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Hello guys! I have just come back from holiday, which was a week on the Greek island of Corfu (Update: with “just” I mean about one and a half months ago because that’s how long it took me to finally upload this post).
Throughout the whole week in Corfu, I was staying at the Pink Palace Hostel. And since I haven’t really seen much of Corfu apart from the hostel bar, I thought it would be a nice idea to do a Hostel review. I did not really do any hostel reviews before, which is mainly due to the reason that I don’t feel like writing about a place that I only stayed at for a like a night or two. So this will be my first ever hostel review, yay!
So how did I end up at the Pink Palace in the first place? You might have heard about this hostel before! I found it when looking for lists and blog posts about the best party hostels in Europe.
The Pink Palace seemed to show up on all of those lists, and I really felt like going to a party hostel again. And then it just so happened that flights to Corfu were pretty cheap at the time, so I couldn’t help my self but book them.
From what I read online the Pink Palace has a massive party reputation BUT most of these reviews were a couple of years old, and I did not find a lot of newer reviews of the place. And then most of the reviews that were a bit more recent also stated that now there are a lot of families and kids staying at the Pink Palace, which I thought was super weird.
It kind of kills the whole party vibe, doesn’t it? Basically, most of the reviews I had read beforehand were either really positive or really negative. Anyway, I still wanted to check it out! So here is my honest review about staying at the Pink Palace in 2018.
How expensive is a stay at the Pink Palace Hostel?
For a three-bed dorm I was paying €28, including breakfast and dinner, so I think that is a pretty good price. I was there during high season (August), so the price might be slightly cheaper when visiting in another season. The breakfast is all you can eat and dinner included four courses, so that was pretty amazing for that price.
What are the facilities at the Pink Palace like?
The hostel has a total of four bars. One at the reception (I’ve never actually seen any people there), one in the dining hall (mostly for getting drinks while having dinner), one in the Palladium nightclub (only open when the nightclub is open) and one at the beach.
The beach bar was usually open all the time and also the place where most people would hang out at. The breakfast was also there in the morning and during the day they would sell cheap and tasty lunch. The location of this bar was also the best, you guessed it, it’s next to the beach.
Accommodation wise you can be lucky and get a room down at the beach and next to the pool/ jacuzzi, or you could end up having a room all the way up close to reception. That means there will be a fair amount of hiking involved coming up from the beach.
The hostel has a huge nightclub which, however, seemed pretty empty because there were just not that many people staying at the hostel when I was there. It is also not open every night. Mostly only for the toga parties.
For the dorms, from what I heard the biggest room you can get is a 3 people dorm, even though on Hostelworld is stated that they have 5 people dorms. The rooms itself are alright.
Every room had its own bathroom and there was air conditioning. Our bathroom door didn’t really close properly, though. And I would have liked some security lockers in the room, which is usually my main criteria when I choose a hostel.
The atmosphere at the Pink Palace Hostel
The atmosphere in the hostel was okay, but it was not what I was expecting. At times, the hostel was really quiet and there weren’t a lot of people around. When going out it got a little busier but people didn’t go out until late.
If you have already found your group of friends, then it is really easy to get to know a lot of people, especially when everyone is hanging out at the pool late in the evening. However, since there are also families with little kids staying at the Pink Palace, they were hanging out at the pool during the day which kind of was not what I was expecting at a “party” hostel.
However, what I really liked was that at dinner you were seated at a specific table so you would get to meet other travellers, which is great for people travelling solo like me.
Cleanness at the Pink Palace
I had read before that the rooms were pretty dirty but ours was always clean. I stayed a total of 7 days and I got new blankets and towels around three times during my stay, which I didn’t even expect.
The rooms that my friends were staying at also looked pretty clean and I always saw the cleaning ladies in the morning going through all the rooms. So I had no issues with cleanness at all.
Security at the Pink Palace Hostel
I have felt pretty safe about leaving my belongs in the room throughout my stay. But that was mostly due to having two awesome roommates, where I could feel like leaving my valuables lying around. Anyway, when I read that there were security lockers available, I expected individual lockers in each room and not one where I would have to hike up to reception every time I want to get my camera out.
Even though the dorms are pretty small (3 people max.) I feel like there should be lockers available. The whole area around the hostel was pretty safe, so walking around at night was not a problem, even though I have barely left the hostel throughout my stay at the Pink Palace, because it kind of has everything you need on site.
The Pink Palace staff
Most of the staff were super friendly, apart from one girl at a bar who was pretty rude. If you order food at the beach bar, then you have to write down your name on a piece of paper and take it to the kitchen. The girl didn’t tell us that when we asked, so we had to go ask other guests about what to do with the piece of paper, so I thought that was pretty unnecessary.
Everyone else, however, was friendly, even though at times we would get incorrect information about for example on what day the booze cruise was going to be at and every staff member would say another date.
Activities at the Pink Palace Hostel
The hostel offers several activities. At least in high season the kayak tour and quad tour run every day depending on how many people sign up. I didn’t actually go on either but I heard that it was heaps of fun. There is also a booze cruise, which is supposed to take place twice a week and is definitely something you should not miss out on. At night there is always some kind of party with a different theme every day, such as a toga party for example.
If you are looking for an activity throughout the day, you could even travel from Corfu to Albania, as it is just a short ferry ride away from Corfu town.
Book your stay at the Pink Palace Hostel in Corfu!
Summary
Overall, I have had a great time staying at the Pink Palace. I’m not going to lie, I did expect a little more and I was kind of disappointed at first that it was so empty, even during high season. Anyway, I met great people and we had chilled days at the beach and fun nights out.
Certainly the dinner is a great way for meeting new people and I can highly recommend this place for solo travels for that reason. If I ever go back to Corfu, I would stay at the Pink Palace again but more expecting a chilled beach holiday this time, instead of one of the biggest party hostels.
And this was my Pink Palace Hostel Review! Have you stayed at the Pink Palace before?
Did you like it? Let me know in the comments!
