Mania

May 26, 2019

Would not recommend

I reserved a bed in a female-only dorm at the Urban hostel in Copenhagen through Hostelworld. When I got there I was informed that no female-only beds were available and that I would have to share a mixed-gender dorm. This made me feel unsafe, which I expressed to the receptionist but was told there was nothing they could do. I asked for a refund but was told they could not give me refund then and someone would be in touch the day after. This didn't happen. Almost a week after I had to get in touch with them and chase the hostel several times until I received a full refund several weeks after. At the time (this was late on a Friday during the holidays) every hostel in the city was booked so I had to book a hotel and paid last minute, which of course far more expensive. When I contacted the hostel and Hostelworld later about the situation, I was simply told that hostels sometimes overbook and this can happen. I don't recommend this hostel. And I don't recommend booking through Hostelworld. I would like to take this chance to express again how scared I felt at the prospect of sleeping in a mixed dorm, which led me to pay more for a single room, more than twice the price of this hostel and what I had budgeted for, though it was the cheapest room I could find at the time. In the future, I would ask you to endeavour not to put another woman through the pain I experienced at your hostel by ensuring women are not forced to share with men against their wishes. If I did not have the means and the opportunity to book a hotel room at late notice I would have found such an experience anxiety-inducing, upsetting and not at all restful.