I don’t normally talk about the places I have stayed in during this trip. Mainly because it’s not my style and my readers may not be interested, and mainly because most hostels are distinctly……average.
Even if you find a hostel you really like, there is often usually at least one element that disappoints you; dirty or cramped showers, no cooking facilities, hard beds. You get the picture.
I have stayed at many good hostels on this trip, especially when it came to the staff or the guests and the overall atmosphere, but I’ve never found a hostel that ticked all of the boxes I was looking for. Until now. The Antique Hostel in Bucharest, Romania, was the nicest and friendliest hostel by far. This place is more like a hotel or guest house than a hostel (I even had a modern en-suite bathroom in the hostel room, which is very rare) and the couple who run it are genuinely interested in their guests having a wonderful time and sampling a taste of life in Romania.
Every morning, guests are treated to a freshly made breakfast, often consisting of meats, cheeses, vegetables, bread and eggs and accompanied by conserves which have been handmade by Andreea, the lady owner. Her homemade pate, jam and chutney were just delicious and it was little touches like that that made us feel like part of the family.
The large kitchen (another plus, because there’s nothing more annoying than wanting to save money by cooking your meals only to find an ill-equipped kitchen packed with guests heating up their super noodles) is filled with everything you could need. We ended up cooking almost every meal here while in the city, mainly because we had been deprived of cooking facilities in the days proceeding our visit, which had been pretty costly (and unhealthy – there’s only so much bread and greasy meat I can stomach).
One evening, there was a knock on our door and Bogdan (the male owner) told us that there were some traditional Romanian desserts waiting for us in the kitchen for after we had eaten dinner. He wanted us to enjoy a taste of some local delicacies, and they were absolutely delicious (they reminded me a lot of small French pastries).
If you are wondering where to stay in Bucharest, this should be the place. It is in a quiet residential area of the city – in fact, to walk down the street you wouldn’t even know it was a hostel – and it is a small new business just trying to find its place in a city full of bigger, and possibly cheaper, hostels. And yet the service and comfort you will receive here are unlike any other hostel I’ve ever stayed in. In fact, I would say the level of friendliness and service we received in Romania as a whole was of a much higher standard than some other parts of Eastern Europe.
If you don’t do it for me, at least do it to try Andreea’s breakfast. You won’t regret it.
- The Antique Hostel is located on Strada General Constantin Coandă in Bucharest and can be found on all the major hostel booking websites.
We were given a reduced rate on our stay at The Antique Hostel, but that did not affect the opinions expressed above. All writings are my own.
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