ORIGINAL: steve_r

Anyone who does NOT read this nivid’s advice is an idiot. We just got back from Europe and were stunned at the number of people who didn’t understand the “blank” reviews on hostelworld were likely to have had “negative” comments and therefore made appear blank. Stick with nivid’s top two unless you have spoken to people. Also they are great for cross-referencing Hostelworld ratings.

ORIGINAL: nandi

I have a question regarding websites such as hostelbookers.com and hostelworld.com.

The prices on these websites are often much cheaper than if you book directly with the same hostel/hotel.

How is that possible, and will the hotel in question be obliged to charge you the lower tariff if you book through one of these websites?

Thanks!

ORIGINAL: nivid

I’ve booked every hostel i’ve stayed at through Hostelworld. When you book online it will show you how much you are paying now (10% deposit), plus the $2 fee (unless you are a Gold card member), and how much you must pay on arrival (both in your currency as well as the local currency).

When you arrive at the hostel, they will charge you exactly what it says on you balance. I’ve never had any problems, but just have a printout of your recept with the balance, as well as what type of room you’ve booked. More than once i’ve been put in a room that I hadn’t booked (booked a 4 bed dorm, and got a 2 bed private). Once or twice they tried to go the other way (put me in a larger dorm), but they didn’t since I had my printout.

ORIGINAL: Santa Klaus

[blockquote]quote:
We just got back from Europe and were stunned at the number of people who didn’t understand the “blank” reviews on hostelworld were likely to have had “negative” comments and therefore made appear blank. [/blockquote]

Wait.

Most blank reviews are blank because the reviewer only rated the hostel, but did not type a comment. Some reviews appear blank because the hostel manager (NOT Hostelworld!) decided to delete this review.
Hostelworld says “only comments containing offensive or inappropriate content may be removed”, anyway, I wouldn´t let the hostel managers decide what´s “inappropriate”…

How to distinguish between reviews which always have been blank and deleted reviews:
– If you see the word “Comments:” and then nothing, the reviewer didn´t type a comment.
– If the word “Comments:” isn´t there either and the space where the comment is supposed to appear is a little bit darker the comment has been deleted.

I work in a hostel and figured this out by playing with this a bit, so what I said is no urban backpacker myth – you can believe it.

Please use your “customer power”:
– Do not book hostels with lots of deleted reviews – they are dishonest with you.
– If you submit a comment and it won´t appear, post it up in Forums like this or on BUG Europe.
– If your review doesn´t appear, email Hostelworld: act stupid and ask what´s going on there.

I have some comprehension for hostel managers who don´t want to get their business harmed by really inappropriate comments appearing on hostelworld, but as a traveller, I hate to be bullshitted. After all, I also wouldn´t read a newspaper which only prints good news about my government.

ORIGINAL: Aleckii

I just read the couchsurfing site you pasted. It’s such an interesting! But I am a little doubtful over it still… It is 100%safe yea?

ORIGINAL: nivid

Personally, I haven’t yet used Couchsurfing (however, I am a registered memeber — I just haven’t hosted or been hosted yet!). But I do know several people who have used it successfully. I guess it can’t be 100% safe, but it’s close enough to it. I’ve never heard anyone say anything negative about it.

ORIGINAL: Swimer127

theres some good stuff oon those sites thank you