FarnhamJames
ngày 27 tháng 8 năm 2024
The hostel is in a great location, recently modernised, clean, comfortable and fairly quiet. Unfortunately, the hostel owner was quite rude and aggressive to me, and totally unhelpful. I had booked and paid for my room a week in advance of coming. I had made it clear in my booking that I was coming by bicycle and would need a secure place to keep my bicycle. I did not get a reply to my request, but naturally assumed that it was not an issue. When I arrived in the early evening, being tired from having cycled 90km, I was told by the receptionist (who proved to be very helpful in the end unlike her boss!) that I could not bring my bicycle into the hostel. I was reluctant to leave my bicycle locked up outside due to its value. I explained to the receptionist that I had made it clear when I had booked that I would need a secure place to keep my bicycle. She called the owner and passed the phone to me, who spoke to me at great length about how he had spent a lot of money renovating the hostel and that I would cause damage by bringing my bike into the hostel. He then came to the hostel to explain this all again to me in person (at further great length!). I responded saying that I was not denying he had invested money in the hostel, but I had made it clear in my booking that I would need a secure place to keep my bicycle and that he should have declined my booking if couldn't accommodate my request. At first, the owner denied getting my request, then he finally conceded that he had, indeed, received it, but didn't have time to respond to all the e-mails he received. This was a feeble excuse to use. If it was an issue, he should have stated so at the point of receiving the booking. The only saving grace was the receptionist who was extremely helpful and recommended a public underground bicycle parking place, a short distance from the hostel, which had CCTV and bicycle racks to lock your bike to and the whole site was locked between 23h00 and 07h00. The receptionist was kind enough to take me to the parking place as I wasn't too sure where it was. It would have been nice if the owner hadn't been so aggressive and could have been equally polite and helpful as his employee was. After the initial episode of being concerned about where to keep my bicycle secure for the night, I enjoyed my stay and would recommend staying at the hostel, as it is conveniently located, comfortable and good value. If you're a cyclist, I do recommend the secure parking place (although the maximum stay is 24 hours) or you might wish to find another hotel that could provide a secure place to keep your bicycle.
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