Review Insights · App Store
Hostelworld: Hostel Travel App
Web Reservations International · 76,902 ratings · ★ 4.9
4.9
★★★★★
76,902 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 46 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"hostel"
16 negative reviews mention this · 35% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Hotel prices. This app was great once upon a time…. But now, hostel dorms are costing the same as a hotel room on this app. I imagine it’s because of the fees built into the pricing on the app…. But the entire POINT of a hostel is cheap accommodation. No…" - Gatorgirl335
2
"booking"
11 negative reviews mention this · 24% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Poor functionality, worse customer support. I’ve been trying to cancel a booking for days and the live chat never has agents and directs you to submit a request. You get an automatic reply and the agent who eventually replies repeats the same thing, like they didn’t even read your re…" - HoshiReviews
3
"hostelworld"
9 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Unethical ways of handling business. Have previously had a great experience with Hostelworld. However, my recent interaction with their platform has completely soured my initial, positive opinion of them. I booked a hotel where I wasn’t able to check-in due to specific terms a…" - ccinhooo
4
"service"
9 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Unethical ways of handling business. Have previously had a great experience with Hostelworld. However, my recent interaction with their platform has completely soured my initial, positive opinion of them. I booked a hotel where I wasn’t able to check-in due to specific terms a…" - ccinhooo
5
"customer"
7 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Poor functionality, worse customer support. I’ve been trying to cancel a booking for days and the live chat never has agents and directs you to submit a request. You get an automatic reply and the agent who eventually replies repeats the same thing, like they didn’t even read your re…" - HoshiReviews
6
"book"
7 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Poor functionality, worse customer support. I’ve been trying to cancel a booking for days and the live chat never has agents and directs you to submit a request. You get an automatic reply and the agent who eventually replies repeats the same thing, like they didn’t even read your re…" - HoshiReviews
7
"been"
6 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Poor functionality, worse customer support. I’ve been trying to cancel a booking for days and the live chat never has agents and directs you to submit a request. You get an automatic reply and the agent who eventually replies repeats the same thing, like they didn’t even read your re…" - HoshiReviews
8
"experience"
6 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Hotel prices. This app was great once upon a time…. But now, hostel dorms are costing the same as a hotel room on this app. I imagine it’s because of the fees built into the pricing on the app…. But the entire POINT of a hostel is cheap accommodation. No…" - Gatorgirl335
9
"booked"
6 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Unethical ways of handling business. Have previously had a great experience with Hostelworld. However, my recent interaction with their platform has completely soured my initial, positive opinion of them. I booked a hotel where I wasn’t able to check-in due to specific terms a…" - ccinhooo
10
"refund"
6 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Unethical ways of handling business. Have previously had a great experience with Hostelworld. However, my recent interaction with their platform has completely soured my initial, positive opinion of them. I booked a hotel where I wasn’t able to check-in due to specific terms a…" - ccinhooo
11
"stay"
5 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Unethical ways of handling business. Have previously had a great experience with Hostelworld. However, my recent interaction with their platform has completely soured my initial, positive opinion of them. I booked a hotel where I wasn’t able to check-in due to specific terms a…" - ccinhooo
12
"deposit"
5 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Unethical ways of handling business. Have previously had a great experience with Hostelworld. However, my recent interaction with their platform has completely soured my initial, positive opinion of them. I booked a hotel where I wasn’t able to check-in due to specific terms a…" - ccinhooo
📋 All 46 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Poor functionality, worse customer support
I’ve been trying to cancel a booking for days and the live chat never has agents and directs you to submit a request. You get an automatic reply and the agent who eventually replies repeats the same thing, like they didn’t even read your request / issue. There is no support call center so emailing is the only option. I’ve been having this issue for days and now I’ve lost my free cancellation and have to pay 100% of the cost of my booking when I can’t make it to the reservation, all because their support is horrible and the app keeps crashing when I try to cancel my booking.
App not functioning with latest version
I used to always love this app but the latest update keeps me stuck on the first hostal I check with no exit out. It’s so weird and frustrating. I never ever had this problem with previous versions. You also use to be able to check ratings by age and dates, but I don’t see that.
Unethical ways of handling business
Have previously had a great experience with Hostelworld. However, my recent interaction with their platform has completely soured my initial, positive opinion of them. I booked a hotel where I wasn’t able to check-in due to specific terms and conditions. I rebooked with Hostelworld to another property in the same city. However, when requesting a refund for a hostel, that I did not even stay at (let alone checked in at), they denied the request several days later. This is absurd as when a service is not delivered upon, payment cannot be expected. However, they took their share of the cut (deposit), leaving the hostel itself without a single cent and me having to pay Hostelworld the deposit. I barely ever post reviews, but this predatory manner of doing business, is unethical and shameful, and therefore I must warn future users of the App.
Furthermore, their “4.9”- rating with over 50K ratings here on App-store is likely inflated as the public opinion of Hostelworld on online forums, is far less positive. I suspect they report and take down negative reviews as this one. If not, you have been warned.
Furthermore, their “4.9”- rating with over 50K ratings here on App-store is likely inflated as the public opinion of Hostelworld on online forums, is far less positive. I suspect they report and take down negative reviews as this one. If not, you have been warned.
Garbage app
They’re just trying to sell you something. They ignore all request to cancel account too. Scam
Bugs
Can’t sign up or sign in. Major issue
25% More than Booking Direct with Hostels
They overcharge by about 25% compared to booking direct with the hostels. I found this out after already booking about 3 weeks of hostels. I would understand a small service fee, but they charged 744 euros instead of 600 (the rate when booking direct through the hostel). 144 euros is an unreasonable service fee. Don’t make the same mistake I did.
Worst company ever
HORRIBLE HORRIBLE SCAM!! RUN!
Terrible for Japan
DONT USE IN JAPAN Tries to charge you 50x price
No help for customers
Be warned if the hostel makes errors like overbooking Hostelworld will not help! You will lose the money.
Fix the app/website!!!!
App interface is trash and glitchy. Tried canceling my booking after I booked it for personal reasons. My trips are not showing up
Issues booking with US credit card
Spent 30 mins trying to debug - kept giving me some weird error about having a power nap - turned out the declined message is hidden behind and not visible
Scam
The worst app
Horrible customer service
Both myself and the hostel owner have been trying to get ahold of customer service for days now and no response from Hostelworld. Never any agents to chat with and always saying to fill out the form but once you do no response or urgency on the companies part. Beware when using this App for accommodations that you will not have any support if things go wrong.
Fraudulent activity
There is no customer service whenever you submit any request, it will just be an automated response. I recently made a book showing, and there’s no way for me to it and I had to report fraud to my bank
Bad site, program glitches cost you big $$
They reformatted my personal information and bookings. Unable to see upcoming trips or full cancellations. Double booked because of this, and unable to get refund
False prices
This app shows one price, listed as “FINAL PRICE”, you pay a hold fee, take a bus all the way to the hostel, just to find out in the fine print it’s is actually over $100 more than the price you confirmed.
Just show me the real price, I could have gone somewhere within my budget to start with instead of getting run around and wasting my time traveling all the way to the hostel I booked for them to tell me it’s actually much more expensive than what I confirmed. Won’t be using the app again
Just show me the real price, I could have gone somewhere within my budget to start with instead of getting run around and wasting my time traveling all the way to the hostel I booked for them to tell me it’s actually much more expensive than what I confirmed. Won’t be using the app again
Terrible
I spent 100s of dollars an here and I can’t access my hostels because the app says my account does not exist. Then I try to make an account and it says that I already have one with that info. Unbelievable service.
Apple Pay
It’s 2025 - have Applepay as an option
doesn’t matter
i didnt understand that why it’s important to see people faces and their countries because it’s not. on booking app this is not like this because it’s not important. i don’t suggest to use hostelworld
This app is flawed!
I paid for one room in Amsterdam for 2 nights. When I checked in they said I have made a double booking on the same room and that I should contact Hostelworld for further information. I later contacted them and instead of helping me or emailing me back they straight up cancelled my booking because I was a “no-show”. In the end they charged me double for the same room and cancelled my booking!
The Brooklyn Riviera in Brooklyn
Found they don’t accept American citizens today per Email after I reserved a room!
Awful awful Customer Service
We attempted to book on this app. It showed that it would not allow the booking. We proceeded to book accommodation elsewhere but then was later charged by this app. The customer service has been extremely unresponsive on the issue, despite sending nearly ten emails. This is over 200€ for the booking
Scamming company
The charge you $50 just to book through them. An absolutely repulsive thing to do to their customers
Totally unreliable
The price is 2x higher than on the hostel website!
Scammers
ONE STAR ⭐️ I downloaded the app to use it while i traveled. They quoted me one price and when i got to the hostel i received another higher price of course. I sent an email to hostelworld and was told they are waiting for the hostel to respond. I never received an answer and it’s been weeks. I don’t understand why i was told one price and given another higher price in person with no explanation or written reason from the app or website. I say stay away from this app or be ready to pay higher rates than quoted. I have all my receipts and proof yet given nothing in return. What did they expect to happen? I gave them a long time to answer and respond but they seem to be too busy to respond now so i will take my time to respond here. Thanks again for the awesome one star service.
Poor customer service and user experience
The user interface is not designed well and charged me a fee when I accidentally cancelled a booking within only an hour of booking it.
Just don’t use it in morocco other countries maybe
The hostels might fraud you and cancel your booking a day before without any reason.
Most good places/rooms are only for females
Most good places are only for females. That’s the problem society now a days, gays/girls hate and jealously against/toward males/men
App error money taken without stay
App errors. I booked a hostel, the app went all the way to the end process to the payment screen loaded and then had an error and showed the booking full. So, I booked another hostel and it worked, when I went to my trips it showed the original hostel booked. So I cancelled one and requested a refund. I only got my deposit back as a credit that expires. Never received my full refund and the part I did receive was an app credit that expires. I reached out about both issues, never got a response.
Lack of integrity
Hostelworld charged me a deposit and directed me to a designated hotel for check-in. However, upon arrival, the hotel refused to accommodate us, claiming it was their issue and advising us to contact Hostelworld for a refund.
As a result, our two-night stay was both terrible and expensive. We were extremely frustrated and requested compensation through Hostelworld. However, they denied responsibility and told us to seek compensation from the hotel ourselves.
We encountered both a dishonest app and a dishonest hotel. It was a terrible experience-do not download this app. Absolutely awful!
As a result, our two-night stay was both terrible and expensive. We were extremely frustrated and requested compensation through Hostelworld. However, they denied responsibility and told us to seek compensation from the hotel ourselves.
We encountered both a dishonest app and a dishonest hotel. It was a terrible experience-do not download this app. Absolutely awful!
New Version is unusable
Used to rely on hostel world when I traveled. Redownloaded the app and it won’t allow me to sign in. Signed into the website fine but the app lacks functionality until basic usage issues are fixed
Please add an option to disable marketing push notifications.
Title.
Customer support is lame & condescending
The best function of this app is find Hostels to book directly with and it stops right there. Don't book through the app, you'll pay more And just as likely to screwed by fraudulent charges.
Unwanted marketing
Once you download the app, be prepared for loads of unwanted notifications telling you to “fall in love with travel again” by booking a hostel in Thailand or whatever. Not only did they not ask my permission to blow up my phone with marketing notifications, there is no way to disable them in the app.
Just book directly, cut out the middleman.
Just book directly, cut out the middleman.
They don't refund a deposit
I stayed one night in a hostel and before that I paied a deposit too. I made an inquiry about it and they this case is nonrefundable. They don't know the term of deposit.
Not Up to Date Information
Use Different Hostel Locator
Morons!
You get the app to sign in, it sends you to web....that says "Get App" to sign in! Just a piece of junk. Just goto Bookings .com
No need to require latest iOS
You can update your app w/lower build targets without requiring users to update to the latest iOS. That would mean only people with new iPhones can use your services, while blocking out users of older devices. Other apps don’t do this as often.
An honest review
The St. Christopher in Paris France is a dumb. The rooms are not maintained. Contact paper was used to cover the steal table, and was worn and torn. Someone had pealed back some of the contact paper only to have exposed other layers of contact paper from before. The floor are not real wood floors but are vinyl flooring that looks like wood and that too is also worn in places. The private bathroom door handle was broken and just hanging there. The staffs response when I told them about the bathroom door was, “That’s a private bathroom what are you doing in there?” Not we will have maintenance fix that right away. By the way I have photos and I showed them to the staff and they could care less! Also be very careful what you book because the hostel doesn’t describe the rooms as dormitory rooms. You don’t find that out until you book your room. This was by far the worst experience that I have ever had staying someplace!!! The free drink that you get when you check in is for either a pop/soda Pepsi products, or a glass of juice. Also the free drink special at 20:00/8:00P.M is some sort of sweet drink that they make up in large batches, and if you are a nonalcoholic drinker like myself, you are out of luck because they will not offer you a free soda, an 0.0 alcoholic beverage. This establishment gets a 1 star from me.
Scam
Keep your money
👉🏽 Read the critical reviews. 🧐
🙄 So many issues… It’s a mixed bag, but it’s really better to bypass Hostelworld and instead reserve directly if you can.
Hold on to your wallet! 💸
Hold on to your wallet! 💸
Not user friendly
App should be more user friendly. You can’t even update your email address after signing up.
Hotel prices
This app was great once upon a time…. But now, hostel dorms are costing the same as a hotel room on this app. I imagine it’s because of the fees built into the pricing on the app…. But the entire POINT of a hostel is cheap accommodation. Not spending $70-$100 per night to share a room with 4 strangers. What used to be a wonderful & rich travel experience has been bought out by corporate greed and greed has no limits. Well, I’m certain that soon people won’t be paying these prices since backpackers usually want to save money and have cheap accommodation, especially when sharing a room with a bunch of people.
I wish there was a way to view an area outside of the town you searched for
I wish I could zoom out of the map and find off the beaten places because right now you need to know either the town name or the hostel name to find them. It would be cool to be able to zoom around the entire map and find places you never heard of. I think it’s possible on android but not iPhone.
Can’t save anything of use
For some reason you can’t do anything with your wishlist while looking at it? Lol you have to stumble across it again in a search THEN you can remove it or book it. Useless feature. Can’t even see stays I book. I’ve had to make multiple new accounts. Worst travel app ever honestly
Unreliable
I have have booked several hostels through Hostelworld, and have generally had a fairly good experience. However, I recently booked a hostel non refundable, and paid the deposit through Hostelworld, after which the hostel send me a pdf looking email with a link which took me to a site where I was told to put in my credit card information. I obviously did not do this, after which my stay was cancelled, which is understandable. What I do not understand however, is that I was not given a refund for the hostel, as I was not the one who canceled the stay, but rather the hostel. Furthermore, I tried to contact customer service regarding this, and was stuck in the live chat for nearly two hours with a message saying that a representative will be with me soon. I did not get help. For this reason I do not recommend the app
Sentiment summary
98%
Positive (4-5★)
1%
Neutral (3★)
1%
Negative (1-2★)