YoHo Youth Hostel — Hotel in Salzburg

Copy of email sent to hostel, and at the bottom, the megure response which took nearly 96 hrs for them to reply after being chased. No apology for actual incident and made to feel at fault myself. Not in nature to share reviews like this, but the beds here are not safe.

Dear Yoho Hostel Team,

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing regarding a serious incident that occurred during my stay in your Salzburg branch, in room 109, bed 3, which I brought to your reception staff's attention earlier today.

This morning, as I climbed down the bunk bed ladder from the first step, the entire ladder became detached from the bed. I fell approximately 5-6 feet to the ground, along with the ladder, resulting in a loud thud that woke three of my roommates, who were equally shocked at what had happened. As a petite individual, I did not expect such an alarming incident from a simple task like descending from the bed.

The root cause of the problem is that the ladder was not properly secured to the bed. I don’t believe it’s unreasonable to assume that a bunk bed in a hostel is safe to use without having to check the security of the ladder myself. Ensuring that ladders are securely attached is a basic safety standard that should always be met, and the failure to do so here poses a serious risk to your guests.

While I appreciate the staff's initial reaction in offering a complimentary breakfast, I must say that being offered a tired and unappetising breakfast, unsuitable for a vegan, is not what I expect as an apology for such a distressing incident. This gesture, while well-meaning, fell far short of addressing the gravity of the situation.

I am not writing this email to escalate unnecessarily or tarnish the reputation of your hostel with a negative review. However, I do feel that appropriate action and acknowledgment are warranted in light of what happened. At the very least, I believe a refund for last night’s stay would be a reasonable resolution. More importantly, I urge you to review and secure the bunk bed ladders to prevent such incidents from happening to future guests.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to hearing back from you with a resolution

Hi there. Sorry for the late answer. I read this email first time yesterday later afternoon and I guess you already left Salzburg ro even austria. Even I was there over the weekend, no one told me about the issue. We checked the ladder and fixed it. Thanks for the information. Personally I don’t know why they didn’t put you in a different room when you had concerns. Next time please try to see the office directly. We do have an omployee meeting end of the month. I will include this topic to the meeting.

Anyways, I wish you a great ongoing journey through...

Another expensive trashy hostel with rubbish, rude staff. Paying a lot of money for this place and the rooms are small, the bed is positioned so poorly on the upper level, the top bunk cannot make their bed (yes you have to make your bed) because the roof is 30cm from their head. The window doesn't stay open and it is very hot in the upper rooms as the sun just turns the room into an oven and not much you can do about it. They had a fan in our room but it didn't even get close to fixing the problem as really only one out of 4 people benefit from it. There should be air con when it is that hot. The pillows are very gross, see attached picture, where the stains of god knows what kind of bodily fluids they are just rub all over your face because the pillows are so thin they just slide right out of the pillow case. Lovely. The bathroom doors from the hallway don't latch so they just bang and flap around while you sleep. Only one toilet per floor per gender so you could be competing against 20+ other people to use the toilet in the morning. 2 showers per floor so let's say roughly 40 people per 2 showers. They describe themselves as having self catering facilities and a kitchen. This is a joke. They have a microwave, a kettle and a sink. No hot plates, no pots or pans, no way of self catering unless you are happy with 2 minute noodles or microwave meals. All the cutlery and plates, bowls and cups are stored out by the reception desk which is so stupid, all the kitchen cupboards are empty. We weren't the only ones looking through every cupboard wondering where everything was. Don't ask reception for anything (even where kitchen items are) they don't like that at all. They don't like any kind of communication actually. Normally they're out the front smoking filling the building with lung smoke but when they are behind the desk they don't like to say anything so if you ask them for help about literally anything they will be so passive aggressive. They also do a terrible job at washing and drying plates, cups and bowls. You don't clean your dishes after use as you do in most hostels, you chuck it on a trolley and they put it in a dishwasher but they normally just leave it there for ages so often you'll need to ask for them to wash things so you can use it which they, again, don't like. Find a different hostel this place isn't worth your hard earned holiday cash. Also don't put money in the luggage room lockers. They look the same as most coin operated lockers and reception says the luggage room is free but when you put your 1 or 2 euro coin in it keeps it and you pay for each time you have to open it. It doesn't return it like most other European...

*The staff packed my stuff during my stay to accomodate another guest. I booked a bed in a dorm for a 3-night stay. On the second day around 11 PM, my card key for the room didn’t work, and I went to the front desk. The staff said they gave me the wrong bed in a female dormitory and asked me to check my stuff at the front desk that they had already packed. They told me that there was a mistake by another staff member when I checked in, and he gave me the wrong bed meant for another person. This person has the same name as me, and the staff made a mistake. That’s what they told me. The point is they packed my stuff and opened my locker to make a bed for the other person. They said they couldn’t make her wait for me any longer because she’d been waiting for over 3 hours. They said they tried to reach out to me by phone, but I didn’t pick up, and also sent an email. I didn’t get any call or email, even in the spam folder. I complained that this was wrong, packing my stuff with no notice, even though the other girl was waiting to check in. They could’ve asked her to stay in another room for one night. They opened my locker and put all my things in a plastic bag. I have never experienced anything like this while staying at a hostel. When they asked me to check my stuff to see if everything was there, I requested they give me a key to check the room in case I forgot anything. What they said was to make less noise as it’s already late. I don’t understand the way they handled the situation as this might lead to a bigger issue if I lose something. I felt unsafe at this hostel because the staff touched my belongings without a valid reason. I canceled my stay there for the last night and got a refund. When I checked in, they didn’t check my booking number. I even filled out the form to provide my personal information. The girl with the same name had a check-in day one day after mine. I double-checked with her. This hostel has an issue with its booking system and administration. Another girl in my room had an issue with her booking. She booked a 3-night stay in a female dorm, but the female dorm was overbooked. She was the one who had to change rooms every single day of her stay, checking in and out, packing everything, and putting her suitcase in a luggage room in the basement. No lift to the basement floor, only stairs. My locker in the new room didn’t work, and I had to carry all the important...