Name: Leuven City Hostel
Address: Ravenstraat 37, Leuven, Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium
Rating: 6

Smoke-free property

Heating

Garden

Terrace

All Spaces Non-Smoking (public and private)

Reception desk

General

Accessibility features

Accessibility

Safe-deposit box

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Common kitchen

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

English

French

Polish

Languages Spoken

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the hostel

Brussels Airport

Jubilee Park

Bois de la Cambre

Brussels Park

Royal Palace of Brussels

Cathedral of St. Michael

City 2 Shopping Mall

Galeries St. Hubert

La Grand Place

Atomium

Mini-Europe

Antwerp International Airport

Charleroi Brussels South Airport

Liege Airport

Leuven City Hostel

Leuven

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

I especially liked the position, how easy it was to reach any part of the city simply by walking around. The thing that troubled me the most would be the  snoring roommates and some difficulty in finding the plugs to recharge my phone battery.

I just stayed last night and was awaken at 1.30am by a late guest then an hour later 3 guys started banging and kicking the door at 2.30am. There is no security at night and lots of noise from the street and inside the hostel. Not a wink of sleep lesson learnt room 3.8

horrible night sleep

We are a group of 5 experienced Mexican travelers. Twice have we stayed at the "Leuven City Hostel", in order to catch the Rock Werchter Festival.
The first one, 2 years ago, went well. The second one, was the worst experience of our lives. 

The morning of June the 30th, we were woken up  by some loud bangs onto our room door: it was the Police.
They were accusing one of our friends of having stolen an iPhone 6 from the restaurant in front called Sarah's where we had breakfast a day before. They claimed they had "irrefutable evidence" in the form of video footage proving the felony. They were demanding to give the phone up or they would search the room.
We were so confused and intimidated but we had nothing to hide so we cooperated. By that moment we were scared and anxious about what was gonna happen next. Our friend was in shock repeatedly stating she had not stolen the phone.

I want to provide a little background about ourselves: we are respectful, working people. We don't need to steal nor does it match our morals. So we were shook. How did this happened? We carry newer and more expensive phones than an iPhone 6, we brought Nikon cameras, tablets and Nintendo Switch devices with us. It's stupid to think we will risk everything by stealing in another country. And then be stupid enough to steal at the place where we are spending the night! It doesn't make sense. During the search, the Police were realizing that the whole accusation didn't make sense either based on our belongings, we do not fit a criminal profile. Also one of the officers spoke Spanish and was secretly listening to our conversation which proved further we had nothing to hide. 

By the time they were done with the search, they didn't find anything (obviously) they proceeded to take our friend to the police station to make a statement. We agreed to meet them there.

Here's where it got messier:
The Police had left when the owner/manager came to us and started yelling at us. He went out of his way calling us criminals, liars, claimed we were dangerous and kicked all of us out or he would call the police again. He said we had 5 minutes to pack and leave. Can you imagine? 5 minutes? After the police search, all of our belongings were mixed and on the floor. We might have left some stuff behind we don't know it yet.

We understand the position of the owner to make us leave because of the "negative image" they were giving the other guests and neighbors by keeping us there, HOWEVER, he acted completely insane, rude and arrogant for an unresolved situation. It was truly scary. He was completely certain of our friend's fault and that was pretty strange. 

Now: we never doubted our friend, but we were taken aback by the fact that they had "evidence of the crime"; perhaps she took it by mistake, I thought, or maybe they confused her very own IPhone 6S with the stolen one... Anyway we cooperated and left the place.. 

By the time we arrived to the Police station, we were trying to reach the ambassy of Mexico in Belgium to request professional orientation on the matter. It was not necessary as our friend was already released and labeled innocent. 

Their "irrefutable evidence" turned out to be a couple of pixeled frames which, if anything, only proved we didn't tip in the already expensive restaurant. The "evidence" was so ridiculous that the Police didn't even bother to show it to our friend, they admitted they had not seen the footage prior to the search, otherwise nothing of this would have happened. When we explained we got kicked out of the hostel, one of the officers called the hostel for an explanation. The crazy owner even had the nerve to yell at the officer and said he would NOT give a refund.

The officer advised us to take action by means of our bank instead of suing as it would take a lot of time and effort. The officers apologized for the inconvenience and even helped us find accommodation in Brussels. They were really nice and we understand they were just doing their job. 

In conclusion:
*We lost two already booked nights at the hostel. 
*We missed the Sunday early acts from the festival which we were eager to attend. (Imagine saving money and traveling all the way from Mexico to end up like this) 
*We lost our mental peace. Our friend more than us obviously
*We were called criminals and felons. 
*We had to pay for extra transportation expenses to come and go to Brussels. 

The ironic thing is that if anything, the only criminal here ended up being the owner himself, because he lost no time in freeing up our spots for booking (without refund) on two of the most crowded days of Leuven of the year. (Go figure) 

It baffles me how after all these negative critiques this man is still behaving like that. Was it an act of racism? Xenophobia? I don't know but it felt pretty personal. It was clear to me that he was directly linked to the accusation being raised by either him or someone close to him. They either jumped to a false conclusion quickly, or were trying to frame us. 

It's dissapointing because the festival is one of the best in the world for this kind of music, even the hostel is pretty nice and clean (and we have quite some experience with hostels). But this man who is probably mentally ill, should not be allowed to treat people like that.

DO NOT GO TO THIS PLACE. THIS IS NO JOKE. THAT WAS A TRULY SAD CONCLUSION TO OUR VACATIONS AFTER MONTHS AND MONTHS OF SAVING AND PLANNING.

DO NOT BOOK HERE.

Humiliating, demoralizing and completely frightening.

I specifically chose this as I was coming by motorbike and wanted somewhere that allowed me to park outside the property. Having used street view on google maps I settle on Leuven City Hostel. 
I arrived after reception closed so had to check myself in but it was easy to get key and locate my room. Dorm room was as expected although the one thing that annoys me about European hostels at times is not making the bed for you. For €20 per night I'm sure they can mange this. Kitchen and common area was good and had all one needs to cook should they need too. 
Location was great for me. It was easy to locate when riding my motorbike, it was only a short walk to the centre of town to the many bars, restaurants and points of interest. The street it was on was quiet so it wouldn't have posed any issues in my room was facing it. 
For the single night I was there it was ideal and I would happily come back again if I was to visit Leuven.

Decent hostel

I've slept in this hostel two nights, and it was a good place.
The price (22€ per night) is less than the half of the average price of an hotel room, so it's a great solution for a student or for a tourist that only needs a bed, also because the reception girl was nice, there's free wi-fi and it's only five minutes from the center and ten from the train station; there's the possibility to have breakfast there but I didn't chose it because it costs 7.5€.
The only "bad" thing was that in the shower room one of the two lights didn't function well, but it's not a big problem.
If you want a good place to spend your night and are ready to share your room with other (max) five guys, Leuven City Hostel is a good idea.

Ostello agile, economico e senza troppe pretese

I decided to stay in Leuven because of its closeness to Brussels Airport, my stay in the hostel was very pleasant, Karina was waiting for me to do check in because I arrived later in the evening, the place is very clean and the furniture and decoration, kitchen, bed comfort all top notch. It is very close to the train station so even with luggage I walked to it, and nearby you find all kinds of restaurants and bars to fulfill your taste. I only suggest that they install an amplifier antenna for the WIFI because in my case I would lose signal when out in the terrace and I would only get two bar strength signal throughout the building but I will definitely stay again whrn I return to Belgium.

Leuven City Hostel

Main amenities of the hostel

Location

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hostel

What other amenities are there?

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Additional information

Payment