This place was horrid. After having a wonderful hostel stay in Dublin, I really experienced the best of the best then the worst of the worst here in Belfast.
I stayed in a ten person bunk bed room with only two other people (so I thought).The sheets were cleaned but had some light stains on them. There were also dead bugs underneath the bunk bed. I could deal with that. I knew staying at a hostel wouldn't be a 5-star experience. I was prepared to deal with disgusting things, people's hair clogging up the drains, and so on. I'm traveling on a budget... I can make due. However, what I experienced here pushed me way too far past my limits.
I went to bed very early since I had a trip planned to the Giant's Causeway the next day. I put in my ear plugs and went to sleep. Little did I know, I would be woken up four times during the night because for some reason, this place lets you check in at ANY point in the day or night. So every two hours, some random person would slam open the door talking loudly, turn on the light, drop their suitcase in the middle of the room and start going through everything. One of them had a drink in their hand and dropped it on the floor, spilling all over my suitcase.
The wi-fi didn't work the entire time I was there. I kept asking them if they could try to restart the router and the lady working there said she would do it but then conclude that the internet "broke." I even offered to help her because I am proficient in computers but she insisted I did not go behind the counters whatsoever. So, I had to go to the McDonalds or Belfast Coffee for wi-fi, which isn't really safe to walk to at night with twelve year olds dressed as hookers roaming the streets screaming at the elderly.
The only thing I liked about the place was that you needed to enter a specific code to get through the front door. If you didn't have a code, you could ring the buzzer. That meant that creeps couldn't come in here and cause trouble. The lockers to put your valuables are smaller than my high school gym lockers...probably 1/3 of the size of one. It wouldn't fit my laptop at all so I asked the front desk lady if she had a safe or something. She told me I could give her my laptop and she could hold onto it? That sounded very very sketchy... so I lugged my computer with me everywhere I went-- meaning I hiked up mountains and climbed the Giant's Causeway with my laptop. I guess those extra pounds gave me muscle but I sure could've done without it.
Will not ever recommend this place nor come here again. I'd rather splurge a lot of money on the Europa Hotel-- which has been bombed 30+ times since the 70s. read more