Hostel Pekarna — Hotel in Maribor

The great design and good cleanliness couldn't make up for the horrible experience we had on arrival. Despite informing the reception we will arrive a bit later when the reception already closes and being assured that our keys will be deposited to the safes in front and codes for them sent to me in a text message (to the number from which i called and i have previously already correctly been messaged to with generic message from the hostel) the codes didn't arrive and when i called them minutes after the closing time to check, nobody picked up anymore. I expected to be able to find an emergency phone number at the door - only to find that the only available number was the one i have been calling for the past hour without success. By asking people in bars and venues around i managed to get a personal number of the hostel manager, whom i couldn't reach for another hour. When somebody from another venue (thank you!) finally somehow reached the manager, i got the call back and got the codes to get the keys and be able to get into our rooms at around 23.00 - when we almost already left to go find another hostel, since it wasn't so appealing to sleep in the park or in the hostel hallway (other guests opened the front door for us). In the morning the receptionist apologized to me and told me she texted me with a wrong country code. On my request for discount i was offered a 15% discount (on top of an already 10% promotion discount for booking online), after asking for 50%, because our experience was really horrible, i was told this was not possible because the hostel is part of a public institution and can't make such arrangements. So for our very stressful evening, much less sleeping than wanted and in the end also very slow "check-in" in the morning and getting the invoice with a tiny bit more generous discount than 15%, we paid around 26€ per person. So if you are arriving after 20:00, make sure to triple-check that the responsible person sent you the codes and a phone number where you can reach them in case of such mishaps. I invite the hostel once again to put an "emergency number" on their front door or in the confirmation email etc., like every other hostel in Slovenia...

Hostel Pekarna is the best budget hotel in the world, period.

Of course the room is clean and everything is nice. But this place has more than that, there is something intangible, something unexplainable about this place that few other hotels have copied successfully.

I think the key to their success, is the fact that every staff member is motivated, since they're given authority to actually do their jobs and know the situations of the hostel. Every staff member seems to be proud of what she is doing, and they actually have enough knowledge and authority to deal with different situations, different people. Some of the staff like to talk, some of them don't. But regardless of that, they are always in control of the jobs they're doing and derives pleasure from the jobs they're doing.

So of course kudos to them for hiring the right people during the hiring process. But more importantly, kudos to the manager who successfully built a culture of cohesion that encourages every staff member to share their responsibilities to the workplace, and contribute each member's unique strengths to the hostel. Kudos for building a happy workplace, and the happiness of the staff brings happiness to the...

I highly recommend this hostel for a number of reasons. ||The hostel is only 10 minutes from the centre of Maribor, the atmosphere is very cosy and all the rooms are spotlessly clean.|I stayed in the hostel for five days in the shared room with 4 beds, but there are also beautiful private rooms with kitchens, like small flats.|I work remotely and the Wi-Fi is excellent and they have a very isolated desk upstairs and I was able to work without any problems. They also have free parking.|The hostel has nice communal spaces, like a lounge and a nice terrace.|They also have books by authors from the LGBTQ+ community and I really appreciated that.|I am grateful for the welcome I got, the receptionists are lovely and made me feel at home from the first moment. The lady who does the cleaning is very friendly and courteous. ||In short, if you are looking for a cosy but also cheap place in Maribor I recommend the...