Herdersbrug Youth Hostel

Rooms are still with old facilities and no heating facility in the room that makes it difficult for staying at night

please never send children here. i was on my year 8 trip, that we let the worst teacher book. we arrived at 6pm after 10hr+ journey, and we were in rooms of 6. we came in these rooms, 4 beds with broken and chipped wood. after much crying and panic we discover that there are infact pull-out beds. after people start to look at the bedding, we all realise that there is very disturbing and filthy bedding with blood stains. beds are tiny. i am 5.9 ft inch and i couldn’t fit on the prison like plastic blue mat we were sleeping on. we have a teacher that came on the trip that is atleast 6,4 and is a big man. he didn’t get any sleep for the 4 nights we were there. drinking water wasn’t safe to consume, it was acidic tasting and there was insects climbing out of my rooms drain. i am convinced the room was not cleaned before we got there. i opened the sanitary bin and used products were left. showers are riddled and consumed by mold. many people refused to shower, and i don’t blame them. instead we brought bottled water to wash ourselves with cloths. my friend is vegan, and she wasn’t served anything that didn’t have meat or dairy in. staff members from the school alerted and told the kitchens of allergy’s, intolerances and other issues that needed to be made aware of and this only resulted in being served salads that were covered in nuts, which this person was deathly allergic to, and this same salad was out of a bowl full of white water, to the brim. whole chicken legs were served to everybody, uncooked and unseasoned. i did not eat any food provided by the hostel, i would’ve simply starved, other people weren’t so lucky. many people had bad stomachs and very long toilet breaks. if you don’t like ants or bugs, maybe don’t consider booking as 4 rooms woke up to ants in backpacks, suitcases, hair, beds, food and whatever they could get into. showers were constantly flooding, sinks not draining, toilets gurgling and doors stuck. i split a fizzy drink, and i didnt want to attract ants, so i got a cloth from my case and some cleaning spray i had brought. cloth came up black. i tried on different spots, still black. i am appalled that this place exists, and i am sorry that you are reading this review. people, the health and safety on this “hostel” should be off the scales, as it is so bad many people were crying to parents, teachers, staff to go home. i paid 600 pounds (most on ferry, bus and outings) but that is ridiculous. the amount of money i paid for in-edible food, beds that prisoners would look down on, bug infested rooms, and facilities that make the community centre down the road look like buckingham palace. this hostel needs closing. there is more i could’ve written, and there is more that i can’t remember at this time, and there is more that happened to others, but i hope the fraction of disgust that this review should give you will convince you to not give this hostel any further attention. kind regards, a former customer (and its biggest

Everything was very nice. The people were very kind and helped me with any of my questions. Thank you!

Good value for money but room not 100% clean, some parts in the shower and the desk in the room. For the rest room 21 was very big and quiet, breakfast was OK, lots of free parking and located in green area. Staff is friendly.

Staff were delightful and accommodating. I mentioned on the booking form that I was vegan and they prepared suitable breakfast options for me. The rooms are very basic, but clean and tidy, with very comfortable mattresses. The pillows are a little insubstantial, as are the blankets, so if this bothers you, probably worth bringing your own — it was fine for me. It was nice weather so I did the two hour walk from Bruges city centre, but there were long sections without a proper pavement, just a grassy verge, so would probably recommend the bus (that was the fault of Apple Maps not the hostel, which provides clear instructions on the bus to take!). I would stay here again!

Its a very nice place if you are going into a trip with friends. The rooms are big and austere, just for staying are correct. The breakfast was a bouffet. Staff very friendly, and avaliable in a lot of languages!