Review Insights · App Store
Hostelworld: Hostel Travel App
Web Reservations International · 75,950 ratings · ★ 4.9
4.9
★★★★★
75,950 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 48 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 · 33% of all complaints
★★★★★ "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 book…" - ZLCalifornia
2
"booking"
11 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "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 book…" - ZLCalifornia
3
"hostelworld"
9 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "No help for customers. Be warned if the hostel makes errors like overbooking Hostelworld will not help! You will lose the money." - J.Vengo
4
"service"
8 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "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 book…" - ZLCalifornia
5
"book"
8 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "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 book…" - ZLCalifornia
6
"refund"
7 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "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" - Suzidoodle
7
"charged"
6 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "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 book…" - ZLCalifornia
8
"customer"
6 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "No help for customers. Be warned if the hostel makes errors like overbooking Hostelworld will not help! You will lose the money." - J.Vengo
9
"hostels"
5 negative reviews mention this · 10% of all complaints
★★★★★ "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 book…" - ZLCalifornia
10
"through"
5 negative reviews mention this · 10% of all complaints
★★★★★ "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 book…" - ZLCalifornia
11
"find"
5 negative reviews mention this · 10% of all complaints
★★★★★ "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 h…" - Alison Olmstead
12
"booked"
5 negative reviews mention this · 10% of all complaints
★★★★★ "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" - johnypapapapapapa
📋 All 48 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").
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.
Scammed by Vienna city hostel
Hey this app had me reserve a hostel room in Vienna. When I arrived I couldn’t find the hostel when I called I was met with unprofessional Muslim women who said she overbooked I couldn’t stayed. Was ridiculed and a lied to by this report this hostel and report this app.
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.
No response, app do nothing.
A hostel canceled my trip no idea why. I still get charged by hostel world. Plus I have been emailing to hostelworld for my refund. no one is responding. They only charge you their part you pay at the hostel. . that way If you have a problem hostelworld wont take any responsibility
too much taxes
too much taxes
Marketing offers.
They send spam marketing push notifications with no ability to opt out of marketing offers inside the app.
DO NOT BOOK W THIS APP IT FKS LOCALS
This app charges a massive commission percentage to the host, such that hosts will compete with each other to drive down prices so much so because this platform only displays those hosts who pay the highest fee for the platform. So it becomes less about quality and more about who is willing to pay the highest commission to the app since they can choose what to pay. There are great hosts who will never get a booking, then terrible ones who will based on this. Just use this app as a reference then call the place and make the reservation like back in the old days because let’s be real, basically all these apps are terrible now.
Unbelievably Bad Business
Ridiculously difficult to obtain a refund or make a cancelation ..
Update: still Unable to login into my account.
I can’t login on the app nor access my reservation now. This is insanely frustrating, and I’ve tried to reach out for support but they just keep sending me useless links.
^still having this same issue…. I can’t manage my bookings on my phone
^still having this same issue…. I can’t manage my bookings on my phone
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★)