Hostelworld

This review is regarding the hostel policy and refunds for cancellation. My visa was rejected 2 days before my travel date and as a result I had to cancel the hostel booking after the free cancellation period. Since this was unforeseen, I raised the matter of full/partial refund to HostelWorld and Hostel Bedgasm representatives. But both parties denied to even consider a partial refund and hence charged me ¥37,791.00 (USD 255) for 4 nights in Tokyo (For a trip I didn't get to take).

Search engine is awful, website is buggy.

Free cancelation but you've to pay them a fee that you never get back.

Site doesn't work as expected at all and sometimes hostels dont even get the booking.

Disappointed please avoid

I booked a hostel that said "free cancellation up to 5 days in advance" in the header field or in the confirmation section of the reservation.
I then cancelled within the free cancellation period and was charged a non-refundable deposit.
At the end of the "PROPERTY DESCRIPTION" section, there was an additional booking condition (a non-refundable €20 deposit is required for reservations over €120) in small print.
Usually, the booking terms are clearly and prominently stated in the header or on the confirmation page of the reservation.
Not once did any other booking site say "free cancellation" in the header and then put an additional booking condition in the "facility description" section.
I protested and asked for a refund from the hostel and Hostelworld, but when I finally received a response, the hostel replied, "It's written in the description section, so we can't give you a refund".
Terrible customer service with incomprehensible site description, I will never use this site again.

Even stranger, when I mentioned this to Trustpilot, they removed my review within 24 hours, saying there was "no evidence".
They are slow to reply to customer service, yet monitors the review site and deletes unsavory reviews immediately!

I booked a one night stay through hostelworld for a trip to New Orleans. The hostel required payment before staying so I entered my usual credit card that has never had any issues being processed. After getting off my flight in the city that evening I received an email saying my booking had been cancelled as the payment could not be processed and that I should try again with a different card. After a couple of calls with the hostel, they said it was too late for them to make another booking with them for that night so I had to find someplace else to stay. Thankfully there was one other hostel nearby that still had availability for that night so I booked that through hostelworld. After arriving at that hostel they too said that they couldn't process payment on my card, so I paid in cash. I have no idea why that card was declined through hostelworld it has worked everywhere I've been before and after booking through them. But as it turns out when I checked my statement hostelworld were able to process payment through my credit card and were happy to take their booking fee for both reservations I made through the site! Even though both hostels were unable to receive payment from my card via hostelworld. I'm lucky I was able to get into the 2nd hostel or would have paid hostelworld booking fees for the luxury of sleeping on a park bench in the rain. It would have saved me a lot of hassle just to book directly with the original hostel in the first place. Save yourself some stress and $'s and don't ever book through this useless website.

The lady from "HostelWorld' was very helpful in her email reply re, my question re, ID needed to check-in, that is, is a Debit Card sufficient or would a scan of a Passport photo page suffice, in an email I meant. She said to check the individual Hostel and that I could verify things with her if necessary, which was very reassuring as this is very important so that you can Check in without problems.

They provide a low quote just to lure you in, then raise prices. Then there are unauthorized charges and you can never get an answer from customer service. Cancellation is 14 days before the reservation, so they wait to answer, just to charge you full price.

Hostelworld is an absolute nightmare! The fees you see when booking are not the ones they actually charge you. When you notice this and try and ask their customer support for help they simply deny it and do nothing about it. Also the utter lack of transparency of the company and how they manage your data is concerning. You can't even delete your account on your own. Don't use it.

I confidently booked a room without being sure of my dates given the multiple large assurances of free cancellation. Turns out on tiny fine print which I only saw after I received a confirmation, the deposit is non refundable. And to actually cancel, your booking needs to show up in the app. Mine didn't. I spent five days cancelling it and only managed to do so because the hostel manager helped me. I sent 6 emails to Hostelworld with no result. Avoid!

It was a one off mistake, which I have forgotten and forgive.I will always book my holiday hostel with hostel world.

They replied within a few hours, very friendly and accurate service. I am very impressed and satisfied with it, will come back again :)

We want to write this as a warning to anyone who books here. We booked our stay here through HOSTELWORLD yesterday. We were presented with a price of roughly £200. After paying, we immediately (within 10 minutes) were billed for close to £1100. These were both taken directly from our bank account. It turns out that HOSTEL WORLD collects some sort of commission, and that they only displayed the commission price, and not the actual total. We were charged 2 payments, one from Hostel World, and another from Wombats.

We immediately contacted both Wombat & Hostelworld (within 15 minutes of booking). Wombat has ignored our emails and are not responding whatsoever. Hostel World basically said "Too bad, too sad. Should have read the fine print".

After reading a little bit more, it turns out that Hostel World is known for this scam. They display a price very different when you are booking, but then put the actual price very small and hidden. If you look of "HOSTEL WORLD SCAM" on google, you will find many people discussing this same issue. Please see the attached images I have included.

As for Wombat's, they are complacent in this scam as well. They have access to the same knowledge that we do in regards to Hostel World's less than ethical system, and still are registered with them. Wombat's could simply say that they are not affiliated with them, however my credit card was charged by WOMBATS own internal system within 15 minutes of making this reservation. This means that they are working directly with Hostel World.

Wombats is fully aware of this system, and yet they still continue to affiliate and pay commissions to Hostel World.

The fact that they ignore my emails is also telling of this situation, in that it must not be surprising to them.

Hostel World is a commission collecting 3rd party company that will charge your credit card immediately upon booking for amounts that don't necessarily match their advertising rates.

I guess Wombats could comment here saying it's better to book directly with them, which is probably the case, but this does not address the fact that they continue to work with a company that is specifically deceptive in it's core business model.

Again, please google search "Hostel World Scam" and be sure to read through the reviews. Also be sure to read through all of the negative before booking.

Also be aware that Wombats does not message you back in regards to this.

I have attached screenshots of the the prices that are listed on the their website, and the actual price I paid.

Beware of this.

If you file a public complaint, HostelWorld makes a smiling public response asking you to send them an email. In truth, that email is blocked, and you have to download an app if you want to talk. Of course if you download, there's just another layer waiting for you.

Hostel world making honest attempts to rectify upgrade 27 Aug

I had to cancel a booking immediately after making it since HostelWorld DID NOT show me the hostel's full guest rules/policies until AFTER I paid. Once I was able to read the full policy list, I realized that I would not be able to stay at the hostel and had to look for different accomodations asap. I asked HostelWorld for a refund and they were completely unhelpful and tried to guilt me instead. Said I "should have selected the flexible booking option." Oh really? How come I never saw this option at all or any type of additional insurance while I was booking my stay? So many important details are hidden from their website until you're already stuck with a reservation. This company is a joke that will just steal your money. Please don't waste your time with them and just book with the hostels directly.

I had a problem with a voucher, and customer service had it sorted very quickly with some helpful tips for the future.

If you change number of nights stays you lose a substantial sum of money - the hostel we stayed in confirmed we would only be chsrged one night ( reduced from 4) - hostel of the sun in Naples - but we were then charged 67 euro on top of 35 euro deposit paid - so 103 euro for a sub standard / basic room stay. Terrible service a very deceitful. We strongly recommend not using Hostelworld or hostel of the sun in Naples.

Hostelworld steals peoples money, I've paid 26euro as a pre-payment to book a hostel and I couldn't see the reservation confirmed on their app so I've sent an email. Days later they've come up with the money didn't come through but my bank says other way. I have the provision number and receipt but hostel world claims they didn't get the money and still doesn't confirm booking. Very good scam. Don't ever trust this agency.

I'm honestly quite surprised to see so many other people have bad reviews on hostelworld, it's quite unfortunate :( I'm a solo traveler on a budget so I love to stay at hostels. I've booked on their website about 5+ times now in both Korea and Japan and I've thankfully had no issues with it.

They have so many options to choose from around the whole country and their prices are usually the lowest too.

Another cool thing they have is the option to pay a bit beforehand and pay the rest up front. It's a nice option to have :) -- I've attached an example from my receipt

Call the hostels directly rather than book through this site. Don't be fooled by this corrupt company. I purchased a refundable overnight stay for my daughter as we knew her plans might change. Yet when I cancelled, I was never offered a refund. The hostile said it has nothing to do with Hostelworld.com and cannot refund the monies and Hostelworld.com did not send me a receipt of my cancellation so would be too hard to collect. $24 to learn a lesson I guess. Moral of the story, don't ever use this site again.

They charged me for a reservation on a hostel, only to find out later that it was fully booked and cancelled it without warning, hours before my arrival. Instead of giving back my money on my credit card or cancelling the transaction, they gave me a voucher, which I did not ask for, and refused to give me my money back.

Very unreliable, AVOID USING IT.
Very very bad experience and their support just ignored me.

I did some bookings during pandemic time, and the only thing that I get for the cancellation (it was a free cancellation), was some vouchers that the only discount that is made is for the deposit, what in normal is too low.
I have asked for the refund in cash, and they did not accepted, so I don't think that I will use that voucher, but what I have very clear is that I'm not going to use never again that web for the bookings

We made a booking to stay at Gram's Place in Tampa on Hostelworld, but when we showed up the evening of our reservation, we were told that there were no available rooms for us. We received no help at all in trying to find an alternate place to stay. We had no choice but to drive 4+ hours back home that same night. I would strongly caution anyone against booking through Hostelworld or attempting to stay at this location.

Refused to offer refund after paid extra to be able to cancel reservation. They also take a huge cut for themselves. Always book directly with the hostel.

A brilliant online business (hostel world) is a great way to find the cheapest and most luxurious hotels around the world. With the most competitive prices beating the majority of any other business by far on price matching and service. Next time booking a hotel I suggest and highly recommend hostel world 10 out of 10 for cheapest prices any where in the by far!.