Volunteering at Northern Europe's Best Social Hostel!

Alemanha

5

Honestly this was the best experience EVER!!🫶 Eventhough it was a cold January there were so many activities I did with guests and staff and the hostel is the best place to meet other cool travelers! Christian and everyone was so welcoming and didn't hesitate to help and make me feel at home since the second I arrived. My stay at the hostel's was so much better than I expected it to be all thanks to the amazing people I met here 🥰.

mais de 1 ano atrás

Alemanha

5

My stay at the hostel's was my first volunteer experience, and I really loved it. From the moment I stepped into the hostel, I felt welcomed, and over the course of almost five weeks, this place really formed into a kind of home. I had a lot of fun participating in folkdancing and going to karaoke every other night. Also the schedule was great, I had lots of time to discover places in and surrounding Riga, even managed to visit Vilnius and Tallinn for a bit. I'm very thankful for this experience and all the new friends I made during this time! Can only recommend this place! :)

mais de 1 ano atrás

Irlanda

3

Pros :Staff are friendly Hostel is overall really cozy Location is good Cons: Management lied when they said there would only be over 18's and no big groups Management micro managed some volunteers to an extreme level Management can treat some volunteers worse(scheduling) depending on how much they like them. Appreciation from management is not shown so don't go over and beyond. In conclusion staff are friendly but management need improving. I personally had a good time but I wasn't happy with the way they treated other volunteers.

9 meses atrás

Estados Unidos

1

I unfortunately am limited to 200 words, so I'd like to start with, if you are interested in a full review, privately message me, or look for my review on Hostelworld. Megija (manager) and Julius (owner) efforts to work with us effectively was nothing but pathetic. We were treated very unfairly and if you message me, I can elaborate much more. Kosar (the only one star review) got a response from Julius that made her seem lazy and difficult to work with. However, everything Julius said was either false or taken out of context. Working with Julius is an experience from hell. Message me!

10 meses atrás

Julius respondeu

Dear Nikolas,

Unfortunately, we didn’t have the best experience hosting you. From the very start, expectations were clearly outlined during our phone meeting, yet none of them were met upon your arrival. Your performance was disappointing; the tasks assigned to you were either incomplete or poorly executed. It was also noticed that you took breaks every 10-15 minutes, far more frequently than any of the other volunteers. This was not only unfair to your peers but also demonstrated a poor work ethic.

Additionally, your pace was incredibly slow, leaving other staff members to finish tasks that you were responsible for. When confronted about leaving almost two hours before the end of your scheduled shift, your response was argumentative. To make matters worse, after a brief moment when I stepped away (as I prefer not to micromanage volunteers), you simply left the premises without completing your duties. This left the volunteer manager with the burden of finishing your tasks.

A friendly reminder: we accommodated all your requests, including preferred days off, specific shifts, and travel plans. We also ensured you received proper training and guidance on how to complete your tasks. To clarify, the duties assigned were standard household tasks—nothing extravagant or overly difficult. With that in mind, we expected a more professional approach and commitment to the responsibilities given.

We’re sorry that your experience wasn’t positive, but hosting you wasn’t pleasant for us either. We wish you the best of luck moving forward and hope you take this as an opportunity to improve your work ethic.

Best of wishes !

Austrália

3

The hostel is great for guests however working here is very challenging. There was a severe lack of communication and management creating a stressful work environment. The volunteers had to teach each-other and would be criticised for doing it wrong despite never being shown. I constantly felt unappreciated so confronted my manager describing multiple instances where I was disrespected. He took accountability and apologised which I appreciated however continued to make me feel undervalued. I hope he implements my suggestions as without the incredible other staff/volunteers I would have left.

10 meses atrás

Áustria

4

The hostel was my first volunteering experience and I loved my time here. The city is beautiful, the location is top and I got along great with the volunteers and the staff. The hostel itself is great and feels very cozy. However I do want to mention that the organisation and communication with the host had a few issues, since we werent properly trained in the beginning and there where some conflicts between the volunteers and the host, which led to an unhappy work-environment. But once the critisism was brought up to the host, he handeled it well and apologized. Still I enjoyed my time :)

10 meses atrás

Itália

1

The hostel has a great common area and staff, but the owner's rigid, micromanaging style made volunteering challenging. He frequently changed agreements, rarely acknowledged effort, and expected volunteers to work for both his hostels. When I raised safety concerns about cleaning without masks, he initially agreed but later used it as grounds to fire me. On my last day(not official)he abruptly demanded I leave within an hour, despite knowing I was in a foreign country. His unpredictable management made the experience tense and exhausting. Feel free to ask me for the full version of the review

10 meses atrás

Julius respondeu

Dear Shabi,

what should we say and where should we start?

She came in October 2023 as a guest and enjoyed it so much that you wanted to volunteer and applied here for a volunteer position. At her arrival we have immediately noticed, that you were not interested at all in working here as a volunteer.

The fun started, when she refused to do the tasks which have been agreed with Megija, our volunteer manager, earlier on. You have refused to clean toilets and showers, with the reason that it "is inhuman to clean showers and toilets for normal people and we should get some local slave who can do it". This was the first shock we had. We absolutely understand, that cleaning toilets and showers is not the most popular work task to do. However, it is something which needs to be done and which is being done by everyone in the crew. In our opinion it would be inhuman NOT to clean toilets. Also the management and all staff members are cleaning toilets on a daily basis and nobody ever had any issues with it.

Even though it is highly unfair to other volunteers, we agreed for the first time ever to give her other tasks. Those tasks have been breakfast, preperation of beds and activities.

At the breakfast she refused to follow the system we have implemented and did it completely by her own style (e.g Touching food with bare hands instead of using hygenic gloves, providing undercooked/raw buns, leaving the breakfast counter in a absolute mess). When we (multiple staff members and the management) asked herrepeatedly to do it according to hygenic and our standards her response usually was: Did any guest complain to you directly? If not I do it my own way.

At the activity, she was scheduled in, but did not prepare anything, even though we have clearly communicated. Our guests did not receive a single information (no message in the Hostel chat, no prepared blackboard at the reception as a invitation for the guest) that a activity is taking place. Therefore we had 0 guests who wanted to participate in the activity.

When she prepared the beds, she usually did one or two, sat down and was playing with her mobile phone, until some staff member came to check regarding the progress.

All of those incidents happened within the first week. We talked with her, that this is not going the way it should work and that we need to see more respect toward the Hostel if this should work out. Unfortunately it did not help. She started talking bad about our Hostel in front of other guests and to other volunteers, which ruined the atmosphere within the within the Hostel. A person within our crew who is actively sabotaging the weelbeing of the hostel is already (apart from all the other mentioned points) a reson to kick a somebody out. However we still had (unjustified) hopes that the situation improves. Unfortunately it escalated the following week, which has led to the situation that we kicked out a volunteer for the first time ever.

Three days later she was supposed to do a housekeeping shift (preperation of beds), starting at 10:00 AM. At 09:50 she came and told us, that due to her period and the severe pain, she is uncapable of working today. At 10:10 AM, literally 20 minutes later, she went with a guest to a roadtrip through half of the country, made a BBQ, drunk alcohol and enjoyed her day until late in the evening on the road. We have absolutely no issue with being sick. If somebody is sick, they are sick and do not have to work in those missed hours on another day. However, we were very fed up by this behaviour, to call in sick, only to leave 20 minutes later for a roadtrip with a guest. Still, our main aim was to avoid problems. Hence, we agreed that she will work the next day, for the day she did not work. Unfortunately she did not show up at the next day at all and was nowhere to be seen, until her planned shift ended.

Due to her and one other volunteer who stayed recently and did not show any interest, motivation and respect to the Hostel, we have made the decision within our crew that we will work with less volunteers in the future and rather rely for the housekeeping mainly on local staff members. Fortunately with the big majority of the volunteers we have been very happy and it was a great time with them. Hence, we hope that those experiences where just a exception, to avoid that we cancel the volunteer programm totally.

Warmest greetings from Riga,

Julius
-Owner-














Estados Unidos

4

Overall I'm glad I spent a month in Riga - it's a great city and there's a lot to do in the Baltics. The other volunteers were fun and felt like a second family to me. However, I wouldn't recommend this volunteering opportunity. Sometimes shift times were not honored, especially breakfast shifts that regularly went over by 45 minutes. Housekeeping shifts were unorganized and tiring, especially when you're constantly being redirected. I found interactions with the manager to be a bit combative (so I would avoid the manager when I could) and I felt micromanaged. The hostel itself was nice though

12 meses atrás

Israel

5

The hostel is a true home away from home, I couldn't ask for a better first experience! The staff are literally the best people to work with and the hostel has a special cozy atmosphere which I doubt you can find elsewhere. If you looking for amazing time in a beautiful city the hostel should be your first choice!

mais de 1 ano atrás

Austrália

5

This is my favourite place I have volunteered so far! The employees are so much fun to hang out with, a great mixture of locals and foreigners. The shifts have enough range that if you don't love one task there is room to move to a different one which is really nice, and they are all pretty easy and enjoyable. Riga is a lovely place with plenty of super friendly people who I will miss dearly. I can 100% recommend coming here for as long as you can, I originally planned to stay for 1 month and stayed for 2!

mais de 1 ano atrás

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