Dublin · Ireland
Clink i Lár
Bed bug reports
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Confirmed Hostelworld
Pros: The staff is nice & the location is ideal. I felt safe there. Cons: It’s incredibly dirty. The sinks & toilet are absolutely gross; there’s mold on one of showers, always lacking toilet paper. I didn’t have a pillowcase & had to ask for sheets but the worst part is I got bed bug bites. One of my other mates got bites as well. The floors were sticky for days in my dorm - no one came to clean them. It’s just all around really dirty & the moral was low in my dorm due to it.
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Confirmed Google Maps
Great location in the center. Self check-in. Luggage room available with fees. Stayed one night and got bite under the duvet while asleep by most probably a bed bug or something similar. I was too tired, I just kept sleeping. I got 6 bites on my arm. I was in 702-01 on 6 oct. please check that.
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Confirmed Booking.com
The bed sheets are not clean they itch and have bedbugs which is very disappointing and does not meet the minimum hygiene standards
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Confirmed Hostelworld
Stayed here twice, first time was absolutely amazing, second time was great as well I just got eaten alive by bed bugs :/
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Confirmed Booking.com
Room were not clean, bed sheets were dirty, mattress were with bed bugs elevator were only 2 for the whole building so you have to wait long time. Room service provided only after your 3rd night !!!!
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Confirmed Hostelworld
Good vibes and great spot in town No bed bugs
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Confirmed Google Maps
I don’t usually write reviews but I do feel like it’s worth giving a heads up for potential deal breakers if you’re considering this place. like many reviews state, no working outlet or light in the bed but there are wall outlets in the rooms. saw this baby roach I pictured. woke up to what sounded like fire alarms over and over one morning, don’t know what that was about. they charge you €5-7 to store your bags which is a first in all my hostel experiences the past 4 months. €12 for laundry and my clothes were soaking wet coming out of the dryer. had to buy a specific lock thats compatible with their lockers for €7. was verbally assaulted by a man in my dorm room, not the hostels fault however when I was moved into a new room I investigated my new bed to find what appeared to be small feces stains all over the entire mattress. I didn’t stick around to find out but this can be a sign of bed bugs. The entire staff the night of the incident with the other guest in my room was really understanding, 3 brunette guys, one was really tall, wish I got their names but he escorted me to the room to get my stuff and was super kind. I did end up getting my requested refund and cancellation so appreciate the way things were handled and I think the staff did the best they could but would not ever stay here again.
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Confirmed Booking.com
Hello, Upon our stay at your hostel last night we came across a problem. We were a group of five of wich several had bites and itching after the morning. We checked the bites and on several persons they were simiral to those of bed bugs. I would like to send you photos to show you wich is why I asked for you e-mail. This is something we take very seriously as this had some consequences. We all had to was all our travel stuff and clothes several times etc. For a stay in a hostel wich costs us 180 euro, wich is a lot, this is unacceptable. I do hope you take this as seriously as we do and we expect a compensation. We feel responsible for other travelers like us and would like to alert them for problems like this. Kind regards, Oumeima
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Possible Booking.com
El colchón ha sido el peor de toda mi vida. Se sentían los resortes y el último día tenía piquetitos en los pies (chinches?)
HostelPunk native reviews
First-party field notes
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Vibe Analysis
Right in the middle of Dublin, a couple of minutes from Temple Bar, with trams and taxis and most of the city walkable. The location is the strongest thing it has going. It's a tall, fairly new building done up with bright, colorful graphic design, and the bar downstairs doubles as the main hangout, with a pool table and a sociable buzz for meeting people over a drink. There is no kitchen and no cooking facilities, not even a microwave, and outside food and drink generally aren't allowed. This isn't flagged clearly when you book, so plan to eat out every day. That cuts into the usual money-saving point of a hostel, and it gets sharper because almost everything else costs extra too: towel rental (around 5-6 euros), luggage storage lockers before check-in or after check-out (roughly 4-10 euros for a few hours), a guaranteed lower bunk (about 3-6 euros), and early check-in. It can feel like a budget airline for exactly this reason. Breakfast is around 9-10 euros, billed as a full Irish but often turning out to be bland scrambled eggs, potatoes and beans, frequently run empty and slow to refill. Check-in is the other recurring pain point. It runs through self-service kiosks or tablets with usually one staff member to cover a crowd, so queues of 20-30 minutes are common, and there are repeated mix-ups: charged for early check-in that wasn't given, wrong room categories, mixed-sex bookings landing someone in a single-sex dorm, and the assigned bunk not matching what was paid for. Keycards can be unreliable, and forgetting one in the stairwell has left people locked in for 20 minutes or more. Cleanliness is inconsistent and often poor. Bed linen is handed over with stains, hair, or worse, and you typically make your own bed on arrival. Rooms and bathrooms sometimes go uncleaned across multi-night stays, bins aren't emptied, and bathrooms can smell of mould. The bathrooms are tiny, often with no toilet lid, no shower screen or curtain (so water floods the floor), and no hooks or shelf for your things. Rooms run small and spartan, closer to a prison or jail cell than a bedroom. Beds are frequently hard, and bunks sit so tight to the wall they're awkward to make. Sleep can be a struggle. Many windows either don't open or only crack a few centimeters, and several have no proper blackout, so early sunrise wakes you. The AC tends to be central or automatic, noisy, and can't be controlled at the bed; when it shuts off around midnight, upper bunks can get uncomfortably hot. On top of that, construction next door has been starting around 7AM with loud drilling and hammering, and large school groups of teenagers run and shout in the halls again and again. Staff are genuinely mixed: some are warm and helpful, and a few are lovely, while others are curt, dismissive, or unhelpful when problems arise.
Signals to check
- No kitchen, microwave, or cooking facilities, and outside food and drink generally aren't allowed, so expect to eat out every day.
- Many things cost extra: towel rental, luggage storage lockers, a guaranteed lower bunk, and early check-in.
- Cleanliness is unreliable; linen can arrive stained or with hair, and rooms and bathrooms sometimes go uncleaned for days. You usually make your own bed.
- Bathrooms are very small and often lack a toilet lid, shower screen, hooks, or shelf, and can flood or smell of mould.
- Check-in runs through self-service kiosks with few staff, leading to long queues and frequent booking and room-assignment errors.
- Sleep can be hard: windows that barely open, weak blackout, noisy central AC that shuts off at midnight, early-morning construction next door, and loud school groups.
- Rooms are small and basic, beds are often hard, and the price can feel high for what's offered.
- Some staff are friendly and helpful, while others are curt or dismissive, especially when problems arise.
- Isolated but serious hygiene incidents have occurred, including a bed bug, used condoms in rooms, and unclean shared areas.
- Booking changes and cancellations have been handled poorly, with charges kept after cancellations and a late arrival's reservation cancelled.