Hostel The Backpack, Cape Town

Good location, nicely laid out, breakfast was good.

I booked an additional night the day i arrived but had to cancel it. I had paid for it and requested a refund. I was told it would take a few days, over 3 weeks later, and several emails later, still waiting.

The place is comfortable and convenient

Nothing

The private room was cozy, the common spaces were amazing

The breakfast included was poor quality, the pastries were old, the fruit was finishing quickly and the coffee was poor quality.

Staff were friendly and helpful.

The outside is not presentable and furniture in the breakfast area was not on point. Breakfast is too limited. The fact of having no TV in the room was not ok. But the rooms were very neat. The staff were really amazing.

Very clean, good breakfast and great staff

It is a bit overpriced for a dorm room

Everything

Room exceptional, beds comfortable

No gel in mohlongo room, they didn't change our towels but we requested it. They gave us

Best hostel I've ever been to. The people are amazing and its such a social hstel with amazing ammenities and rooms

All things

Don't have.

Breakfast was lovely. Would have liked coffee to be available without having to pay.

No secure parking available. Room was a neat and clean but could do with a little bit of color to make it more welcoming.

Cute, friendly happy little place. Should have stayed longer. Had a private room and bath. Would stay again

Bathroom in room could be a little cleaner (baseboards) but honestly not a big deal

Breakfast was okay.

Did not know who was working there, needed warm water at breakfast as kettle was cold, did not know who was working and who is guest behind the counter.

Very nice guest house, with a dynamic team, if you want to have a nice time in Cape Town, go there without a doubt :)

Nothing

I went on holiday on my own and it was an excellent choice of location, the hostel is well located, I stayed in a single room which was comfortable, the shared bathroom was always very clean. The staff were all very pleasant and welcoming. The place has a good, well-equipped kitchen. The breakfast was good.

In my room I could hear a lot of noise from the neighboring rooms and the sound of footsteps upstairs

Since my last visit in 2022, the conditions have drastically improved.

The community

I am a mature older traveler and have stayed in hundreds of hostels over the past decades and this hostel is among the best I have ever stayed at....it is exceptional in everyway

Nothing

I like the location, most place in a walking distance. And the vibe with in guesthouse. Most of the employees are.

Garden on the side of saartjie baartman to be cleaned. At least add 1/2 bathrooms. Add dinner/supper as optional when staying there. At least add bar fridges in rooms.

The staff, the location, the facilities, everything is fantastic!

Having to leave

Needed bath fascility in the room Excellent place for my next business day

Awesome location, friendly staff, nice, clean and secure

Location was great, staff were really friendly and the breakfast was good! Loved my stay here

There wasn’t anything that I didn’t like

Great service. I even booked another night.

The room was nice, simple but well decorated, pretty clean I have to say and loved that each room was named after some outstanding personality and you could read about them through the qr code. Loved the project behind, WASH, water for all. It is amazing to support properties that act in favour of the community

Reliably good

Everything else

The coffee

I had so much fun! The hostel is nice and cosy. The garden is perfect to chill and enjoy the sun. Beautiful view on the mountains also! I loved the share kitchen, it is well organized and very convenient! And the staff is lovely and super friendly The area is safe to walk and shops are very close by.

The place is amazing and there is a sense of community among the people who pass through Villa Viva

To be perfect it should have a gym area

Friendly staff. great location.

We did the Cape town Cycle tour. No option for earlier breakfast

Best hostel ever

Modest breakfast cereal, hard boiled eggs, fruits n breads

Noticed small ants in our room

We enjoyed the infrastructure of Villa Viva, the very nice and well decorated spaces, the amazing breakfast and the good service that we received !

everything

Safe area even though I would still not walk around at night, shared bathroom is very clean, wifi is fast, bed and duvet are comfortable. They have safety box for every guests as well. Breakfast is plenty.

You can easily hear if someone talks in the corridor due to door crack underneath or thinner wall. For light sleeper better bring ear plugs.

Excellent location, close to vibrant kloof street, nearby a bus stop. Fantastic view of table mountain, short trip to the cable way and lions head ( comfortable walking distance if you're feeling athletic). Nice that breakfast is included

Everything

Nothing really

Location, staff and the room were great. A lot of space inside and the toilet was just very well designed.

Nothing.

First of all it's a perfect place for solo travellers as it is a very social (but no party) hostel . It's so easy to meet other travellers in the bar or pool area and there is even a hostel whatsapp group to connect and plan activities. The breakfast is also great and the beds are very comfortable.

The amazing staff first of all, the people were lovely. Besides this is a big hostel so plenty of opportunity to connect with people. The price-value is good and it is in a centric spot in a relatively safe part of Cape Town. I also love the shared WhatsApp group that enabled organizing activities with different people in the hostel. Had the best times here.

The view from my room

The stairs to my room

Great location; shared room was very good with ensuite; great way to meet other travelers

Nothing

Real gem of a hostel and the best one I've stayed at in CT. It's social without being too party or loud, lots of different social areas, inside and out, for relaxing or meeting people. Loved the pool outside, which has a view of the gardens and table mountain. Breakfast each morning was decent and there's an active WhatsApp group for organising hikes/activities with others.

I stayed twice, my first dorm was much nicer with curtained beds and lots of space. The second time, the dorm was more basic and small, despite being more expensive. Sometimes it could be hard to find a free bathroom as there aren't many of them.

beds are very comfortable and visitors were obeying the silence rules after midnighr hrs.

Bathrooms are located very wierdly, you feel like it is a maze and you get lost until you find bathrooms.

Very pleasant atmosphere, relaxed and friendly. You feel safe even in a big city like cape town. Staff is very kind, responsive and ready to assist you.

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I liked that I could meet other people. Made a good friend on the very first day I arrived. I liked that the bed was comfortable and the bathrooms were clean.

I didn’t like that there wasn’t at least one bathroom in or close to the dormitory. It wasn’t comfortable walking around to find an available bathroom. Then I didn’t like how high the top bunk was and the ladder is so straight, made me so scared whenever I climbed up. There were no stools so everyone just kept their stuff on other people’s boxes. Breakfast was also not great, same meals daily and the juice was watered down.

♡ 95% of the staff are genuinely kind & helpful ♡ I loved Bruno hence his photo ♡ I met amazing people

Pros: Location Beds in dorms Spacious bathroom Spacious lockers Cool house overall Pool Views Breakfast was decent and included in room price

Cons: The dorm bathroom rail was broken, preventing us from having places to hang our towels. The shower had an issue - it had many ants

I really enjoyed my stay at Villa Viva. The facilities are clean and the staff is taking care that everyone feels comfortable. A big plus is the complimentary breakfast and the location is close to Kloof street with lots of food options. For everyone who needs to work, there's also a room, where you can work without getting distracted.

Sometimes you have to look for a free bathroom in the whole building.

We loved the ambiance, and certainly, the location is also a great spot . It was very convenient for all our activities.

We never had the privilege of hot water , which i found rather unfortunate as we were up quite early each day and using very cold water was a bit of a challenge

The Breakfast was okay. We only experienced a shortage of hot water there and there but overall everything was fine

The place is better as it is