Review: Red Emperor Hostel in Tallinn, Estonia
Calming my flustered nerves, I headed to my accommodation, the Red Emperor Hostel. Since prices in Tallinn are so much higher than in Russia (which really shows how much the Russian economy is struggling), I put a lot of effort into finding a hostel. Moving from a 6,000 KRW room, it obviously wasn't easy to find something comparable. No matter where I looked, the price for one night was enough to stay in St. Petersburg for about a week, so I debated a lot whether to even come here. Still, it was hard to resist the temptation of easily visiting a country with a completely different atmosphere, and the cheapest room I could find was here at the 'Red Emperor Hostel'.
I say it was cheap, but it was still an €11 room (though in Western Europe that would barely cover a meal), so I went in with high expectations. However, unlike the free-spirited description on Agoda, it was a place with quite a few restrictions. On top of that, my roommates were smelly and loud, which annoyed me to no end. The room is the most important part of traveling, but honestly, it relies so much on luck that all you can really do is pray.
The pros of this hostel are that it's cheap, you can store your luggage for a bit, and they sell beer inside. It's also incredibly close to the Old Town, and having a really large supermarket right in front is a huge plus. These might not be big advantages if you're traveling solo, but I think it's a great spot if you come as a group of two or more. Plus, they provide simple tea and cooking utensils. A travel group staying at the same time—I couldn't tell if they were from China or Thailand—had a fun night cooking up a storm.
The cons, as I mentioned above, are the noisy atmosphere (though this depends on the situation), and the fact that it's hard to feel the host's friendliness unless you are quite fluent in English. The host here spoke very fluent English, yet felt less friendly than the staff at Bolshaya Morskaya (in St. Petersburg) who couldn't speak English at all. I think the difference lies in whether they are actually trying to listen to you or just talking at you. As for shower facilities, there is a shared shower room, and only towels are provided.
It has its pros and cons, but I think the main reason I viewed this hostel negatively was that my stamina was completely depleted at the time, and I just wanted to rest quietly. Even so, if possible, I would recommend a Japanese-run hostel over this one. Since the cultural background is more similar, you'll likely be able to rest more comfortably if you're mentally or physically exhausted.
I didn't take any photos of the room because my time there wasn't particularly special. You can easily find information and plenty of photos on booking sites like Agoda.
Expenses
- Sparkling water 1.5L €1.05
- Breakfast bread €1.30
- Souvenirs €8
- Niguliste (St. Nicholas) Museum €5
- Dome Church €5
- Water, beer, sausage €2.33
- Blini €4.90
Total Expenses €27.58
Total Trip Expenses 525,936 KRW + 47,499 RUB + $312.26 + €85.58