Pegasus Hostel

Good but could have been better
Had it not been for the situation with the bedbugs in the hostel, this place would likely have gotten a solid four stars from me. The problem is, the first night I was there, I had two bedbugs crawl across the book I was reading, but thought nothing of it. The next night, I awoke in the mid-early morning again, and found a whole heap in my bed. I went down to report this to the people on duty, who promised they would make a note of my complaint, and sent me off upstairs with clean sheets. Later that night, I killed a fully grown adult in my bed, and took it downstairs to prove that I wasn't imagining things, there really were bedbugs in my bed. The guy on duty looked at it and asked me in a slightly rude tone what I expected him to do with this bug, to which I replied, nothing, I just wanted you to know that I wasn't making this up. Next morning, I go down to follow up, and there is a sense that my complaint hasn't been noted. I make it again, and get asked repeatedly if I'm sure, and if I have any bites. I reply that I do not, but that my sheets are filled with blood stains from dead bugs. They then inform me they've never had a problem with my particular room. I go to the trash and manage to find the adult I'd killed earlier that morning, and show it to the staff member dealing with me. She swears, calls her supervisor. But they do nothing. They promise me they will change the mattress, but I don't think this happened. That night, the same story -- tons and tons of bugs, to the point where I don't sleep because they're crawling all over me and on my pillow. Made my complaints known again, this time they apparently inspected the room and moved us to the other side of the room. They continue to tell me that they've received no complaints about bugs in this room, and I tried to point out that I probably would never have known had they not woken me up by crawling on me. They also gave me tokens to wash my clothes. The next night, the bugs have followed me across the room. They come by again, and tell me that they've never had this problem, they can't move us because we'll spread the bugs, and basically accuse me of having brought them (um, no, after a week of being in Europe with no bites, how do I suddenly start getting bedbugs?). They ask me to wash my clothes, so we begin to do this. The man who came up said repeatedly that they'd checked everything and found no bugs -- all I could do at this point was reiterate that I had been killing them. I even pointed out a dead bug on the sheets of the girls in the next bunk, in whose bed I had seen several bugs crawling the night before, and had in fact killed some as they slept to prevent them from crawling to me. I showed him dead bugs that were intact at the foot of my bed, as well as the two I'd smashed on the wall, but he said they needed to see live ones. Then they show up with an exterminator, and luckily I found a live one crawling on my bed a few minutes later. That's when things kicked into high gear. They moved us out of our room and into a new one on the third floor, and were fumigating our old room. They gave me insect spray, as many laundry tokens as I needed to do all my and my brothers clothes, and told us that breakfast would be on them from there on out (we never took advantage of this, but just as a note, it is not free, it's 5.90 euros). So here I am, days later, covered in over a hundred bedbug bites because I had a delayed reaction to their poison. I understand where they were coming from, but if they had taken me seriously the first night I made my complaint and proved to them that there were bugs in the room, I feel like I would have been far less affected. Once they recognized the extent of the problem, they were really helpful, but it cost me three nights of sleep and a lot of stress and discomfort. Other than the bedbug incident, this is a nice enough hostel. Free internet, a kitchen, a cheap and tasty pasta/pizza place attached, and just down the street from the metro, which connects to the reasonably central Alexanderplatz. One non-related to bedbugs complaint is that people were very unfriendly -- nobody made the slightest effort to get to know us/talk/respond to greetings. Many seemed to be in groups. Would I stay here again? Maybe.

Good hostel!
I stayed here with my friends at the fifa world cup 2006. It is free from unpleasant surprises and it is walking distance to two big subway stations, friendly staff. They also have a yard with barbecue. I do recommend it!

I stayed here about 5 years ago and thought it was a great hostel. I booked over the phone which was easy and the staff spoke excellent English. The room was clean and the communual showers were too and had plenty of hot water. The staff were friendly and helpful. It wasn't a party hostel, which suited me as it was quiet. I recommend it.

I arrived in Berlin by train at Ostbahnhof with no reservations for anything. So I was happy to be able to check-in at the Pegasus just half an hour later. (It's very close to Ostbahnhof.) It's an ok hostel, clean and organized. Still, I decided to move to another as soon as possible, mainly because of the large scale of Pegasus, and the huge number of youngsters/adolescents in the hostel. (I'm 29 years old.) Apart from all that, Pegasus is just quite fine. The staff are very nice and friendly, and at the 24-hour reception you can buy beer 24 hours a day. Just make sure you don't make too much noise in the courtyard at night.

I was there last summer, and it's really a good place to stay. It has friendly staff, tidy rooms, a nice restaurant and open-air garden/terrace. It's close to the public transportation system. The downside is it's not really close to the traditional party places, but if you want to avoid crowded tourist areas and meet real Berliners, it's the place to be! Recommended.

Wow...this brings back the memories. I stayed here almost six years ago in 1999. From the pictures it has changed, but not too much. Do they still have a narrow, dank bar that you have to squeeze into? As I recall, most patrons were prototypical, nouveau hippies. They smoked a lot of herb, and said "dude" a lot, but they were nice. If memory serves me though, the location bites. Things might have changed since '99, but I remember wandering one night for hours just to find a bite to eat.

This was my favourite hostel on my trip around Europe. It was pretty cheap, the beds were really comfortable and the showers were great. I stayed in a ten-bedroom dorm, and there was a CD player/radio in the room! We even received a free drink from the bar when we arrived. The hostel is located in the former East Berlin, and is very close to Ostbahnhof (which, incidentally, has very cheap restaurants and supermarkets!).

A very nice hostel. The rooms are clean and the beds are very comfy. The restaurant serves great food. The kitchen is okay. It's a bit on the small side, and some people leave a lot of dirty dishes around. It's got a very international feel. As an American, I was glad to be in a place with many people from other countries.

This hostel is one of the best in Berlin and I should know. I have been to this hostel very often. The hostel is clean and the atmosphere is more like a hotel than a hostel. It is quiet (no noisy backpackers drinking booze and playing loud music) and has a very good restaurant (only the breakfast is now a bit expensive, but very good). The location is good. It is within walking distance to Ostbahnhof station (all the S-bahns stop there too) and crawling distance to U5 (U-bahn to Alexanderplatz). Maybe the only problem with this hostel is that all the nightlife is not very nearby (Simon Dach strasse is 15 minutes walk, but for Oranienburgerstrasse you have to take the S-bahn or U-bahn). Apart from that, it is a perfect place to stay.

I stayed here two years ago, and I enjoyed it. We left some books behind, and the staff worked with us to get the books sent back to us in Texas. They were very friendly and helpful.

Very good hostel. Best I have stayed in!