Rhine Hostel — Hotel in Agra

|The Short|||The hostel is in a great location from the Taj Mahal (approx 1km walking from East gate). However, the hostel is budget and you are constantly reminded and told about it and that you need to lower your expectations.|||||The Long|||Located approximately 1km from the East Gate of the Taj Mahal the hostel is in a great location for it.||||When we arrived the owner was polite and friendly. However, we were constantly told that it was a budget hostel and therefore needed to lower our expectations. We were told that nothing is free and everything costs. There are lots of signs up reminding you of this ||||The room wasn't amazing clean, even though we had lowered our expectations, it was in need of a good sweep around and under the bed. When we saw the room being cleaned on check out, it looked as though a basic clean and some air freshener was sprayed around the room.||||The hotel owner is trying to improve the hostel, during our stay he fixed the communal shower's hot water and brought some new tables for the common room area as well. He also helped us book train tickets for our onward journey.||||The hotel has good wifi and a nice common space. However, there was little atmosphere in the common area.||||Overall, it is okay for...

The title is the only way to describe this place. I was hoping that the entrance that was under construction was not a representation of the room and facilities. Sadly I was mistaken. ||I thought it was nice initially that they had let me check in half an hour early. However this obviously wasn't an issue because the dorm room was empty. ||There is nowhere to secure luggage inside the room. All you can hear outside is construction work. The mattresses are so thin you can feel the springs underneath. It would be better to sleep on the floor. ||Only a blanket is provided and no sheet. ||The 'shower' is a bucket that you pour hot or cold water into. I don't believe that this should be advertised as a shower. ||Obviously this accomodation is very budget and it's expected to be simple however the photos used for the property are different to how it looks when you get there. ||They also used a different hotel name in the book that I signed into. ||When I complained to the owner I received nasty messages back and was told that he 'knew how to handle bugs like me.' ||Do yourselves a favour and stay somewhere else....

The hostel is ok overall for a budget hostel. Although it gets really hot at night, it's one of the cheapest in Agra and walking distance from Taj Mahal. My problem was with the booking of bus tickets. I don't have an Indian sim card so booked through the hostel. I payed premium to book a single berth, the guy said he'll give me the ticket later. He gave it to me an hour before i left so i didn't check online to ensure the seat is right. I arrived at the bus and was put in a double berth, which is 200 rupees cheaper. I don't care about the 200 rupees, i care about spending an uncomfortable night with a stranger. That's exactly why i paid more, to ensure i'm on a single berth. If it was a mistake the guy should have said: "sorry, looks like there were no single seats as i thought initially, So i booked you a double berth. Here's your 200 rupees". It felt like a cheap trick to get a...