Hikers Hostel — Hotel in Plovdiv

A fair walk from Plovdiv train station, but located in an incredibly beautiful area of medieval Plovdiv one will find Hikers Hostel. It is halfway up a fairly steep hill with cobbled streets, but surrounded by historic buildings and some of the quirkiest museums and restaurants in the city; like most of the centre of Plovdiv, history just flows out of the walls in the surrounding area.||So, I was in awe already when I walked through the front gate and discovered a pleasant little garden where other hostel guests were strumming on guitars and drinking beer, socialising and singing. I felt like I was coming home, and I had not even checked in yet! When I got the front desk, Parma was incredibly friendly and helpful right from the start, and gave me a tour of the whole place before inviting me to grab a beer (for 2 Lev/£1 - all local and tasty) out of the fridge and join he and the guests in the garden. Despite arriving mid-afternoon social atmosphere of the hostel is so great that we ended up staying out there until nearly 22:00 when several of us panicked thinking that nearby places to eat would be closing!||The bedroom was cosy, if a little hot. The dorm rooms feature triple-decker beds, which are a novelty. The view from the rooms is amazing, and provides a scenic panorama of the Old Town almost as good as the summit of the nearby mountain. The showers are similarly quirky, feeling somewhere between a wet room and a submarine decompression chamber. ||The owner does not work at the hostel, but drops by at breakfast, mid-afternoon, and late evening if possible to check up on things and make sure the guests are happy. He is a little quiet at first, but if you get him talking he is a very friendly guy, despite his limited English skills. ||Otherwise, for my four-day-stay, I found the hostel to be a great place to regroup and relax after exploring the city. In fact, I would actively seek to come back here. There is nothing quite like a hot Bulgarian afternoon exploring Plovdiv and trying tasty food, and then coming back to Hikers Hostel and sharing a beer with Parma whilst playing a few songs on guitar/sitar/whatever other instruments are floating around. If you miss this experience whilst in Plovdiv, you have...

it's an old place, kinda run down, and the dorm rooms are crowded. The staff and the social atmosphere more than makes up for all those faults though. The minute you check in, you'll feel like you're in the company of old friends. The location is great, near all the attractions in the old town. It's quite far from the central bus station (took me 30 minutes by walking), but you can easily get a cheap cab nearby if you want to head to the bus station or elsewhere in the city. They serve free breakfast, which is always good for budget travelers. And yeah, Wifi was fast and reliable. I wish they provided individual lockers in the rooms though. Wasn't so secure about my belongings since one of our room mates was kinda shady. overall I had a pleasant stay here, mostly due to the staff and the other guests at that time. Would most likely stay at this place again if ever i'm back in Plovdiv. you get a pretty good deal for the price they...

The hosts are extraordinarily nice and helpful. Both the volunteers and the staff. They took their time to show where good places to go to, where to go and eat, etc etc. The location could not have been better. The breakfast was nice and plentiful, with plenty of coffee on offer. They sold Bulgarian beer and occasionally offered Bulgarian vodka. The beds were comfortable, the bedding was nice and clean. There were lockers in the rooms and the rooms were very roomy. ||||The placement of the showers seemed a bit odd, and the plug didn't drain straight away. So it was a little difficult trying to have a little dignity about yourselves. Whilst there were lockers in the room. Out of 8, only 4 had actual lockers. And there is only one plug socket for the whole room. ||||But all in all, I will happily book this hostel again without even...