Urban Panda Hostel Marina Dubai

A Great Place to Stay – Affordable, Friendly, and Well-Located! I had a wonderful time staying here! The location is perfect—close to everything but still quiet enough to relax. The views are lovely, and the price is very reasonable for what you get. The place offers both bunk beds in dorm-style rooms and cozy private rooms, which is great depending on your budget or mood. There’s also a shared kitchen and bathroom, both kept clean and functional. What I loved most was the friendly atmosphere. The staff are super helpful and welcoming, and I met travelers from all over the world—such a great place to connect with people. If you're looking for a laid-back, affordable stay with good vibes, this is the spot!

5 stars – Great experience at Urban Panda Marina! I had a wonderful stay at Urban Panda Marina. Peter was super friendly and helpful throughout my stay — he even took great care of my luggage after checkout, which I really appreciated. The hostel had a very welcoming and social vibe, with lots of kind and interesting people around. Plus, the location is excellent — close to major attractions and easy to get around from. Highly recommended for solo travelers and backpackers visiting Dubai!

The worst hostel! Starting with the owners and ending with the administration! I have never seen such disrespect for guests. I lived in this hostel for 1 month and the whole month there was some kind of drama. Peter was very rude and arrogant, his attitude towards guests was like some kind of subordinates, although we pay money. My things were constantly disappearing, because Peter was always putting them away somewhere, and then forgot, he did not even manage to ask whose thing it was. He made up stupid rules like "you can't use a hair dryer in the bathroom" and if I took a hair dryer, he still managed to chase me. If I came home at night, then for some reason he thought that he had the right to interfere in my life and ask "why am I so late?", he should not care! He thought that if he is a host, then he is our boss, so he has the right to communicate with us as he wants. I also want to warn European girls who have blue eyes and blond hair, Peter is an African and for him it is a fetish. He has a soft spot for such girls, so rest assured that you will not be left without attention. I will not even mention the hostel itself, the kitchen is full of cockroaches; the beds are made haphazardly, as if someone slept there before me; the toilet is all wet and stinks! The owners of the hostel are Indians, who also do not care about the guests! In the end, the owner John, without asking my permission, just took and threw out my things, because he thought it was trash. They will not take you into account here, they will decide for you! If they decide that your things are trash, then they will throw them in the trash, without even talking to you! Here you will not be a guest, here you will be like in Africa with their wild customs and survival!

It was my first time staying in a hostel, and overall, it was a great experience. I really enjoyed the place, especially its location—you could even see the beach from the balcony! What stood out the most, though, was Peter (the host). He was incredibly welcoming, had a positive attitude, and was always helpful. He made sure the place was clean and well-organized, and he was available whenever needed. There were just a couple of minor downsides: the space was a bit small, and the building security seemed somewhat aggressive. But despite that, I had a pleasant stay!

Horrible experience. While the staff was welcoming at first, this hostel has no respect for its sleeping guests. First, the receptionist turned the lights on in complete disregard to everyone already asleep in the room to show a new guest their bed, not once, but twice. It was respectively past 11:00 pm and 12:00 am. The first time they didn't even bother to turn them off on the way out. Then, there are the bathrooms. While two are accessible from the reception, one is located past the bedroom I was in, meaning you had to go through the bedroom to get to it. And it was accessible for anyone at the hostel at any time. Every 30 minutes someone would open the door of the room, come in, making noise and getting light in, use the bathroom and do the same on the way out. It kept happening till 3 in the morning. Every time I'd start to fall asleep, a new person would walk in. Some proper decency would be to make this bathroom exclusive for the room's guests only past a certain hour! There isn't much a hostel needs to get right to provide a good service and this one misses every single box.