a&o Berlin Friedrichshain

I didnt end up staying in this property as it was fully booked (?) and transferred to another branch which was 6 km away to a relatively remote part of Berlin. Beware, unprofessional ground staff. This was one of the most frustrating hostel experiences of my travels. TL;DR: * I was reassigned to a&o kolumbus hostel after my original booking was relocated due to overbooking. * The lady manager and several staff members handled the situation professionally and helped me obtain reasonable compensation. * Unfortunately, one receptionist, ***, was aggressive, unprofessional, and I believe treated me differently because of my race. I want to give credit where it’s due. The lady manager was highly professional, solution-oriented, and genuinely listened to my concerns. She assisted me in contacting customer support regarding compensation and handled the situation well. *** at reception was also consistently helpful and later solved the tension caused by ***. My experience with ***, however, was unacceptable. When I asked reasonable questions about compensations, he immediately became defensive, repeatedly interrupted me, raised his voice first, and refused to listen to the situation. Instead of trying to resolve the issue, he escalated it. As I walked away to get support from another staff member, he continued shouting making aggressive remarks toward me, even minutes long after escalation. Based on how I was treated, I genuinely felt I was being subjected to discriminatory treatment. To A&O Hostel management: your frontline staff represent your brand. I strongly encourage you to review this incident and provide additional customer service and de-escalation training. The professionalism shown by your manager and other staff members demonstrates the standard your guests should expect. Unfortunately, one staff’s conduct fell far below that standard and significantly affected my stay. Safe to say I won’t be returning nor using the any of the chain properties.

I had a pleasant stay here. The room, towels, bedsheet, pillow cover, etc. were clean, the bed was comfortable, and bathroom well maintained. The staff at the bar were especially friendly and made the experience even better. Most of the staff at the reception counter were helpful too — just one interaction felt a little off, but it didn’t affect my stay. There’s no air conditioning, but aside from that, everything was great. I’d happily stay again.

All good

It was fine. Nothing really wrong. Just not really cozy, no personality or charm. There happened to be a ton of school kids at the time, who were kinda loud, but they eventually settled down. It's a good location, clean, and decent price.