Got scammed by a fake hostel booking site in Prague

I booked a "private room" for $35 a night through some site that looked official. Showed up and it was a closet with a mattress on the floor. How do you guys tell real hostel sites from the fake ones?

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2 Comments

lindaw293mo ago

Oh man, that $35 price tag is a HUGE red flag right there. I got burned once in Barcelona for a similar deal, ended up in a place with no hot water and a broken lock. The thing that helped me after that was only booking through the actual hostel's own website if possible, or using a well known aggregator like Hostelworld. If the deal seems TOO good for a private room in a big city, it probably is. I'd also try to call the hostel directly before paying to double check their availability and prices, that's saved me a few times.

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kevin_roberts413mo ago

Read an article the other day about how some booking sites will show you a price but then tack on a bunch of "resort fees" or "cleaning fees" after you click through, which is wild. Also heard that scammers will set up fake versions of real hostel websites with a slightly different URL, so you think you're booking direct but you're not. $35 in a big city does sound suspicious unless it's way off season or way out of the center. Calling ahead like you said is probably the best way to sniff out the fakes, plus if they're rude or confused on the phone that's a major warning sign.

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