Hostel Lika

Like being back with your family
The two hosts are also the owners and I've never met better owners in my travels and I've traveled a lot! Though I can't give five stars 'cause of lack of kitchen, it deserves more because of Marco's interest and especially because of all the beers we had! He invited us back and back we will be, hopefully soon!

Bad
I spend two nights in Hostel Lika, and the owners really made me feel uncomfortable when they were around. they seem to be a bit paranoid about people getting in touch with their staff, cause every time i started a conversation with one of them suddenly the lady of the house showed up to talk about something "important." the lobby is stuffed with the most horrible nationalist croatian thrash, and the drinks you get (tea, coffee, and beer) are of poorest quality at a high price -- you get decent coffee at the center of zagreb for the same price. it's a very boring neighborhood close to the motorway, the beds are uncomfortable as hell, and the rooms quite ugly.

I have stayed in hostels in other countries with perhaps a similar reputation of dishonesty (Brazil for example), and I found this to be a terrible excuse for a hostel. Cramped rooms, uncomfortable and noisy beds, unaccommodating and downright rude staff (one of which, the owner's 'boyfriend', reduced one of our travel companions to tears), no lockers, and a seedy crowd hanging about in the courtyard. This really felt like someone's house just stuffed with beds rather than a hostel. It's too bad because Zagreb is such a beautiful city otherwise. Go to Zagreb but stay elsewhere.

Reviews from many sites suggest positive experiences with staff and so perhaps my group simply caught them on an off-day, but our experience was overwhelmingly negative -- needless inflexibility in room allocation (despite what seemed to be prior agreement) followed by unnecessarily aggressive confrontation by two of the proprietors who seemed inclined to argue and bully long after we had accepted their request. Other reviews suggest that this is not a chronic problem (though I would be wary) but other problems, while less serious, seem more ingrained in this hostel -- crowded rooms; noisy and rickety bunk beds with thin, uncomfortable mattresses; extremely late breakfast time not conducive to early-morning travelers; and no functional lockers in many rooms. These would cause me to think twice even if the staff had behaved better. I wish them luck with their endeavour but there are many problems to be solved.

This is a great hostel! Ilana and Marco make you feel like a guest in their home. This place is very clean and has comfortable beds. The only reason that I didn't give them five stars is because they don't have internet use as of yet and they aren't in the center of town. They are however in a quiet residential neighborhood and are only five to ten minutes away from the train station by tram. I would definitely recomend this place to anyone including my best of friends!