Zostel Munnar

This was my first Zostel experience and I loved it so much. Located in a peaceful location, you'd love the view and sounds of the nature. My dorm was clean and everything was in proper condition. Food was great! I made many new friends here and had so much fun dancing with them and having bonfire. Zostel arranged few good things like bonfire and music. Loved the overall experience except for the sleep part. I think if you need sound sleep, private room is better than dorm coz people coming in dorm at anytime disturbes your sleep. Rest all good, 5* from me!

In short - it is dirty, noisy, with cigarette smoke filled everywhere. It's not a backpacker hostel. It's a cheap (not really so cheap anymore) place for groups and couples to smoke, drink, and make noise. Even the hostel encourages noise. They have kept huge speakers right in the reception on the ground floor where there's loud noise until 11:30-12 in the middle of the night. When complained the response was - people are having fun, we can't stop them from having fun. The rooms are dirty and are not cleaned properly. Bathrooms have mould, rooms have mould, lockers (those are barely lockers) have mould. Windows and doors are such that mosquitoes would enter effortlessly even when closed. Common areas are cigarette smoke filled, people even smoke at the entrance which is right next to reception. You walk on any floor in the corridor and there's a strong stench of cigarette all around. The sofas had a layer of dirt on that, looking almost like those were polished with dirt. Food is nice. But it's the only option really, because there's nothing else within few kilometres of that place. Also, if you don't have your own vehicle it will be difficult for you to get around - you should know that. Linen felt used. When I was checking out they were actually changing the linen and the "fresh" linen they brought was so soggy and slightly dirty. tl;dr: Do not go there for peaceful or backpacking hostel experience. It's not that place. Do you want to find an affordable place to go in group and party. Yup, that's the place. Also, the place is not at all clean and hygienic, especially the bathrooms; and linen.

We made a reservation here and had a family emergency. I canceled the reservation five days in advance, and they refused to refund the payment. They even had the nerve to tell me to “consider the situation from their perspective” without even acknowledging my family emergency. What an awful business.