Review of Hostel 4U 1*

The Hostel4U hostel in Lisbon is a great place if you are looking for somewhere to crash for a really good price. On the other hand, this place is missing many of the classic hostel features that we were looking for, specifically the community of other travellers looking to meet up and socialise, and a lack of evening events. I found the staff generally unfriendly and uninterested in us, apart from one guy (black hair, comes from Alfama). Not so much as a "oh hey, where have you been exploring today" from most of the reception staff. The rooms are good, cleaned daily, and a great size. Plus we requested a balcony and the staff organised that for us that was nice. However, the air conditioning unit in the rooms are as loud as jet engines, and walking down the hallway, you can hear them blasting through the doors. One thing to note and that needs fixing is that the lift often does not work, and is turned of late at night and early in the morning (10pm — 5am). Sometimes, the lift will take you to the floor you need and then will just not open the doors. Don't panic as you can press another level and get back out again. Breakfast is included which is nice but I found this very dull and uninspiring in the mornings. The thickest bread slices I have ever seen for toast, yogurt that is lukewarm so it has split, very sweet coffee from a coffee machine, and horrid juice drinks. If you can be bothered, their a supermarket further up the hill that serves good pana-chocolate if you want to buy those the night before and eat them in the morning for something with a little more flavour. Overall, this is a great hostel for the price, but lacks many of the little extras that you would expect from a hostel.