Hostel in Barcelona scammed me last week with a fake booking

I booked a dorm bed through a third party site for 12 euros a night near La Rambla. When I showed up at 10pm, they said they had no record of my reservation and my room was given away. The receptionist just shrugged and told me to check Booking.com for other places. I ended up paying 50 euros for a last minute room two blocks away. Has anyone else had a hostel pull this bait and switch on them?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim_patel891mo agoMost Upvoted

Used to think hostels were always cheap and easy. But this happened to me in Prague last year. Booked a 10 euro bed, showed up and they said the system "glitched" and my booking never went through. Same story - receptionist didn't care, told me to look elsewhere. Paid 45 euros for a random room that night. Changed my whole view on third party bookings. Now I always book directly with the hostel, even if it costs a few bucks more.

morgan_butler1mo ago

I saw a travel blogger talk about this exact scam recently. She said some hostels in big cities like Barcelona and Prague will overbook on purpose through third party sites. They count on people not showing up or being willing to pay more when they're stuck. That thing kim_patel89 said about the system glitching is their go to excuse. It's not a glitch, it's them selling the same bed twice and hoping one person bails. The worst part is the third party site won't help you because they say it's the hostel's fault. Have you tried getting your money back from Booking.com or your credit card company?