Maria Hostel

The WiFi is down sometimes and many lockers are broken. The kitchen sink gets clogged sometimes and the bed sheets might be a bit thinner than expected. Most of the hostel looks old and worn. I don't expect every traveler to be happy here. It's not for everyone. So how come I say it might be my "favorite hostel anywhere"?: 1) The staff is remarkably friendly. So much so, it seems that the friendliness spreads as a serendipitous contagion. Plus they're honest. I mean, they won't pretend that everything is perfect, but they'll bend over backwards for you if you need something - I asked for a fan, an iron, etc. 2) The location can't be beat. It's my favorite part of the city, just down the street from the very active and popular Jesuit church called the Sacred Heart Church. You are about a three-minute walk away from the Körút (the Ring Road) and a tram and metro station but you can easily walk to any of the major sites and see beauty all the way there and back. 3) The architecture is magical. It is authentic Budapest with a charming courtyard where guests socialize on the balconies or at the tables below. It seems many guests can't stop taking photos of it. Details such as these balconies or the 19th century stone/wrought-iron stairs take you back about a century and a half. Part of the charm is that very little seems to have been replaced with modern fixtures. Here you feel you are in Budapest, even if you stay at the hostel. 4) It's not crowded. The courtyard is spacious. The kitchen is large, functional and equipped with anything I've needed for cooking. There's plenty of room to organize yourself inside the rooms. Every room I see has enough desks and comfortable desk chairs. 5) There are desks of course because this is a student dormitory for architecture students when universities are in session. 6) There's a kind of personal touch here that I don't believe I've seen quite like this in other hostels. It seems to me the staff even puts thought into who would like whom as roommates. 7) The security at the entrance is excellent (as you need to be buzzed in by building or hostel staff and you can arrive anytime. When I missed my flight, I returned at 2 AM and they have enough rooms and beds so I was able to get a room! 8) The guests were incredibly diverse from practically every corner of the world! 9) There are very few rules compared to other hostels, yet everyone seems to behave. The only rule in the kitchen is to clean up after yourself. There's a rule for quiet after 11 PM and the balconies are locked at midnight. It's amazing to me in retrospect that nobody misbehaved during the week and a half I stayed there. Surely appreciative guests would make sure any oddball behaves, but I don't remember seeing any oddball anyway! :) 10) It's a hostel that is appropriate for any age group. I saw even a couple of families stay here. Unfortunately they'll close on August 21 I think until next summer. I won't guarantee you liked it as much as I did, but I can assure you I was not the only guest that was extremely pleased with this hostel!