King Kong Hostel

I stayed for 1 night at King Kong hostel - I woke up a few hours into my sleep to a burning sensation all over my torso and my arms. I woke up to find bedbugs in my bed... I went to reception at 5am and they switched me to another room and gave me new sheets - the next day they gave me a refund. I appreciated the staff's response to this (they were nice and didn't question the refund), so I almost decided not to leave a bad review. However, then my friend sent me a post from Reddit, where another person had stayed at King Kong hostel in a similar timeframe as I did, and they also found bedbugs. They noted that several reviews at King Kong had noted this experience. This makes me realise it wasn't just a small oversight, but that the hostel is very aware of the issue with bedbugs and is not doing enough to stop their visitors from experiencing this horrible experience. It was quite traumatising, as I also realised some bedbugs came home with my belongings and I had to throw away valuable items and spend a lot of money on dry cleaning to ensure they didn't infest my home. A reimbursement is the lowest effort King Kong hostel should have made - the fact that several travellers are experiencing this is a massive red flag, so I wouldn't suggest staying here...

So I booked at this hostel for the weekend because I wanted to explore Rotterdam. It is my first time here. I arrived around 5am and sat at reception till check which is at 3. I had paid around 5am when I got here. Only at check in when they explaining the rules do I get told that there's no hot water and they don't know know when the issue will be fixed. The water was freezing cold so I asked to check out. The lady who had checked me in told me I can get cash or the money can be put back in my card, but when I asked for the cash back I was told they can only put it back in my card but I must first write an email requesting a refund which will take days to get paid back. So what do I do in the interim? Where am I supposed to stay? What am I supposed to pay with? They didn't care instead they got hostile, with a guy called Lawrence getting aggressive threatening to call the police which he did and this was after he assaulted me. Lawrence from King Kong put his hands on me. I'm not used to aggression. I can't even deal with a man shouting at me let alone putting his hands on me. As I type this im traumatised, holding back tears, sitting at some restaurant while trying to think of where to go and what to do. I travelled to the Netherlands, it's my first time in Rotterdam. I don't know anyone here or anything besides how to get back to Centraal station. My weekend has been ruined, I was so excited to finally come Rotterdam and also visit the Netherlands but now I regret it. They had ample time to inform us of the issue but they chose not to but instead wait until you've paid to tell you... We don't have hot water, deal with it. You ask for a refund... Oh, this is how that refund will happen. DEAL WITH IT!! Then we'll get aggressive and put hands on you because now you must leave because we told you to deal with it but you don't want to... GBV... If I was a man, of his same strength or above would he have behaved in the manner that he did? GBV starts and shows as signs like this before it escalates. Lawrence of King Kong is an aggressive and violent man who knows no gender bounds in fact as a female you're easy prey for his masculine body. The fact that a man can talk to a woman like that, even have the audacity to put his hands on a woman in full view of everyone that says a lot and King Kong has him as some sort of manager/supervisor /in charge...