Ember Hostel — Hotel in Denver

Everything went smoothly except for my experience with Jake. I noticed on my bed there was a tag that said the date 9/6 but I wasn’t checking out until 9/7 and wanted to be sure they had the correct dates in their system. I asked Jake about it and he brashly stated, “it’s probably because they’re worried about the contagion of your cough.” I said, “no, it’s been on there since the day I checked in.” He proceeded to accuse me of lying (I didn’t deny having a cough) “we can go back and forth but I know you have a cough, I sat here and listened to it for 4 hours the first night. So that’s why they have you checking out on the 7th.” That was the day I already planned on checking out from the moment I checked in, guys, and was the information I wanted in the first place. 🙄 They didn’t change it due to their fear of the “contagion” of my cough. I then told him, “you know, my cough isn’t actually from being contagious. It’s because I have GERD.” He then argued with me, a nurse (he doesn’t know that), “I thought that’s a stomach thing.” So I explained how GERD can cause a cough, even though I didn’t have to. It was none of his business. I wore a mask from the first full day of my stay (my cough wasn’t as present the day of check in) and tried to stay 6+ feet from others because I know coughing makes people nervous and I didn’t want to worry people, even though they don’t have to be because it’s not contagious. He isn’t entitled to my medical history and it wasn’t of importance to my question of when they have me in the system checking out. It seemed he just wanted to stick it to me that he had to listen to my cough when I was in the common areas. You know what? That’s frustrating for him but that’s the nature of dealing with the public. They make noise. And I can’t help it. I don’t want to be coughing in public. I also don’t want to listen to people snore, but they can’t help it and I can wear earplugs…thats the nature of a hostel.

I understand that staff might be concerned about whether someone is contagious in a public place. That’s not what bothered me, it was his attitude. He didn’t ask me about the cough, he assumed, was accusatory, and argumentative. My cough is a part of my disabilities that is embarrassing, especially when someone is assuming I’m just coughing without concern for infecting others. Imagine if they had refused me service due to my disability under the assumption it was a safety risk? Good thing I’m not the type to litigate.

All in all, Jake was really rude and condescending and completely ruined what was actually a really great facility and otherwise kind employees (Brittany even approached me and offered me help thinking I was having an allergic reaction to the house cat). I ended up changing my flight and leaving a day early due to this interaction.

P.S. The manager reached out to me with a sincere apology and a refund for my last night. I appreciated that and I think it was a classy move to take...

Well, let’s see. Where to start? This hostel was amazing! I stayed in a dorm room, and had a surprising degree of privacy due to the well thought-out bunk beds each having their own draw curtains, an inside wood outlet box ideal for charging your phone over nite, and an individual, private, inside-the-bunk reading lamp. The bathrooms were immaculate and beautifully appointed - classic style, white porcelain sinks, brushed silver fixtures, distressed wood plank style flooring and walls. See the Hostel’s posted pictures to understand what I mean. And check out all the other various posted pictures which accurately portray the beautiful styling and thoughtful design throughout this exquisitely conceived, executed and operated large old house (with gorgeous original oak staircase, interior beams, doors and other accent pieces). I had a wonderful time during my two day/night March 2019 stay. Vintage, smart appointments abound, from a marble sculptural bust at the fireplace, to books on Kafka, coffee table art books, and vintage machines, including typewriter, adding machine, old camera etc, on decorative display, reflecting the hostel’s fine elegant taste and vibe. There was a wall of vintage style mirrors and tufted custom sofas and a reclining couch. All these design features resulted in a truly beautiful interior design, which had the effect of facilitating guest comfort and conviviality. The hostel was peopled by an array of remarkable souls, both staff and the travelers. For example, there was A* whom I met at Stanley Hotel bar in Estes Park, T, the public policy undergrad from the PRC attending Univ. of Washington, on spring break, K, a guy of luminous beauty, endeavoring to go to med school, with a BS from Univ of Texas, Austin, in engineering, who worked in ER rooms, now living in SF (who came to Colorado for a short ski vacation), M*, a super smart woman chilling out from her high stress hospitality job at a high-end Idaho ski lodge, and and and. I could go on and on. YMMV, of course. And although Denver affords a bevy of cool things to do ... the hostel affords an amazing people knowing, hanging out opportunity too as well. Did I mention it is only about four blocks from a Trader Joe? Or that Ember is also easy walking distance from a wonderful indoor food court, Market on Broadway, with credit card-tethered fob-driven multiple food concessions and a most amazing self-serve beer wall? There’s also a beer brewing supply store, Co-Brew, nearby, which besides supplies, has six or seven superb tap beers, expertly brewed by the proprietor. Yum!!! Ember Hostel also has a large outdoor hot tub and fire pit, truly rounding out the friend-making set-up of this unique lodging/dwelling place. In sum, my experience here in this well-located, conceived, designed, and operated hostel, was superlative. ...

For context, I had a terrible start to my trip in Denver, Colorado. Sadly, I planned my trip with someone who was unwell (wasn’t aware of this until I got to Denver) and this “friend” proceeded to kick me out of our room, leaving me stranded and alone with my luggage at 12am in the middle of Denver, for no apparent reason. Following this I stayed at a wonderful hotel with staff who listened to my story and supported me in any way they could with no complaints, no quarrels, and made me feel safe.

Being that I could no longer afford to stay there, I reserved a room with this hostel. As I was checking in (which I patiently waited to do for 30 minutes by the way) I mistakenly thought the hostel would be another safe space to share my experience, as they had asked me how I was doing…

The staff seemed to be receptive and asked questions until I noted that this former friend was not a registered guest of mine (as I made sure to read over the rules carefully) in the event that she tried to arrive (although I assured them that she probably wouldn’t). After already CHARGING MY CARD for the night, the woman working at the front declared that everything “sounded like a lot of drama” and that “she wasn’t getting a good vibe” from me and my experience. She then told me that I wasn’t a good fit for the hostel, again after charging me for the room and proceeded to “give me a refund”.

After telling these people that I had been stranded and was low on money and just needed a safe space to sleep, they escorted me out with $70 less because the refund won’t be back into my account for another day or two.

I then, once again, had nowhere to go and not enough money to get a room elsewhere. I took an Uber straight to the airport and cut my trip short…

While I understand that the hostel “takes its security seriously”, the problem I have is that they kicked me out after charging me and couldn’t ensure that I would have that money back right away.

They were rude and cold and value the “vibes” over humanity (although I have amazing vibes and was chopping it up with them before I got kicked out).

I personally feel as though they’re “laid-back”, “good vibes”, “we see your humanity” with their rainbow flag decorations and whatnot is a total front.

I’m a young Latina in a vulnerable situation and they were so quick to kick me to the curb, knowing that I had no where else to go and not enough money to spend elsewhere, because ‘I was drama’, as if I brought this whole terrible experience on myself.

I’m glad others have had a great experience at this place, I hope they continue to, but just know that they’ll cut you with the quickness even after they’ve taken your money because your ‘vibes are off’, not a safe...