Derevo Hostel

- despite previous reviews, it is easy to find. Opposite the river with a big sign saying Derevo but in the russian alphabet:) Having a double bunk bed was nice - bed set up works perfectly: lots of shelves, 2 plugs and a lamp - locker per bed (though not per person) - water machines- instant access to boiling or ice cold water - Cleaners were great, nicer than some of the people staying, always smiling and saying hi, the whole place was spotless - Reception staff was also good, good levell of english, polite. - bathrooms were good, never had to wait for the toilet or a shower, showers were great as well.

We stayed here 6 nights. (This is long but please read it all before deciding to stay here) - this hostel is made up of two buildings, separated by a car park/road. They are about 30m apart. The vast majority of "nice" pictures you see are from one building, the older finished side. Sadly for us we were in the "newer" side, which is unfinished and nowhere near as nice. - we wouldn't even have known about this second, nicer side (sofas on the terrace, tv, lounge etc), unless we had compared our building to the reviews and spotted lots was missing. The lady who gave our tour was lovely, but neglected to show us around completely. - as mentioned, our building wasn't finished. We had builders present pretty much 24/7, loud building works all day, every sat eg. 10pm on a Sunday. There was the smell of paint and chemicals while you were cooking and eating in the kitchen. You are separated from the builders by a thin plastic sheet... -due to the building works, there was a big leak in the kitchen one night. No one apologised, seemed to care and a poor cleaner walked in unaware and had to clean it up. - LOCATION: other reviews have said it but you really are away from everything except supermarkets. We made the 1hr10 walk into moscow along the river which was nice enough but not ideal. - there is no "hostel" vibe. This is somewhere that people who work remotely or in Moscow live for cheap. Some of them were lovely, lots of them were a bit odd and the issue is no one is leaving anytime soon so you do just have to put up with it. - bunk bed ladder is painful to climb: thin metal rungs - everything is key fob entry, which sounds fab until you need a wee in the middle of the night and have to find your fob in the dark - kitchen equipment: no drinking glasses, broken hobs, the kitchen is too small. Many times we just had to wait to cook as there were already 6 or 7 people in there.