I would not recommend this hostel to anyone. Yes, the location is fine, being close to Charles Bridge and everything else but what a horrible place to stay.
The "staff" there are so cold and horrible. Myself being a friendly guy spent a while in this hostel on an important business trip from Ireland but got treated like scum. I tried to be nice to them but they just treated me like i was in jail.
Especially that girl who worked weekends..., she tried her best to make my life a misery, and for what?, i dont know. Sometimes i don't understand these people.
Its not only this, there was so much stuff stolen from me when i was out of my room, like an ipod, mobile etc. and when i was asleep one morning somebody managed to steal my clothes that were beside my bed on the ground and when i went to report this to the reception, they laughed. People told me that it is the cleaner who steals these things. They dont want to help anybody at all, but if you offer them money they might. I have stayed in many hostels across europe and this is by far the worst i have come across. I eventually got sense and moved to a different hostel for the remainder of my time and what a difference. Do not stay here. u will be sorry
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(Review ID: 1889)
Unbeatable Location at a Fair Price- Weird lay-out, December 17, 2005
Reviewer:
Jen May
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As mentioned in other reviews, the best thing about Ritchie's is the location-- I'd guess that the walk to the Charles Bridge was probably closer to 1 minute than 5, unless you are slowed down by the crowds that gather on Karlova. My room was also pretty nice-- 5 beds in the "room." The room was really almost two rooms (my bed was in a separate room-- with a door-- that led to the shower room) plus an en-suite shower. My window looked out onto Karlova, one of the main tourist shopping streets. Shower was clean, with hot water and decent water pressure. Beer and other drinks can be bought at the reception desk and consumed in a small common area.That said, there were some flaws. The staff was pretty unfriendly and unhelpful. I wasn't expecting to be overwhelmed with smiles and small talk, but even the simplest requests ("May I have my room key?" "Can we buy a beer?") were met with the sort of glare you'd expect from someone who's been dragged from bed at 3am and forced to do complex math. The set up of the building is either treacherous or charming, depending on how much luggage you have, how sober you are, whether you can find the light switch in the dark and how good you are with tight and uneven spiral staircases. Finally, the bathroom. Mine was across the hall (fine) and outside on a balcony overlooking an interior courtyard (weird but charming.) It's enclosed, of course, but it's still pretty cold for those early morning bathroom trips and involves walking out onto the balcony, in full view of the breakfast area and many windows in your nightclothes. It didn't really bother me (I kinda thought it added character,) but it might be an issue during really cold weather. In All: I'd recommend it and I'd probably stay there again. Not perfect, but better than the pricier "apartment" rooms I saw nearby and a good location.
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(Review ID: 1890)
Very Good Location. Noisy in the night & showerroom, June 5, 2005
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Anonymous
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Maintenance
(3)
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(3)
We stayed in a double room with shared bathroom for one night in the end of May. The plus point of this hostel is its location. It took us 5 minutes to walk to the Charles Bridge, and another 5 minutes to the nearest subway station. Of couse, the bad thing related to its central location is that: it became very noisy in the night. Even after 11pm, you still can hear somebody shouting on the street even the window is closed. Our window just faced out to the street...Our room ceiling is very low. And actually you will find some other doors in this hostel also have low ceiling. As a 1.83cm-tall guy, I often forgot this fact and hit my head in the room and on the way to bathroom. So watch out your head here if you are tall.The real bad thing about this hostel is its bathroom cannot be locked completly. There are a few bathrooms in this hostel, serving guests on different floors. The one we used is on the highest floor. The door cannot be locked. You can imagine our feelings when we used the WC or had showers inside. I just wonder why cannot they spend some money on fixing it.The reception staff speaks quite fluent English. One of their staff, Mila, responded to my email booking requsts and followed up my change requests quite in time and friendly.The hostel has two entrance. One is for hostel and it's located inside a gift shop. U will be surprisingly find the difficulty in walking up the stairs to the reception on the second floor. The other entrance is just two-shop further to the first one (in the direction walking from Charles Bridge). Its labelled as "Richie's Hotel" outside, but actually it leads to the same reception desk. However, this entrance will give you a much better walk-up feeling.
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(Review ID: 1891)
Good, basic facilities, great location, June 22, 2004
Reviewer:
JohnH
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This hostel is very well located in the center of town. I stayed in a double en suite room. The room was clean and basic. The bathroom had all new facilities. The only problem was that there was only a net curtain on the large window. The light in the room in the early hours of the morning made it too easy to wake up. The reception offers a safe for small, important items e.g. passports (no charge for this). There is also an option to rent a combination coded safe for just 1 euro which I found very handy. The breakfast wasn't fantastic, probably better to go out for a bit to eat. The price of the room was very good for such a great location and in my opinion good facilities.
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(Review ID: 1892)
Buyer beware!!, September 8, 2003
Reviewer:
nutella@primus.ca
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After reading the 1st 2 reviews I thought, this place sounds great. After visiting the place I've never seen a more decrepid facility. The showers are not sensational, the doors are falling off the hinges, and the air is so stale and musty you can't breath. There are much better places anywhere in Prague.
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(Review ID: 1790)
thisplace sucked, July 30, 2003
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Anonymous
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Well it was in the heart of progue and easy to find but we had to leave our room go through a small alley and up a few flights of stairs to get to the restroom and shower. We also got a visit from one of the locals sometime early in the morning, he climed through our window which was on the second floor so he had to have gottin on the roof some how, any way from what I got out of his visit he was trying to sell hash, I think that it was a cover up because he woke a few of the people in the room with his noisy entery. If I was a sound sleeper I probebly would have gottin all my stuff stolen. The room was clean but the noise from the street did keep me awake until about 2:00 Am.
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(Review ID: 1893)
Clean and as central as you like, April 9, 2003
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Anonymous
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After initially checking into the filthy Clown and Bard and trudging all the way into the centre of town, stumbled across this place... for about £3 a night more we got the cleanest, most central hostel there can be in Prague! About 2 minutes (walk) from the Charles bridge, 5 from the Old town square... Whilst the staff might not be the friendliest - they were helpful, and the showers in the place are absolutely sensational!If you're looking to party this is not the place to go - but to be honest why would you want to party in your hostel when you've got the rest of Prague on your doorstep!
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10 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 1894)
Sweet hostle, 1minute from Charles bridge, discos, April 7, 2003
Reviewer:
swingkid
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(5)
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I loved this hostle! Its in the heart of prague, I doubt there is any hostle closer to the center of prague. Its minutes from old town square, charles bridge, discos... Staff was friendly, even let us use their phone to make calls (working pay phones are impossible to find). The rooms are classic Czech style with 2 foot thick concrete walls, and confusing stairways with random doors and floor levels. Bathrooms were clean and newly remodeled. If you stay, I reccommend getting the slightly more expensive 3 bed room, you will probably have the whole room to yourself. Our room was about $15/bed/nightThe hostle is on Karlova, which turns into charles bridge so its nearly impossible to get lost late at night. http://www.etischer.com/page5.htmlWe had a fun time trying to get the receptionist to crack a simile =).
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(Review ID: 1895)
Being at the city centre is it's saving grace, August 2, 2002
Reviewer:
kumar
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The hostel's dark and dingy and the staff is grumpy. The location redeems it. Bang near the old city centre and the Charles Bridge. Thankfully it is also reasonably clean and the plumbing works.
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10 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 1791)
definitely recommended, June 3, 2002
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Anonymous
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(4)
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(4)
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(4)
I stayed in Ritchie's (the real name) for a week and found it really comfortable. A great location in the heart of the Old Town and it's got good toilets, beds and so on...Staff did not speak too much of English, though.And NO CURFEW means in practice that u have to wake them up to come in. Which was not pleasant.Anyway, superb location and more than money's worth rooms will guarantee your satisfaction.
