Hostels Worldwide

Two weeks prior to where I was going to stay I was contacted by the hostel I had booked for - they told me that they had terminated their relationship with HostelWorld for various reasons and that HW should have been in contact. I was told that my reservation could not be upheld through HW and that I would need to rebook my reservation directly through the hostel. The email from the hostel was the first - and still is the only - time I ever heard about the termination and that the reservation would not be able to be upheld. Had the hostel not contacted me I would not have known at all. Furthermore, when I tried to contact HostelWorld they only answered my initial email. They asked for a forwarded email that I had received from the hostel and then never replied to me again. I sent many emails over the span of a week without any response at all. I also tried calling the number on their website to contact them and was continually met with 'The number cannot be dialed at this time', for some reason. The number never worked and I could never find another number to use. Overall, I have seen the horrible customer care that HostelWorld provides. They clearly ignored my attempts to resolve the issue and showed blatant disregard for my questions and for me as a person. I will definitely never be using this company again and will be making sure that no one I know uses it either.

Over two months and still no refund. Small claims court seems the only option now as they simply say they will refund at some unspecified point in the future. Seems like a scam site. Avoid.

Refusing to return deposits paid to them when a hostel has cancelled and advised that they've instructed booking platforms they should consider returning such down payments.

6 months of credit not useful. Won't be using again, would advise avoiding.

Despite them cancelling my booking due to the hostel being closed they are refusing to refund my deposit. Instead offering me a useless credit note and acting like they are doing me a favour!! I had 2 other non refundable trips planned and not had any issues with getting a refund from these companies. Disgusting behaviour and now they are ignoring my emails completely. Some companies will come out of this situation stronger and some, like Hostelworld, will have their reputation ruined completely.

I was a member of Hostelworld for over 12 years. I can only say that I am disgusted by the way this Hostelworld runs its business. I had reported a hostel Opera BVG Paris, forwarded some of the dilapidated windows with foam insulation exposed and window frame collapsing nearly falling off. Hostelworld has not done anything but to apologize, claiming it is not their responsibility to manage the properties and maintain its condition.

Second report was about a hostel Hyde Park in London, where I had severe bed bugs and my entire body was covered with huge bites and by arms, chest, back swollen from severe bites, see photos sent. Hostelworld wrote only to say they have no control over the way the hostels run its property and I should take it up with the manager. I did and explained to Hostelworld that the manager did nothing except to offer to wash my clothes in case bugs got on my clothes. No intervention from Hostelworld. You see, they get their fees from all hostels and they get their fee from travelers like ourselves when we book through Hostelworld. It is called"double dipping" but they dont give a damn except to collect their fees. It is all they care about. They offered to give you back their 2 or 3 euros, dollars deposit. Doesnt matter how badly you are injured or that you have been a loyal member. They are a money making machine and its all they care about. From now on travleres, book directly with the hostels and get a better rate. No fees to Hostelworld they dont deserve and any good hostels anyway will accommodate you if they are truly a 10 star rating or a bit lower. I have established some good relations with some of these hostels and they are very appreciative of my business and have offered good rate as I continue to support their hostel.

Managed to get a refund after having booking cancelled, took almost two weeks to be credited back to bank so one star knocked off

Cancelled a booking with free cancellation on the 15th of March and have still not received a refund of my deposit 7 weeks later despite following up numerous times. Booking.com and Airbnb managed to refund me within two business days- Hostelworld keep citing that it is a 'manual process' to complete refunds however no other company seems to be having these difficulties. At this point it seems as if the company is going under and is trying to hold onto funds as long as possible instead of refunding the money to customers. Will never use this company again and recommend others to steer clear.

I cancelled my booking for myself and my daughters due to Covid-19. I had paid for the free cancellation service. Once a travel ban was imposed I was forced to cancel. Contacted Hostel world finally after several attempts to cancel the booking. Received an email stating I would receive my refund within 10 working days. It has now been 21 days and nothing received. I tried to use their 'bookings' email address and it was not recognised. I would suggest that until they are able to respond to their current customers, new would be customers do not book via their website, otherwise I suspect you too will loose your deposit, given the current circumstances.

Im trying to get the refund of the deposit that Hostelworld charges when you do a book. I did two reservations of hostels with refundable deposits in case of cancellation. The refunds should be done in 10 working days and now already passed 20 working days and they dont release my deposit.

DO NOT TRUST THIS WEBSITE
There's a big scam going on here
I lost €120 without even seeing their hostel
Better go for BOOKING.COM

Got my booking cancelled, "non refundable" even though I booked another "HI" in santa Monica and they fully refunded me.

I spoke with several hostelworld employees via email, they mispelt my name. They insist the booking is non refundable.

I spoke with Elaine, she literally could care less about me losing my money.

Like similar reviews here, the support for hostel world is terrible, they don't read your emails, send automated responses.
Cancelled booking, offered credit instead of refund to account, useless, especially during these critical times.

Booking was cancelled by a hostel I had booked (due to the corona virus pandemic) which I totally understand. I had to make other arrangements last minute so I had a place to stay. Hostelworld take a holding deposit which they refuse to refund (only give as an account credit). I really cant afford to have money locked up as account credit. Money, like for a lot of people right now, is extremely tight and I find it so poor that Hostelworld can't see that and refund people to help them out

Hostelworld cancelled my booking without contacting me and are now refusing to give me a refund. Offering me credit which I cannot use. They are basically stealing my money.

As a frequent traveller I have been using Hostelworld for a while and would recommend them. Due to Covid-19 I unfortunately had to cancel a lot of my bookings as my flights were cancelled and had to return home early. I always book places with free cancellation as you just never know what might happen. I was able to cancel these easily by logging into my account. All the deposits taken were refunded quickly without any problems. I also find their website easy to use and appreciate the amount detail in the description eg. how to get there. I will definitely be using Hostelworld again in the future.

Booked a trip to Ireland March 16-19th, and after contacting the hostel about getting a refund for our "nonrefundable stay" they told us they would love to give the refund as long as hostelworld agrees. From what I read you cant make cancellations over email, or phone. We were unable to travel due to the virus, it would be absolutely absurd if we do not get the refund due to the circumstances.

We booked here so we could cancel at any time. We still want to go to the same hostel, only at a different time due to the corona virus.

The website says you can cancel 24h before, we wanted to cancel one week before we were going but it still isn't possible. Not the service you would expect if you take a look at the website.

Scheduled a reservation for the Santa Monica HI this weekend. Had to cancel due to coronavirus scare shutting down the reason for me being in LA. First thing I have to gripe about is the fact that they don’t seem to have a phone number and can only be reached through email. HI is blameless because they can’t cancel anything since hostel world is a third party. I sent hostel world a cancelation request 24 hours in advance with the website saying someone would get back to me in 24 hours. No one got back to me and they charged me twice anyway. Sent them another email showing the previous email with a time mark to prove I sent them an email in advance and requested a refund and still no response. Never using this service again.

Excelent ! Thank you Joan !

Full disclosure: I work at this company. I think we have some of the most motivated and energetic people around. We're closely monitoring the feedback here and we'll be focused on solving a lot of these problems going forward.