It took me awhile to find the right hostel for me when I was looking for a place to stay in Bucharest. I would find one, book the reservation and then find a different place where I wanted to stay. Then I would cancel the first booking and go with the second one I found. It felt like it was an endless cycle until I found the perfect hostel for me; Crazy Duck Hostel.
Location
It was a bit confusing trying to find the hostel. Should I say it was a bit confusing getting off the train in Bucharest and trying to acclimate myself to the area right away. I did the only thing I could. I broke down and took a taxi to the hostel. It took the guesswork out of trying to find out when I stepped foot in the city for the first time. My suggestion to anyone staying in Bucharest is to take the taxi to where you will be staying. Taxis are cheap; paid around $8 US dollars to get me from the main train station to Crazy Duck Hostel.
Upon arriving at the hostel, I had to acclimate myself to the area and found the hostel really is close to a lot of places. Cismigiu Gardens is half a mile away, Parcul Izvor is literally straight down the street from the Gardens as long as you keep going straight and not turn onto any side streets. Now the only thing I couldn’t find and supposedly it is 800 meters away from the hostel is Eroilor Metro Station. I ended up using the metro station right by Parcul Izvor and walking from there to the hostel. It was a nice little walk up a slight incline when you get past the Gardens but it isn’t far from where Crazy Duck Hostel is located. If I had to guess then I would say it was less than a mile from the hostel. Another thing to note is that Old Town is easily accessible from the hostel if you want to walk there.
Rooms
The rooms were good. I say rooms since I had a private room the first as well as the last two nights of my stay at Crazy Duck Hostel. In between those nights, I stayed in a four bed dorm with bunk beds.
I am not crazy about bunk beds since I sometimes get stuck with the top bunk and have this fear I am going to fall off the bed. In this instance, I was the first person checked into the dorm thus I had my pick of which bed I wanted. Of course, I am going to choose the bottom bunk. Linen and towels were included in both types of accommodations I had. There were a couple of downsides to the dorm. There isn’t any number on the beds so you need to leave something on your bed so someone checking in will know that bed was taken. The locker you are given is small; don’t expect to get your backpack or suitcase in there if your luggage is big. They won’t fit in the locker. I had a big backpack but was able to compress the front of it down in order to get it to fit in the locker. Otherwise, it would have had to stay on my bed when I was out during the day. The dorm does have ensuite facilities which are nice in that you don’t have to walk down the hallway to use the bathroom or take a shower.
As for the private room; I loved it! It was perfect. If I had known how much I would have loved the private room then I would have booked it for my entire stay. Alas, I was lucky enough to switch from the dorm I had for the last two nights back to a private room. Yes, I had originally booked the dorm for the last five nights of my stay…. Anyway, the private room was ensuite (of course) and came with a television which I loved. It was a great way to come back to the room and enjoy a bit of television before crashing for the night. I highly recommend staying in one of the private rooms!
Facilities
There is a lounge area for your use. It is located in the room opposite the kitchen. You would go through this room to get to the guest kitchen. Great kitchen! It had that feeling of me being back home using my own kitchen. I used it a couple of times when I brought something back from one of the mini markets for breakfast or one of the many street vendors for dinner. Breakfast is not included. I am not sure when the kitchen closes since I used it during the time that you would find kitchen facilities open to its guests. There is a small bathroom located along the way to the kitchen for guests visiting the hostel. As stated above, dorms and private rooms were ensuite and had their own bathroom facilities in the rooms. Wi-Fi can be accessed throughout the hostel and didn’t have any problems accessing it when I was staying here. You will need the password to access the Wi-Fi which you receive upon check-in. Safety is top priority. You have keycard access to the front door along with keycard access to your room. Security cameras are located in the reception area for the staff to keep an eye on who is coming and going through the front door of the property.
Atmosphere
It had a laid-back atmosphere to it. You could sit outside by reception and talk to your fellow travelers. It was easy to make friends if you were sharing one of the dorm rooms with others. I am not sure what activities may have been provided since I walked around the city on my own or used the metro when I was here.
The Staff
The staff was very accommodating and helped me whenever I needed answers to my questions or help getting around the city. I was given a map of Bucharest when I was trying to find one of the parks and was given help with directions on how to get there. Along with the map, they gave me other ideas for places to see while I was in the city. They even helped me with the best way to get from the hostel to the train station when I headed to Sinaia for the day; explaining I only needed to take the M1 to the station and use the same M1 to get back to the hostel without transferring at metro stops. As for changing rooms, my backpack was kept safe at reception while I waited for the other room to be ready for me to move into it. Someone was always at reception…. Ready to help out when needed.
Summary
Crazy Duck Hostel ended up being in the perfect location for me; near a couple of parks along with easy access to the metro and Old Town. As for the building itself, it is secure and you feel safe staying there. Though I would recommend not staying around the holidays, it could get extremely loud past midnight as the noise carried to where you were sleeping. One night I was woken up around 4 am to the voices coming from other guests. Quiet hours were from 11pm – 7am but didn’t feel they were enforced during the first two days I was staying there; Easter Sunday and Monday. After those two days past then the quiet hours seemed to be in effect. This hostel is still a good choice but would recommend not staying near the holidays if you want to sleep through the night.
More Info
Check out their website if you would like more information on Crazy Duck Hostel or want to book your stay here.
Address: 130 Stirbei Voda Str, Bucharest 010119
Phone : +40 744 648022
Price: : Subject to change
Photos courtesy of Crazy Duck Hostel
Disclaimer – I was not compensated by Crazy Duck Hostel for this review. This is solely my own opinion/experience in staying here.
