast in the mornings – which includes various breads, hard-boiled eggs, and tea, coffee, chocolate, and various juices. You need to request and pay for breakfast when you check-in (sometimes you are charged automatically, so make sure you pay for it only if you want it). Other meals range from around €8 – 12. The bar is also where luggage storage is – in the closed part of the bar until individual rooms are cleaned and ready. When rooms are ready, there is no lockout, so if it's raining all day, there is somewhere to take shelter.

There are no lockers in the rooms, but the rooms have locks. Unfortunately there is only one key per room, so whenever you want to get into your room you need to ask for the key at the bar (which can take a while if the bar is busy). If one of your roommates has the key and they happen to be in the shower or they wandered off, you may find yourself locked out for a while.

The rooms are clean and up-kept. Beds are comfortable and clean. Bathrooms are down the hall, while the showers may be on a different floor than your room. The rooms are great except for a few small drawbacks. First, there is quite a lot of traffic noise from the busy street below from early in the morning until late at night if the room faces the street. Secondly, also in terms of noise, the walls between the rooms are somewhat thin, meaning neighbour-noise is to be somewhat expected. Finally, the showers are those where the button has to constantly be pressed again and again to get water, and it does sometimes take awhile to get any warm water.

Location is a big bonus of this hostel. From the hostel, it is only about 10 to 15 minutes to the Markt or Burg Squares, where most of the tourist attractions are located. It is further from the train station, but easy to catch the bus from the train station either to Markt Square, or down the street of the hostel. To get back to the train station, it's simply a matter of waiting just down the street from the hostel for the bus that takes you directly there. Altogether, this is a great hostel that offers somewhere clean, comfortable, and reasonably quiet to relax before more exploring the next day.

-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review