Old Town Hostel Split — Hotel in Grad Split

In February 2023, I booked 3 nights at the Old Town Hostel Split for a stay May 27-30. In March, I reached out to the hostel and asked to add a fourth night, May 26. I was reassured multiple times via email that my reservation was in their books, I did not need to rebook via HostelWorld, and that all I needed to do on the 26 was show up and pay for my additional night. On the 26, I arrived and was told that my reservation was not in the books, and that I only had the 27-30 booked. Apparently one receptionist had put it in the books, and another had crossed it out, assuming it was a mistake, without any communication with the other staff.

There were no beds available in the hostel, so they sent me to the only bed available at their other location at Outlanders’ Tribe Hostel. If there had not been any beds left, I’m not sure what Old Town would’ve done, and I could’ve been left without a place to stay the night.

The Outlanders hostel itself was nice enough, but was 15 minutes outside the old town, and I had to walk alone after dark with my luggage as a young solo female traveler, which made me feel very uncomfortable. In addition, I had booked an all-female room in the Old Town Hostel and was placed in a room with males in the Outlanders Tribe Hostel - which again, was very uncomfortable for a young solo female traveler. The morning of the 27, I dragged my luggage across the city again to Old Town Hostel. It’s not the biggest deal in the world, but it was annoying and inconvenient to drag my luggage across the city for a total of 30 minutes, especially when my itinerary was packed. I ended up missing my dinner reservation on the 26 and getting a later start on the 27 than I wanted. They gave me a 10€ discount at Outlanders Tribe, but that does not feel like enough to compensate for the inconvenience and for feeling so unsafe in a new city.

Once I was actually in the Old Town Hostel, I had an okay experience. There were no common spaces except for a tiny kitchen that was always crowded, and one of the two bathrooms was closed off for cleaning (it was moldy), so the entire hostel was sharing one single bathroom. Due to another miscommunication among the staff, one worker thought I was no longer in the hostel, and took the food I was storing in the kitchen and relabeled it with their name. Luckily I noticed before anyone ate anything… but that is absolutely ridiculous to me.

Overall, the staff obviously does not communicate with each other, which leads to a variety of misunderstandings that risk their guests’ feelings of safety and are simply annoying and inconvenient. The hostel is small and not the cleanest. They have signs all over their walls asking you to make any changes to your booking via email instead of hostel world and help support small businesses (since hostelworld takes a fee from them)… but when I did exactly that, I was almost left without a place to stay.

I would absolutely not recommend this hostel - it is definitely the worst hostel I’ve ever stayed at (I’ve stayed at 22 hostels in 7 different countries now), and the only hostel I’d actually classify as “bad.” Stay away!! There are many better options in Split for...

super simple, no frills hostel right in the heart of split. Stayed here for two nights before the start of a cruise and it was really all that I needed. The check-in was a bit crazy; there is no reception, so you have to tell them the time you are arriving and someone comes to meet you at the apartment block to let you in. The girl who came to let me in couldn't get the front door to open and after about an hour, a resident came out of the building and that is how we were able to get in. There was some problem with the keypad lock for the front door, so they kept it open - anyone was able to just walk right into the dorms because they also did not keep the door to the actual hostel locked (it is on the second floor of an apartment block). I had a friend staying in another hostel and one day he just appeared in my dorm room - all the doors were open and he was able to just walk in right off the street. Also another day, a guy who was trying to check in also walked randomly into my room from the street - the girl working there didn't turn up to give him keys, so he stayed at the hostel with no keys, but it wasn't a problem (because as I've mentioned - nothing is locked!). Luckily there were lockers in the rooms to keep stuff in. They are small though, so you can only put in valuables. Despite the bad security I did not have anything stolen, but the situation wasn't exactly ideal.||||On the plus, the beds were really comfy and clean - the hostel was spotless, even the bathrooms. And they place was air-conditioned, an absolute must in the middle of summer. internet worked really well.||||As there is no reception, there are no arranged events, but during my stay people still managed to get together and go out. There is no kitchen or anywhere really to hang out in the hostel. There is a patio area, but it faces the windows of other apartments and you have to be really quiet. But it is Split, and you will not exactly be wanting to spend much time in the hostel.||||If you do stay here, do so with very limited expectations. It's one of the cheapest places in Split, so if you're on a budget, it'll do the job of giving you a clean place to stay. Don't expect...

One of the worst hostels I have stayed at. As others have said, only 2 bathrooms is inconvenient (basically, it's an apartment) and the nasty smell of the blanket on my bed made it obvious it had not been washed. The guy who checked me in seemed to think he and I were buddies and that he could complain to me about all sorts of different nationalities and tourists in general that he does not like, including but not limited to, Americans who he said "demand" proper "service" and rude Chinese people who walk slowly on the sidewalk around town. That same guy was up late at night drinking, talking loud, playing music, and making a lot of noise with some guests while other guests were trying to sleep. Really, what a pathetic excuse for staff. When I checked in I was charged 10 kuna per night for tax instead of the 8 kuna listed in the booking site. When I checked my booking later and pointed it out to the staff I was not offered the 2 kuna per night back and I prefer to write a negative review then to ask for such a small amount of money I do not need. That same guy also gave me 20 kuna less in my change while he was checking me in and then said had made a mistake when I notified him it was wrong. It looks like there is some unethical behaviour with employees who do not get paid well enough and then want to put some cash in their pockets. I realized the night before I checked out that I did not even get a receipt at check in either and when I told the woman at reception before I checked out she kept repeating 3 or 4 times that they do not offer receipts. Finally she offered a receipt after I kept repeating that it is normal business practice and they should. She was also argumentative and continued trying to get the last word when I asked her if the 10 kuna tax was correct and notified her that it said 8 on the website. Again, I did not dare ask for my 2 kuna per night back from her either because it was such a small amount to me and I would rather use it to test...