Baltic Hostel, Gdańsk

UNSAFE, WAS ATTACKED

DO NOT STAY HERE, IT IS UNSAFE!!!!!A group of 4 of us stayed a few nights ago at the Baltic Hostel it was the stuff of nightmares. When asleep a man broke down our glass door and had to be dragged off me by the police. Blood was everywhere and my phone got trodden on. But all the hostel has to say was they arent responsible for peoples actions. But how can someone be able to repeatedly ram a door and break the glass a room which was opposite a reception we were told was manned 24 hours a day. We are all very shaken and upset we did not get any money for compensation and were told it was a hostel for the lower end of society not travelers. WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE. Apart from this hostel Gdansk itself was lovely and I would well recommend it but staying in another hotel more in the city centre!!!!

The worst ever

Never in all my years of traveling I had been to such a bad place like baltic hostel. The history is almost unbelievable. It can't be considered a hostel, but just a fraud, I'm sorry to say. First, you can't see the building from the train station, as is advertised. Actually, it's quite hidden and very difficult to find (even though it's not far). Therefore we're already facing a fraud. Second, they don't keep record of online reservations, so you can very well (depending on the receptionists mood) lose the money you advanced and, what is worst, you can find that there's no bed for you! Third, there are no lockers, contrary -- again -- to what is advertised. Fourth, it's a very smoky place, smoking is allowed everywhere except in the rooms, but the doors to these are almost always open, so it's practically a 100% smoking place. Fifth, you can't pay with credit cards. Sixth, there's no Wi-Fi, and only one computer, to which there is always somebody plucked. Seventh, the manager of the place, who makes the night shift, brings there his friends and drink and talk and smoke and party all night long. Really noisy place. Eight, here comes the story -- the girl that "cleans" gets into the room at 8 in the morning, leaves the door open and starts making noise, so I can't sleep anymore. Then, upon waking up, I was told to change rooms (despite having my reservation for two nights) because "there was a family coming" to my dorm. Well, I go to the toiled and when I return, about half past eight (way before check out time), I find that my things had been removed by the staff, I didn't have a bed anymore, and the family had got into the dorm! I was literally kicked out of the dorm, and only some minutes later was locked! I had to ask them to unlock it for me to pick up my things and leave. Unbelievable. Ninth, there wasn't any hot water left in the showers, once more contrary to what they advertise. Tenth, on complaining to the manager he stares at me cynically saying "it's normal, this is a hostel." In short, don't even think of staying here. If you're in a budget, believe me, you'll sleep much better on a bench in the park.

Not really a hostel.

I had booked a six-bed room for a my group of six friends. Upon arrival, they split us up in three different rooms with other people. The receptionist lady was neither friendly nor helpful. We took our fate and after one night, we could be in a room together. The rooms themselves are quite nice, the whole hostel is renovated. But still, there were a lot of things we didn't like -- Many rooms are walk-through rooms, some with windows to the hallway so you see light the whole night. There were some very strange people, not many young backpackers like you would expect in a hostel. The owner had his first beer for breakfast. The rooms were so crowded, you didn't know where to step. There is one bathroom, shared, with two showers, sometimes only cold water. In general, it was quite clean. What disturbed me most was that there were no keys at all. Every stranger could walk right through the front door into your room. Coming from a camping trip, we had lots of valuable things and there were no lockers like it is said in the description. We could give our passports and mobiles to the receptionist, but what about our camping equipment worth several hundred Euros? Also, you have to pay in cash and don't expect any change! There is no real reception. So, you can have a good time there, but be prepared to feel unsafe and to get very cozy with some strangers.

Hostel raised prices after booking. Unacceptable.

The hostel isn't worth it at all. Room was clean and ok. Breakfast modest (bread, jam, eggs, tea). Location: a bit far from the center, just next to railway station though so can't complain if you are arriving/leaving by train. Stairway/common facilities: smelled heavily like mould, shabby, unisex showers/toilets, you can't lock the shower, awful bed where you can feel the springs pushing against your back while trying to sleep... All in all, you can find much better with that money (especially hostels that play it fair).

We would never have found Baltic Hostel without the friendly assistance of people on the street. The owner's directions are horrible! We walked around with our heavy backpack for more than one hour on a sweltering hot day, asking directions from people who sort of knew where the hostel was. Finally, one man, without me having asked him, led me right to the crosswalk and showed me the path. According to the directions on the website, you should stand in the train station and look for a red brick building on a hill. The only problem with that is that all the buildings in the neighborhood are red brick, and there is no hill. In fact, the hostel is sitting in a hole, and you can't see it from the train station. Everyone we talked to at the hostel had the same problems finding it. Even the taxi drivers refuse to try finding it!

The Baltic hostel is a very noisy and crowded hostel. Just when we thought our dark and gloomy six-bed dorm couldn't get any more crowded, they brought in another cot and put it in the middle of the room. From our upper bunk, we risked jumping down onto a stranger's face! Also, there seem to be a lot of partiers here, including a group of seventy-five students from Spain during our stay. People were constantly coming and going to and from our room all night long. The extra creaky bedroom door doesn't help either (it kept us awake three nights in a row).

Luckily, on our last night we got somewhat of a reprieve from the crowds and snoring roommates. When we took our blanket and pillow out to the sofa in the common area, we found the owner still awake and watching TV. After explaining the situation to him, he led us to an empty six-bed dorm. After three sleepless night, it was heaven! We woke up to soft sunlight streaming in through the gauzy curtains. If morning sun is important to you, try to get a room facing the street.

There seem to be only two toilets and two shower stalls for what could be as many as 100 or so guests, and the bathrooms are always full. There's always a line to use the shower, but the toilets are usually readily accessible. Considering the amount of traffic through the place, it's remarkably clean. Not immaculate by any stretch of the imagination, but really acceptable.

The dining room and lounge is comfortable and has lots of large windows. The breakfast, which is included, consists of coffee and tea, toasted bread, and eggs that were somewhere between hard and soft boiled. There doesn't seem to be any limit to the amount you can eat, and coffee and tea are available twenty-four hours. There is one computer for free internet, but it isn't always working.

The owner/manager always seems to go out of his way to be helpful -- even lent us an iron for our clothes. The electrical sockets in the room turned out to be dead, but another guest used the iron a few days later in the dining room with no problems.

In spite of the drawbacks, we would probably give this place another shot, just because it's such a friendly place. The management is very accommodating, and it's easy to meet the other guests. Just don't plan on getting a lot of sleep.

The positive things were clean room, bed sheets, and towels; free food (in the fridge, pizza at late night, bread, nice breakfast 'till 11 a.m.); nice people working in a good mood; location (close to the station and ten minutes to the center, walking); free maps of the city with interest points; last but not least the price. The negative things were difficult to find (but locals helped); very small toilets; only two showers (we were there with twenty more people!), that was the reason why we didn't gave four stars; the kitchen is composed of a microwave, a sink, a fridge, and a egg boiler. This hostel is perfect for you if you have an open mind and don't judge the building by the main door (literally).

We stayed three nights here in June 2006. Good things about this hostel are the nice rooms, free coffee and tea, hot showers, free internet (when you can get a spot on the only computer). Average things are that the location was not bad, just outside the old town, the price was also reasonable. Bad things are the immense amounts of smoke in the common room beginning early in the morning and without stopping until past midnight, the owner/manager always sitting around watching every little thing you do and arbitrarily creating rules, little or no space to cook, and the bathrooms were not clean and had no soap or towels. Overall, we felt uncomfortable and did not enjoy our stay.

I stayed here in January and I'm pretty sure that this hostel is basically brand new. The location is good it's on the other side of the tracks from the old town, but it only takes maybe 10 minutes to walk there. Everything in the hostel is clean and new. However, when I was there only one shower was working (which wasn't a problem because my friend and I were the only two people staying there). The "kitchen" consists of a sink, a fridge, kettle, coffee maker and an egg boiler machine. No hotplate or stove. The main common room is big and nice. The man who ran the place was nice, but we only saw him twice the rest of the time we were left alone in the hostel. The only downside to this hostel is the building it's in. the entry area and staircase you walk up to get to the hostel is disgusting it has a terrible smell of 40 year old cat pee and who knows what else. No exaggeration. Getting into the hostel became an exercise in holding my breath. But once in the hostel there are no bad smells at all. So if you can handle holding your breath for 30 seconds then this would be a good place to stay.