Zostel Kochi (Ernakulam)

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!

AMAZING!! AWESOME!! TOO GOOD. I have been to 5 stars, 4 stars, 3 stars during my 17 years in Bangalore and finally in Kollam (Kerala) and during this this time, this is was my FIRST TIME in "Zostel" Ernakulam and it was WORTH every moment spent here. My booking was from 20th Aug to 23rd Aug 2023 (as I type this review, today was my checkout day) and being an introvert, for me, nature, peace, like-minded people WITHOUT ARROGANCE or show-off, is a MUST when I stay at a certain place. I FOUND THIS PLACE AT ZOSTEL where every person whom I made eye contact with, had a Genuine smile of 'Hi'. This was my FIRST TIME in a Zostel and I had booked a "Deluxe Private Room" as I was biking SOLO and the room was EXACTLY as shown in the pictures on the internet, like the balcony seating area etc and it was located a few meters away from the main road, so it was in a peaceful place. Coming to the "people in charge" of Zostel, the Owners Sreejith and Sheetal were amazing in their hospitality. Their other staff like Nusru, Asween, were equally amazing, friendly behavior and the OVERALL ATMOSPHERE in ZOSTAL was absolutely peaceful and we get to meet a lot of interesting and friendly people from north and south and they would all gel together, play games (yes, there were few indoor games) and there was also a small Cafe within the premises, which was very good too. Will I go back there again during my travels? HELL YEAH, I WILL. Thank you again to Sreejith, Sheetal, Nusru and Asween for a great stay at your property and Hope to see you again.