Smart hostel

Very nice place. Kind and responsive host. I recommend it.

Everything was good

Having tentatively booked a hostel stay, I was subsequently astounded by the level of professionalism and cleanliness, of Smart Hostel, Belgrade. Having stayed in hostels, hotels and air bnb facilties, travelling with my work, I am in a position to highly rate Smart against more expensive options. The bathrooms, lounge, bedrooms were spotless , with staff maintaining the areas on a regular basis. The drying and washing of clothes is a perennial problem for travellers and digital nomads, but Smart has reasonable washing machines, and convenient areas to try your clothes, even in the winter months. Having travelled internationally for over thirty years, I have never in my time seen a mini bar, with alcohol, where guests put their money in a box on an impressive trust system. The hotel staff assisted me in all matters and were also adept at maintaining good relations between the many different guests. You could stay comfortable here and run the risk of not venturing into the city, since there is a home- like feel here. The atmosphere of home and being welcomed is the crucial factor for solos, like myself, who despite our peripatetic lifestye still crave a sense of home. If you are looking for such a place and worried of ' braving' another ' dormitory experience', I urge you to try Smart Hostel, and be pleasantly surprised.

First of all, I would not recommend either this accommodation or visiting Serbia if you are Asian. If you are Serbian or Caucasian, you will probably be fine. However, as an Asian traveler, my experience was deeply disappointing. Belgrade is a European capital city, and I never imagined I would experience such blatant racism there. Most people I met were decent, although not particularly friendly. However, when I was targeted by racists, no one around me stepped in to help. On a public bus, I was repeatedly mocked with “ching chong” and stereotypical Asian music. They didn’t care how I behaved—they targeted me simply because I am Asian. When I asked them to stop, they only became louder, laughed even more, and continued mocking me until they got off the bus. I have traveled alone in many countries, and I have never experienced anything like this before. I never imagined that in 2026, in the capital of a European country, I would face such open racism. I came to Serbia with an open mind and respect for everyone, but I left with nightmares about what happened. This experience completely ruined my trip. Even in Naples, where I once experienced racist behavior from some teenagers, nearby adults apologized to me. In Belgrade, it was adults behaving this way, and nobody around me tried to stop them or help me. That was the most heartbreaking part. Nobody chooses where they are born. Mocking someone because of their ethnicity is humiliating them for something they can never change. It is no different from discriminating against someone because of a disability or an illness. It is simply shameful. I did meet kind people in Serbia, and I appreciate them. However, their kindness could not erase the memory of standing alone on that bus while everyone around stayed silent. I almost cried, but I held back my tears because I didn’t want to appear weak. That feeling of helplessness has stayed with me ever since. I cannot recommend Serbia as a destination for Asian travelers based on my own experience. If even one person had stood up and said, “Stop,” I would have left with a completely different impression. Sometimes one person’s courage can change someone else’s entire memory of a country. One of the reasons I chose to visit Serbia was because one of my closest friends in France is Serbian. He was my classmate and is one of the kindest people I have ever met. I came here because he gave me such a positive impression of his country. Unfortunately, my own experience was the exact opposite and turned into a nightmare. As for the dorm itself, the all-female room felt safe, and the bed was clean. However, the bathroom was not very clean. The location was also inconvenient. You have to walk uphill along a busy road with heavy traffic, and there is no proper sidewalk for much of the way, which makes it feel unsafe. It is also far from the city’s main attractions and not particularly convenient for supermarkets. The bed itself was clean, but there were no privacy curtains at either the head or the foot of the bed, and there were no curtains on the window either. I believe the window had an electric shutter, but I couldn’t use it at night or early in the morning because I didn’t want to disturb my roommates. Overall, I cannot recommend this dorm because of its location and facilities. More importantly, the racism I experienced in Belgrade completely overshadowed my trip. I sincerely hope that no other traveler has to go through what I experienced.