Tag: Youth Hostel

  • Chillout Hostel Zagreb – Hostel Review

    Chillout Hostel Zagreb – Hostel Review

    Want a central hostel in the heart of everything while in Zagreb? After spending one night in this traveller friendly hostel/hotel combo, we wanted to share more! The Chillout Hostel has the best of both worlds; hostel dorms for the budget friendly extrovert, and hotel and private facilities for those liking a bit more privacy!

    Carry on reading to hear about our experience in this hostel, and why you should be staying here for your next Zagreb trip!

    *This post contains affiliate links, which we may earn from. This does not come at an additional cost, but helps us to pursue this dream 🙂

    Chillout Hostel in Zagreb
    1. Chillout Hostel Zagreb, Croatia
      1. Chillout Hostel Location
      2. Private Room Experience
      3. Other Rooms Available
      4. Social Areas
      5. Bunker Nightclub
      6. Tours available
    2. Would we recommend staying at the Chillout Hostel?
      1. Is it worth the cost?
    3. Our favourite must-needed travel resources
      1. Where to Fly
      2. Where to Stay
      3. Where to Explore
      4. Where to get Connected
      5. Where to be Protected
    4. Our Top Traveller’s Essentials
    5. Thank you for reading our review of the Chillout Hostel in Zagreb!

    Chillout Hostel Zagreb, Croatia

    Chillout Hostel Location

    Situated in the heart of Zagreb city centre, Chillout Hostel is in Ilica 16, right next to all of the landmarks, nightlife, shops, restaurants and more! Just on the doorstep you will found countless things to do and see! It is also near tram links, meaning easy access around the rest of the city!

    The hostel itself shares areas with the Timeout Heritage Hotel, so you will enter the same entrance for both!

    Private Room Experience

    For our stay, we stayed in a private room, with private en-suite bathroom. This came at €60 per night for 2 people.

    To begin with, the room was beautiful and extremely unique! The walls were covered in a newspaper print, with fascinating and quirky stories printed throughout! It then had green and gold accents… it really was stunning! The room had high ceilings and a balcony (somewhat communal? It was chained off between rooms but still visible to other rooms).

    We had a double bed which was comfy, a full length mirror, a vanity dresser, wardrobe and fridge to keep things cool! (Please don’t forget to grab your snacks though… as sadly we forgot our chocolate in there 😦 …)

    The bathroom was very clean. We had a sink with a large mirror, then a shower cubicle with a GREAT water pressure… oh the little things in life! The flooring even had glitter running throughout!

    We were also given an electronic key card for entry, which also gives you additional perks which we will explain a bit further down!

    Other Rooms Available

    Within the Chillout Hostel, you can book a standard double en-suite (which we booked), a mixed dorm of 6 bunk beds (from around £30), or a mixed dorm of 4 bunk beds (from around £35).

    The dorms include their own en-suite bathrooms, and as many European accommodations, you will need to pay a city tax additionally.

    Social Areas

    The hostel had many social areas!

    We decided to have a drink in the rooftop terrace the evening we arrived- there is a great cocktail menu, it just depends what your budget is as most cocktails were €10+. The terrace was busy, staff were attentive, and music was playing etc!

    Another area was the downstairs seating, which you would’ve walked through to reach check out! Although we didn’t sit here, we saw many people using this as a working area in the morning, but a social area in the evening!

    Bunker Nightclub

    Now this was fun! Additional to the social areas mentioned above, this hostel features it’s own built in nightclub!

    We mentioned the key cards didn’t we? So, the entry fee of the nightclub is squashed once you show your key card, meaning free entry to their club!

    Each night is themed different, with our stay falling on the 00’s disco night! However, it was mores a late 00’s-10’s music, with the odd more modern song included!

    The club was split into different areas, with extremely cool neon graffiti throughout! The drinks were a little expensive, however that is to be expected in most night-clubs.

    Tours available

    At the hostel desk you will find different posters and leaflets, including some discounts for tours! One of the discounts included is for the museum of hangovers, something we will soon be sharing about!

    Just ask at the front desk for any assistance.

    There is also a group chat you can join, telling you about anything happening at the hostel!

    Would we recommend staying at the Chillout Hostel?

    We would recommend staying at the Chillout Hostel! It was in such a great location, with clean facilities and friendly staff. You can book it here.

    Is it worth the cost?

    For a capital city hostel in Europe, we did think the price was okay! In comparison to local hotels we couldn’t really complain!

    There was a few cheaper options, but for this location and the nightlife we are happy with our choice!

    Where to Fly

    Trip.com – Find amazing flight deals, with over 2 million flight routes, and being one of the world’s leading online travel agencies.

    Kiwi – Use Kiwi’s amazing service that is pioneering in the flight space! They use virtual interlining, which means they can provide seamless connecting flights into one single itinerary!

    CheapOair – Being one of the fastest growing online travel companies in the US, CheapOair offers great flight deals, hotel rooms, rental cars and more!

    Where to Stay

    Booking.com – Offering over 28 million accommodations to book, we will always use booking.com! Having a rewards system built in, the more you book, the more perks you get!

    HostelWorld – You cannot budget travel without hostel world! Having over 17,000 hostels, boasting over 13 million reviews, hostel world is one our of top websites for budget travel! They are now offering more ways to meet people abroad, with meet ups, group chats and more available!

    Vrbo – Find stunning vacation rentals with Vrbo! Offering over 2 million paid listings in 190 countries, find memorable experiences with this accommodation service!

    Where to Explore

    Viator – A trip advisor company, viator offers over 300,000 experiences over 200 countries, including water sports, walking tours, boat trips, food tastes tours and more! Including activities for many budgets, check out Viator!

    Eat With – Experience authentic travel experiences with locals worldwide! Use eat with to book unique and intimate dining experiences, such as dinner parties in big restaurants, big feasts with a local family, cooking classes with a local and more!

    Get Your Guide – Book unique (and common too!) experiences and activities worldwide, including skip the line tickets to big attractions worldwide!

    Where to get Connected

    Airalo – With over one million people using Airalo, it is our go to eSIM provider for our worldwide trips! Having data packs from over 200 countries, find combined area packages and deals to suit your travel style and data needs!

    Where to be Protected

    ETKA – Every age from 3 to 85 can buy ETKA’s travel insurance, offering multilingual 24/7 chat support, and your insurance policy within 2-3 minutes!

    Backpack – Osprey Farpoint 40 – This backpack is a staple amongst many travellers! Being a lot cheaper than the luxury brands, this is a quality backpack from a well known brand. It boasts quality durability, is lightweight with a great framework and is a great option for most people! This backpack has a hip strap to help carry the bag, a breathable harness strap, and comes in multiple colours!

    Compression Packing Cubes – Compression cubes are our favourite packing accessory! These cubes are similar to the normal packing cubes, but feature a compression zip, meaning you can compress your clothes down… this makes packing easier, limits the space you are using, and means more room for souvenirs etc!

    Powerbank – Don’t lose power when travelling! It isn’t always guaranteed to find charging ports, so we would always suggest carrying a spare power bank, just incase you do run low on power when you need it!

    Universal Travel Plug Adapter – Most backpackers/travellers visit multiple countries during one trip. And that means it isn’t guaranteed you will be using the same plug head during each place. A universal plug is great as it lets you switch between each plug head style all in one item! We love ours, it has USB slots meaning multiple items can be charged at once.

    Find our full packing list guide here.

    Thank you for reading our review of the Chillout Hostel in Zagreb!

    If you would like to support our own travel Journey, please check out all our other blogs, and subscribe to the newsletter where we are currently uploading daily blogs!

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  • Riad Verus Review: Top Budget-Friendly Hostel in Fez, Morocco

    Riad Verus Review: Top Budget-Friendly Hostel in Fez, Morocco

    The best hostel in Fez? Riad Verus is a budget-friendly hostel that is a must-book location for a Moroccan trip!

    We spent one week in Morocco, exploring Fes, Meknes and Rabat, as budget travellers! We had the most beautiful time; experiencing Moroccan culture, trying local cuisine, exploring local areas… it was such an amazing last minute trip!

    Having 2 nights in Fez, we stayed at one hostel, called Riad Verus, and we had such an amazing time! So, here is our review on staying at this central hostel in Fez, Morocco!

    We were gifted two nights at this hostel, however these views are genuine and our fully our own. Please let us share all the positives and negatives of our stay!

    *There are affiliate links in this post – they do not come at any extra cost to you, but just means we can earn commission to help us pursue this further 🙂

    Riad Verus

    The Basics

    Riad Verus is a Riad-style hostel in the heart of the famous Fez Medina in Morocco. With easy access to the winding Medina streets, this hostel is in a prime location for travelling around Fez, at a budget friendly cost. Starting from only around £7.50 per night in dorms, breakfast is included within the cost, and private rooms only costing around £24, which is great for couples and friends!

    With friendly and welcoming staff, Riad Verus hosts many different social events; while we were there, we got to experience breaking fast for ramadan with our entire hostel guests, with a full selection of traditional moroccan foods provided by the hostel. We then went upstairs for popcorn, shishas, and time to relax!

    This hostel wouldn’t be our top social hostel we stayed at, but this might just be due to guests at the time! However, there is definitely option to socialise- since we visited during ramadan, this might’ve slightly affected our experience of socialising! This is a great budget friendly option for the location especially! It was extremely clean, and the atmosphere was great!

    The Room

    We stayed for two nights in Riad Verus, in dormitory rooms! This is very common when booking hostels, as many budget backpackers always tend to reach for the cheapest option! Our dorm was a mixed dorm of 10 beds, with an en-suite provided for all guests in the room. Each bed is provided with a blanket which can be quite rare when staying in hostels, and provided a cosy aspect! The beds were built into a brick structure, so there wasn’t the risk of rickety beds, or having to worry about the person above/below. Each bed had a reading light, and charging socket access. There is locker access below the bottom bunks, but these aren’t massive.

    The bathroom in our dorm room was clean, with one toilet, one shower, and one sink. The door to the bathroom wasn’t extremely secure in our dorm, however this is easily helped by being communicative with your roommates, or if you are travelling with someone just ask them to watch the door! Some were quite ‘sticky’ doors, but this is understandable for an old building like this one! Everything worked well, the shower was great and had a lot of room, we wish there was an additional sink (or larger sink area), but it was enough!

    The Hostel

    The hostel comprised of 5/6 floors, with very steep stairs. This hostel wouldn’t be an accessible friendly one due to no lift access. We do understand this due to the type of building it is, however, it was a bit of a struggle for Aimee when she was unwell, so this is important to keep in mind. The hostel itself was an extremely beautiful building, boasting traditional Riad features and colourful atmospheres.

    There were toilets littered across the hostel on each floor allowing for easy access. As you enter the hostel, there is a small communal area which has books available to borrow, and is a common place for travellers to meet and get to know each other. In this area there is a luggage room which is great to leave your belongings when you arrive before check-in or have just checked out, however this is not locked, so leaving your bag is at your own discretion.

    There is also an upstairs area on the top floor, which has a variety of seating areas, games, and an even higher upstairs terrace area overlooking Fez. We particularly liked the upstairs over the downstairs common area, due to many choosing to socialise in this area. They included popular games such as cards against humanity, jenga, cards etc, all free to use! There was also shisha access, which we were given free the first night of our stay, after we broke fast with the hostel! The area had many sofa and seat styles, and different areas on this one floor at slightly different heights, so there was the option to ‘seclude’ yourself slightly if you did want a bit of peace! The upstairs had a retractable sun roof, so in the morning it was also really bright and airy! They even had some hostel tortoises in a little area!

    Riad Verus View from the Terrace

    Breakfast was served upstairs, giving a variety of foods for a hearty breakfast! There was vegetarian options which we thought was great! We were served a muffin, bowl of fruit, a sandwich with egg, avocado, meat and cheese, a granola/yogurt bowl and a type of samosa each! Considering this was included in the stay we were more than impressed. We were also given fresh orange juice, and then unlimited traditional Moroccan tea throughout the stay.

    Breakfast selection for two at Riad Verus

    Would we stay again?

    We would happily stay at Riad Verus again! We would prefer a lower ground room, only due to after long days of walking the stairs aren’t fun! For the price especially we really think this hostel is a great find, and we understand why they are a top voted hostel with Fez!

    We wouldn’t have many faults to majorly point out, more so just preference of not liking the steepness of the stairs, and some building features that are showing ‘ageing’, such as some issues with the doors. But honestly we wouldn’t deter staying for that reason!

    You can find a direct link to the hostel here, where you can book on HostelWorld.

    Riad Verus – The Best Hostel in Fez!

    We hope you enjoyed our review of Riad Verus in Fez, Morocco! Want to learn more about Morocco? Check out our Fez Itinerary, Things to do in Meknes , and things to avoid in Morocco.

    If you would like to support our own travel Journey, please check out all our other blogs, and subscribe to the newsletter where we are currently uploading daily blogs!

    Check out our Social Media’s below! We share our daily activities, all of our budget friendly travel tips, travel inspiration and more!

    Finally, share this post with your friends! Let’s build those travel plans and make memories!

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