Wanderstay Houston Hostel — Hotel in Houston

I had a terrible experience at Wanderstay Houston, and I don’t want it to happen to anyone else. I love hostels and usually have good or even great experiences, but this stay was frustrating from the beginning. I’m writing this review to share what happened, factually and fairly, in hopes it helps other travelers and encourages Wanderstay to improve.

I arrived at Wanderstay Houston on a Wednesday at 9:37 pm for a five-night stay. When I reached the front gate, it was locked. I checked my email and found one message sent around 9 am that morning saying guests must complete a remote check-in form before 9 pm to get codes. I had never seen a system like this before. At most hostels, there is either a staffed reception or at least a process that doesn’t leave guests stranded.

I filled out the form immediately, but nothing happened. I waited for over an hour and called the hostel a dozen times, but every call went to voicemail since it was “after hours.” Yet, other guests were inside. I even asked another guest if they had a number for staff, but they could only find police and social services. No one on site and no emergency number for staff. This was alarming. What if there had been a plumbing issue, a safety concern, or a disruptive guest? There was simply no way to get help.

With no support, I gave up and took an Uber to America’s Best Inn nearby, paying an extra $90 for that night.

The next morning, I returned around 9:35 am, expecting to check in. Staff didn’t arrive until almost 10 am. The check-in itself took another 5–10 minutes, making me late for a meeting and leaving me embarrassed.

Later in my stay, on Friday night after a long day of work, I relaxed on the dark grey lobby couch to watch Netflix. Two hours later, I noticed six large, pepperoni-sized bug bites on my left arm—the only part of my body exposed and resting on the couch armrest. I had been wearing long sleeves the entire day, so the bites clearly came from that couch. To make matters worse, the couch was stained and looked dirty on closer inspection.

When I raised these issues with staff, they were defensive. Regarding the check-in problem, they claimed they tried to call me but my number showed up as blank. To investigate, I repeated a booking through Hostelworld and saw there is nowhere to leave a phone number. If they rely on numbers, they should request them separately. Hostelworld has my info, so it’s odd Wanderstay didn’t. They also insisted they sent me two emails, but I only received one.

As for the bug bites, they said pest control came in later that day and found nothing, and they asked another guest who reported no problems. Maybe that guest didn’t have exposed skin, but it doesn’t change my experience.

Other smaller issues included bathrooms running out of toilet paper, a broken sink faucet that made loud construction-like noises whenever used, and general poor upkeep. While individually minor, these added to the frustration.

To be fair, the hostel does have positives. It’s affordable, nicely decorated, and in a convenient part of Houston. But those things don’t outweigh being locked out on my first night, paying extra for another hotel, being checked in late, and dealing with bug bites and maintenance problems.

In summary: Wanderstay Houston provides inadequate service. Their remote check-in process is unreliable, communication is poor, staff are unavailable when needed, and cleanliness is questionable. Guests deserve better.

If you’re considering Houston hostels, I’d recommend looking elsewhere—BPoshtels Houston or America’s Best Value Inn were both better managed.

I love hostels and don’t write negative reviews lightly. But this experience was disappointing and costly. I hope Wanderstay improves, but until...

The actual rooms at the hostel are decent, and the hostel itself is secure with multiple keypad entries before your room. As far as staffing goes though this hostel gave one of the worst experiences I’ve had in my many times staying at hostels around the world.

I booked through Hostelworld and used a voucher for my deposit, the day prior to my trip I received an email saying that my billing address was wrong and I needed to update it or my booking would be cancelled. I called to check and the lady that answered the call was extremely rude to the point of yelling at me claiming I had not paid any deposit. As it was extremely close to my trip I just decided to give my card info to them to charge my card rather than the voucher to avoid issues. That said, they did not refund the voucher and double charged me for the deposit.

Upon the day of travel they emailed again saying they needed photos of my ID and my friends ID to be allowed to stay there due to remote check in. By the time they sent the email I was already boarding my flight and the email was extremely close to being missed (this is important in a bit).

Staying there was ok, it’s a really central location (although in a slightly shady neighborhood), and the rooms are alright. The rooms say there is a waffle breakfast, an email prior to staying listed activities, and the hostel claims to have a limited kitchen, however all of those were nowhere to be found.

The real issue was on my last night there. The hostel has info in the room for you to order delivery, and my friend ordered some food from Uber Eats. When the food got there my friend walked out to get it. On his way back in the hostel, 2 new guests followed him in. They showed their confirmation when they got in the lobby so my friend didn’t think it would be an issue. Security then came over the speakers yelling at the 3 of them, demanding my friends information, and saying that we had breached contract. The 2 guys missed their ID email and the hostel wouldn’t allow them to check in. Even though they showed ID, Booking, Confirmation Email, and even proof of payment, the hostel spent 45 minutes yelling at them and kicked them out. My friend could not re-enter the hostel for 45 minutes, they threatened to call the police, and eventually said that management would speak with us the next day. I have no idea if the 2 guests that paid were allowed to stay or if they were genuinely kicked out into a shady neighborhood in the middle of the night. The next morning nobody ever came to speak to us and we had to leave to catch a flight. I went to check hostelworld to see about the voucher refund, and found out my booking had been cancelled! This makes it so I can’t get a refund and they still got to double charge me, plus I can’t write a review on Hostelworld warning other travelers about what to expect as it’s rated 9/10 but certainly one of the worse hostels I’ve stayed in.

TLDR: Hostel double charged me, remote check in causes tons of issues, staff is very rude, and they cancelled my booking to prevent any reviews.

Edit in response to the reply: My review is the truth. I offer it as a fair warning to any future travelers. For any traveler traveler trying to visit the great city of Houston, just be aware...

Very friendly vibes and a few (good) surprises.|Excellent value if you are a solo or duo type traveler. For 3 nights I paid what would have only covered one night at a hotel. ||The check in process has a google form with a lot of questions, but it was all about everyone having a good stay. And the greeter took me on a tour and made sure I got into my room before letting me be.||I picked the Rodeo room just to have my own space. It was just as pictured on the website. And it’s right next to the bathroom on the second floor and across from the kitchen. The bathrooms are single person standard size with a double shower. (no dorm communal bathrooms!)|There are maps and suggestions for things to do and a chalkboard wall. I didn’t speak to any of the other guests besides a “hello” in passing, but everyone seemed to keep to themselves in a respectful way. If you’re hungry, there’s a place called Axelrad about a 10 minute walk away and Luigi’s Pizzaria behind it. Both were good places to visit for a late night snack. The gas station nearby is just okay. ||There was nothing terrible that happened-within their control. The first night was unbearably hot and stuffy because the cold snap damaged their AC unit. They had the place serviced the next morning and on the second night onward the temperature was comfortable. I didn’t see any bugs the whole time I stayed. Surfaces are worn and a little dingy from heavy use. There are several broken/loose floor tiles, again from heavy use. No weird smells or sticky surfaces. ||I never had an issue getting a Lyft either, though the closed tunnel across the street makes it appear that the route is detoured. I chose Wanderstay because it was close enough to downtown to visit the places I wanted to see. I mainly stayed to visit Meow Wolf’s Radio Tave. I also went to the Holocaust Museum of Houston, the Japanese Garden, Rice University, and the Rice Village shopping area. I saw Trill on Wheels was nearby (closer than Axelrad) and took a party group bike ride with them too. ||If I ever travel solo to Houston again, I’d stay at the...