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Mahtra Hostel

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EsslingerBrian
EsslingerBrian
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2 out of 5
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Mahtra Hostel

  • March 23, 2007
  • Rated 2 of 5 by EsslingerBrian from Sydney, Australia
Mahtra Hostel

If you want to stay in an area outside of central Tallinn, in what looks like a former Soviet housing project, then staying in Mahtra is the way to go. Otherwise, I'd recommend finding someplace different.

The problems began at check-in. I was travelling with three mates, and we had booked our stay in the Mahtra Hostel months before our arrival. Despite this, the not-so-friendly staff still managed to only allocate us a three-person room, not the four-person room we had reserved; and naturally, all the four person rooms were already full. They ended up putting a cot (rollaway bed) in the room for the fourth person, which took up most of the meagre floorspace we had. They still wanted to charge us the full price of a four-bed room, but after a little discussion with them, they took a bit off the price.

Security is apparently not a priority for the hostel, as the only way to lock the door when you are inside the room is with a chain (thereby still allowing the door to be partially opened). The doorknob itself can only be locked from outside the room. Since actually locking the doorknob was impossible by being inside, we simply had our door closed, unchained as we sat in our room discussing plans for the next day. Suddenly, an unending commotion began from outside our door, and the door swung open with multiple schoolchildren laughing and starring at us. They then slammed the door and continued to be loud in the hallway. This disturbance continued, even though we chained the door, since it could still be partially opened. If there was a lock on the doorknob, this could have been avoided.

Left to be desired was the toilet, or better said "water closet" since the toilet (shared by three rooms) was literally in the closet, whose dimensions couldn't have been more than one metre square. Because there was shelving behind the toilet itself, there was only about 20 centimetres (8 inches) of legroom between the toilet and the door, which makes doing "Number 2" difficult for a person of any height. Plus, the light switch is on the outside of the "closet," so anyone has the ability to turn off the lights whilst you're doing your business, and that's exactly what those obnoxious schoolchildren did, thus making it a bit difficult. Both the toilet and the separate bathroom were quite dingy, and could barely be called clean.

The Mahtra Hostel is a 20 minute bus ride from central Tallinn, and there are plenty of connections into the city from the bus stops nearby. A supermarket is located close by, though the alleyway to get there is frequented by transients.

The only positive feature of this hostel were the very comfortable beds and blankets (which appeared clean), and the price of about $10USD per person (depending on room size).

If you are still keen on staying at Mahtra, you can find more info and make bookings at www.mahtra.ee/hostel/index.php.

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