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HOSTEL REVIEW - St Christopher's at The Bauhaus Bruges

REVIEW: St Christopher’s at The Bauhaus, Bruges

by Katie Dawes

Press play to experience St Christopher’s at The Bauhaus!

Contents:

The AtmosphereThe Staff | The Room | The Location | The Price

St Christophers InnsBefore I visited Berlin back in March of this year I had never stayed in a St Christopher’s Inns hostel. I’d booked myself a week there and left wishing I had more nights. Then I visited the St Christopher’s Gare du Nord Hostel in Paris, and extended my trip because one night wasn’t enough.

Not surprisingly, St Christopher’s at The Bauhaus in Bruges gave me those same feels. The ones where you know you should really go to bed but you’re up until 5am chatting with new friends made in the hostel. The ones where you should but don’t even consider the local nightlife scene because you want to catch up with the guests and staff back at the hostel bar…

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St Christopher’s at The Bauhaus, Bruges

The Atmosphere

The Bauhaus in Bruges has the atmosphere of that first house or apartment you rent with your friends after you’re too old to live in University dorms. I.e. fun, slightly reckless and with the beer always flowing.

There have been occasions when I’ve sat at a hostel bar or in the lounge and not met a soul. Well, not here! Of course, if you do want some quiet time to yourself there are plenty of comfy sofa benches and booths for you to tuck yourself away in to and read a book…

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But if meeting other travellers is your favourite thing about travelling in hostels then I can honestly tell you that there wasn’t one night that I sat at the bar alone for more than five minutes. Of course, part of this is because the staff are so awesome, but I also met so many incredible guests! And not just the ones that were staying in my room…

This is Brittney. We share the same birthday and spent our final day cycling around the city together because we met in the bar.

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Honestly, I don’t know what the secret ingredient is to helping guests make friends with each other. But whatever it is you’ll find it in buckets at The Bauhaus.

For those of you who don’t meet people that easily and need a helping hand, the team at the hostel run great events. My favourite had to be the Beer Tasting Experience – which runs every night! I had an extremely funny beer guide but I heard from others that this isn’t unique – all the beer guides are funny! Plus you get to taste six strong Belgian beers for just 12.50 EUR and trust me, as I stumbled back to the bar afterwards I definitely felt like I’d got my money’s worth….

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Another event run by The Bauhaus to help you meet other guests is The Bauhaus Pub Quiz. Rumour has it that it’s not a regular event so I was lucky to get in on the action during my stay! Like any other pub quiz you play in teams, so I just sat at the bar until I met another guest coming in from a day of sightseeing and asked him if he’d be on my team… and it worked!

*Note: cheaters will be disqualified!

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Finally, if you’d rather do your socialising without alcohol the recommended Free Walking Tour is run by Legends of Bruges who do a pick up at the hostel every afternoon. The guides that do the night tour are also the same guides that run the Beer Tasting Experience so it’s a great way to form together as a group before you return to the hostel and get even more time to get to know each other!

The day tour is also really fascinating as it’s full of lots of little secrets about Bruges that apparently even the locals don’t know!

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But my favourite part about the atmosphere at St Christopher’s at The Bauhaus has to be the feeling of the hostel as a base both for the travelling and local community.

The decor and the locals that drink there in the evenings gives the hostel a cosy and welcoming feeling of a great British pub, and allowing locals in to the hostel bar means you really get to experience Bruges like a local!

Take for example a city tour guide I met there. He’s a freelancer that doesn’t work for the hostel or Legends of Bruges; he was just relaxing in the evening and began to tell me the history of the building opposite the hostel, and where I could go in the city to photograph a picture of the rooftops.

Without mincing my words, The Bauhaus is home to a community that I would happily call home any day!

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The Staff

I’ve started to notice a trend with the staff I’ve met during my last three St Christopher’s Inns experiences. They’re super friendly, always fun and quite often they’ll be your best friend if you share a Jägerbomb (or two) with them on their nights off.

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The best part about the staff at The Bauhaus is that they’re a family. Some of them share flats, they go on dinner dates together, they hang out together long after the bar closes. It’s a community that as a guest you just want to be a part of – which is awesome because they let you.

I never once saw a staff member hanging out at the bar not chatting with guests. They’re inclusive and best of all they’re so much fun. Having already met one of the receptionists, Iris, earlier this year she offered to show me around town for the whole day on the day I arrived – even though it was her day off!

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The receptionists were always helpful. Big shout to Valentine who forgave me for missing checkout on the last day of my stay, after chatting with Adam and Wietse too late in to the night at the bar! The two Steves and Alex were more than welcoming when it came to acting as my makeshift camera tripod in the bar, The Bauhaus manager Mick was so inviting and Essex boy Matt had me in stitches more than once outside the hostel!

There are so many names I should have written down but didn’t – like the guy who ran the pub quiz and included a clip of ‘Four Lion’ (epic taste there), the incredibly sweet housekeeping team, and the dude with dreadlocks and a knack for writing and singing romantic tunes on the guitar. Basically, I love The Bauhaus team and to everyone reading this just go and meet them please!

Also if anyone from the UK decides to visit The Bauhaus team after reading this can you let me know? I have some pasties that need delivering…

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The Room

Two words: pod beds.

I was in a 10-bed mixed dorm during my stay at St Christopher’s at The Bauhaus but I can honestly say that it could have been a 30-bed and I probably wouldn’t have known the difference once I was settled under the cosy duvet, my head resting on the soft pillow and my curtains closed.

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The pod style beds were custom made by St Christopher’s Inn and not only come with a curtain so you feel like you’re in your own 5×2 foot private room, but also a light switch, a coat hanger and two plug sockets.

And this isn’t unique to The Bauhaus. The pod beds I experienced in St Christopher’s Gare du Nord in Paris also had curtains, a light switch, a plug socket and USB plugs → click here to see the video of my stay in Paris. However, not all rooms at the hostel have pods so make sure to select them specifically when you book online.

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Each bunk also has it’s own locker underneath the beds with more than enough space for your entire backpack!

Some hostels have smaller lockers than will only fit your valuables so the ones at The Bauhaus are a refreshing change from having to sort through your bag to find the select items you want to keep safe – you literally just throw your whole bag in there! Just make sure to have a lock with you otherwise you’ll need to hire one from reception.

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Aside from the beds the room was pretty open which gave plenty of floor space for when the time came to unpack, pack or just chill out with new roommates.

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Finally whilst The Bauhaus has private rooms with en-suite bathrooms, all the dorm rooms share showers and toilets on the same floor. This is similar to what I experience in Berlin and Paris but just like in my previous stays I had no problems having to wait for a shower.

The showers and toilets were always clean, with warm water and more than enough stall for those of us that were staying that week.

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The Location

Bruges train station to St Christopher’s at The Bauhaus by bus

Getting to the hostel by bus from the main train station in Bruges couldn’t be easier. It costs just 3 EUR for a single bus ticket within Bruges and the bus ride is just 11 minutes. Make sure to take bus 16 from the Bruges train station and get off at the stop called Brugge Kruispoort.

From there walk up in the direction of the big stone gate (which is actually called Kruispoort!) and take the first left on to Langestraat. Two minutes walk down that street and you’ll spot The Bauhaus on your left…

Bruges train station to St Christopher’s at The Bauhaus by foot

Alternatively, the walk through the centre of town from the train station to The Bauhaus couldn’t be any simpler, but it does take half an hour and if you have a rolling suitcase instead of a backpack the old European cobbled streets can be a bit annoying.

St Christopher’s at The Bauhaus to Bruges train station by bus

You need to get on the bus from the same stop you got off at on the way to the hostel (Brugge Kruispoort), but this time from the other side of the main canal. Instead of bus 16 again, you take bus 58 which will drop you directly at the train station. For those travelling Europe by coach this is also where the Eurolines bus departs from → click here to see how to book budget buses across Europe.

The Price

A 10-bed mixed dorm with pod beds like the one I stayed in (which is called the Superior 10 Pod Dorm on the St Christopher’s website) costs just 17.90 EUR during the week and 24.40 EUR on weekends.

For any city in Belgium this is a great price, but especially for a popular city like Bruges and especially when you consider that breakfast is included too! Oh and there are more than enough special offers on drinks (two Amarettos for 5 EUR for example) plus their pizza costs just 5 EUR as well!

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If you prefer a private room then private twins and doubles start at 34 EUR during the week (39 EUR for ensuite) and 44 EUR on weekends (47.50 EUR on weekends).

My favourite bargain? Renting a bike for the day costs just 10 EUR and riding around Bruges is so much fun! Plus the bikes at The Bauhaus are a brilliant shade of green. Other items to rent include a whole room of lockers incase you arrive before check-in or need to leave your stuff after check-out.

As always, I highly suggest booking directly from the St Christopher’s website to get the best and most up-to-date prices. I’d also highly recommend following the St Christopher’s Inns Facebook Page as they are regularly promoting offers like the one below…!

Book now

*Prices for June 2016

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These days hostels are architecturally unique and huge. But this intense focus on boutique means that the character, charm and family atmosphere of hostelling is being left behind. 

Which is why I fell in love with St Christopher’s at The Bauhaus. With their modern and incredibly comfortable pod bed rooms they’ve modernised without loosing any of their charm and I can honestly say I will be back to visit before the summer is over. Don’t believe me? Make sure to watch the vlog of my trip to Bruges to see why!

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I would like to thank the St Christopher’s at The Bauhaus in Bruges for sponsoring my stay with them, but as always opinions are honest and entirely my own.

 

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