Mi Casa es Tu Casa - Shkodra Backpackers Hostel in Shkoder

Had high hopes for this hostel, having read good things about it. Unfortunately, it was highly disappointing. I spoke to the owners and asked them to book me an extra night for after my trip into the mountains. When I returned from the mountains, they unapologetically told me that they had accidentally booked me for the wrong night, and they were fully booked, soI didn't have a bed. I was then offered the sofa in the communal sitting room for 10 euros, which seemed rather audacious when it was their mistake. Said sofa was infested with fleas and swarmed by mosquitoes. Other guests were in the sitting room, playing a ukelele and tambourine until very late. Safe to say that I didn't feel very safe, let alone comfortable. It feels relevant to add that I am a 19 year old girl travelling on her own.

We had high hopes for this hostel but unfortunately it didn't meet our expectations. The main part of the hostel is quite cosy, with an outdoor space and a shared kitchen area. When we arrived we weren't given many details, such as if/when breakfast is, what amenities there are, or when we had to check out, and this would have been helpful. We booked a private double room, which was situated a block over from the main hostel. It was spacious and had a sitting area and kitchen, which we didn't expect to have, so we had a small fridge, but the freezer was broken and the oven and hobs didn't work. The room was not particularly clean, however (crisps and crumbs on the sofa, some bugs in the bathroom) and later that day, we found bed bugs on our pillows. Thankfully we didn't stay the night and end up with our luggage infested. We alerted the staff but they could only offer us room on a sofa in the common area, so we had to find another hotel at 9pm that evening.

I got badly bitten by bedbugs in a dorm room. Dozens of nasty itchy bites on my upper body. When I complained about this, all my clothes were washed free of charge and I was relocated to upstairs. The old woman - apparently the owner - came after me upstairs and started accusing me of bringing the bedbugs to the hostel. She was very aggressive and even suggested I should go away. I knew these bedbugs were resident in this very establishment, as I did not have bites before. And I did not have bedbug bites ever after this incident. My stay at Shkodra Backpackers took place in August 2018. I read the Google maps reviews, as well as Tripadvisor reviews from past and learn this is a recurring pattern at Shkodra Backpackers spanning many years. Belittlement and even accusations against travelers when the guesthouse hosts are very well aware of the chronic bedbug infestation they have. You can see the attitude problem of the management especially in *********** review responses. Also, the prices for daytrips they offer are highly inflated - only for the gullible.