The Elephant Hostel

Great first experience at a hostel!! No bed bugs, very clean, soooo pretty, awesome cafe, super nice and helpful staff, and right next to some amazing museums. Was surprisingly easy and smooth, too. Would come again and definitely recommend!

DO NOT STAY HERE. The only nice thing about this place is the lobby. Do not be fooled by the photos or other reviews. The photography makes it look like a decent place but it's not. We booked a room expecting to get a queen size bed and instead it was two twin beds pushed together. The mattresses were horribly uncomfortable and the beds weren't made. They asked us to make our own beds upon arrival, and then take the bedding off and place them in a bag and drop off at the front desk. Ridiculous. Half the staff was very friendly while others were unhelpful and seemed like they didn't want to be there. We asked for an extra towel, because they only gave us one medium towel per person. And they tried to charge us for an extra towel! We also heard people complaining about bed bugs in their beds! Luckily we didn't experience this but that was a big worry. This place was overpriced, not comfortable and very tiny. Just don't stay here.

Absolutely unacceptable experience due to management negligence. My friends and I had booked a 5-person private room at Elephant Hostel. When we arrived, we noticed a couple of bugs in the room but assumed it was an isolated issue. When we returned later that night to make our beds, we found multiple bugs on the bunks and crawling along the walls. We captured photos and videos, and a professional later confirmed that these were bedbugs. We discreetly brought a live specimen to the receptionist—who, to be clear, was kind, empathetic, and did everything within his power. The real issue was management, who repeatedly refused to engage and told staff the situation would not be addressed until Monday, despite clear, documented evidence of an active infestation. Because management refused to respond, we were effectively left without anywhere to sleep from around midnight until early morning. No alternative rooms were offered, no relocation assistance, and no real-time support of any kind. We spent hours calling hotels across Amsterdam in the middle of the night and ultimately had to secure emergency accommodation ourselves—packing five of us into a four-person room just to minimize cost. We then spent hours checking every piece of clothing and luggage to avoid bringing bedbugs home, because the hostel provided zero fumigation guidance or help. While the receptionist was professional and compassionate, this does not excuse management’s complete failure to address a public health and safety issue or assist guests who were suddenly displaced through no fault of their own. I strongly urge travelers to think twice before booking here until the hostel’s management demonstrates they can handle urgent guest safety issues responsibly and promptly.

I double checked the reviews when I arrived because while the hostel was nice it was nothing that justified a price of 270€ for three nights. Then I see that 4 months ago someone posted a review about bed bugs. I looked meticulously and there weren’t any in my bed so I stayed, only to find one on my last morning while getting ready to check out. They comped my last night but once I left I looked at the most recent reviews and found that merely one week earlier, another girl in this 6 bed dorm (for which we paid the highest price to not be in the 16 bed dorms) had been bitten several times while sleeping. So they were well aware this room (beds 416-422) has bedbugs and they are still renting it out!! This is unacceptable. Getting 50€ back was not worth the stress of having to spend two hours looking through all my stuff meticulously for bugs and eggs that afternoon. The staff seemed kind and understanding but also not surprised — not a good sign! Also they offer people a free coffee in exchange for a good review. So their reviews are flooded with generic reviews about the staff being nice and the bathrooms being clean which serve to hide the negative reviews about very serious things like bed bugs. I find it super disingenuous when places offer free things in exchange for reviews but I see why they do it as it works, I missed the bed bug reviews until it was too late!

Found bedbugs in our hostel bed - the staff was really nice about it and gave us a full refund but ended up having to book a hotel instead