Djh Jugendherberge Reken

We spent the weekend there with a music group. The food was okay so far, although it sometimes took a long time before something was refilled. For example, we heard that the grain rolls would take another 12 minutes; they still had to be baked. I miss the foresight of the staff. Water was not offered at all, the machine was broken and there was no replacement. You could have simply put water bottles there. The friendliness of the staff mostly left something to be desired. The lady at the reception didn't say a word to me when I changed money for the coffee machine or the crates of drinks in the group rooms were exchanged without a word. Our rooms were in the old building. We had an 8-person room on the first floor that was about 15 m2. There are no places to hang up your jackets and there is only a small closet compartment for each bed, so there is no space there either. Washbasins or even a shower are not available here. One! There is a separate, lockable shower in the adjacent hallway, but this has to be shared with many other rooms. There are also three toilets. There is no possibility to hang up your towels or put on your toiletry bag in the washrooms. Hooks and shelves could be easily installed. (Especially on the second floor.) Hot water is more a matter of luck, it is not always available. Or you can't refrigerate it again. It must be said that these are mixed sanitary facilities. I find this a bit strange. There are more showers down in the basement, but there is no privacy at all. There are no lockable or separate cabins. Everything is open and you always have to expect visitors. A no-go for me these days. A fundamental problem is cleanliness. There are cobwebs, spiders and dust everywhere, really everywhere. It's really really dirty. I cannot recommend this youth hostel and would not like to come back again.

We were guests with our two granddaughters. Given their age, it was nice that the hostel wasn't too big. It is idyllically situated between meadows and fields, but was well located for our excursions (Frankenhof and Beck Castle). A very nice playground at the house rounded off the stay. We were able to have a coffee on the outside terrace during the children's "play time" there. All the staff were very friendly and helpful. Next year, at the request of our granddaughters, we will visit the Reken youth hostel again and head to new excursion destinations (wild horses in the Merfelder Bruch and Ketteler Hof).