Zostel Kochi (Ernakulam)

I had my hopes up prior to getting to Zostel. I was disappointed-I had picked the 6 sharong female dorm.. the rooms weren’t great. The AC doesn’t work. There’s insane amounts of mosquitoes all the time especially post sunset. The toilet flush was leaking and water was flowing the entire 3 days I stayed at the hostel. The fab regulator only runs on 1 speed. The staff aren’t as competent in their work. I jad originally booked for 2 nights and the morning of the check out. I extended my stay. However, the staff assumed I left and moved all my stuff from my bed and reallocated my bunk to a new booker. Absolute disaster

Well, well, well, what can I say about Zostel? Possibly one of the worst hostels I've ever had the displeasure of staying in. To put it in perspective, I've been travelling for many years and stayed in hundreds of hostels all over the world. In the interest of maintaining a balanced review, I will concede that we had a very warm welcome from the staff. The manager was very informative and gave us some really helpful advice on activities to do in and around Kerala. However, we were not impressed with the rest of the experience. I'm not a particularly light sleeper, but didn't manage to get a wink of sleep because other guests were coming & going throughout the entire night. This normally isn't an issue, but unfortunately these guests had zero respect for anyone else in the room. They were taking phone calls at 6am, listening to music loudly and clicking their fingers (amongst other very strange noises!) They were also leaving the doors wide open, letting in all the heat and mosquitos from outside. The communal areas were surrounded by random people sleeping... Which I've never seen before at a backpackers hostel. The social scene was dead as a dodo, and the local Premier Inn probably has more of a vibe. Don't come here if you're an international backpacker, they seem to cater more for locals. They don't seem to enforce the most basic policies that most other hostels do. On top of that, we politely gave the manager some constructive feedback about his hostel and received no apology. He seemed to get really defensive. We left after one night and he has so far refused to give us a refund for the other night we booked. Total waste of time and ruined our first day in Kerala. Avoid, avoid, avoid!

Great property and the property managers Asween were very kind and helpful. Overall stay was wonderful and the locality is also nice. Suggest solo travellers, couples and friends group to visit this place once. Budget friendly as well. Thanks.