One of my favorite countries to explore has been Portugal. I just completed my third of hopefully many trips to Spain’s wonderful and beautiful next door neighbor. This time, I decided to head south and explore the Algarve region. I spent three nights at a fun Lagos hostel called Top City.
When I travel, I typically stay in hostels. I find that nowadays, lots of hostels are actually pretty nice. I’ve stayed in quite a few that are modern and clean. Furthermore, I love the social environment that hostels cultivate. As someone who truly enjoys meeting people from all over the world, I love hanging out in the common areas. I’ve ended up having some of the coolest conversations and formed friendships. This sort of thing really doesn’t happen as much in hotels.
When I found Top City, I was immediately drawn to the aesthetics. It seemed like a place where I could just relax and have a good time.
What a fun Lagos hostel is like
The kitchen and common areas
I love a hostel with a full kitchen. Typically when I travel, I like to hit up the grocery store. It often saves you money to cook on your own. I loved that their kitchen was fully-stocked.
This table ended up being the gathering place. Whether it was for meals or to have a drink, there always seemed to be a group around that table. They even had some playdough and a coloring book on the table for people to enjoy.
The facilities
Everyone always wants to know how the facilities check out. What were the bathrooms like? Were the beds comfy? Here are things I always look for:
- A comfortable bed with enough blankets. I hate getting cold!
- An outlet next to my bed so I can charge my phone.
- A lamp in case I want to read or something.
- Adequate storage space.
- Curtains along my bed.
- Single toilet stalls.
- Space to put my things when I shower.
Top City had a majority of the things on this list. In the showers, there were a good amount of hooks so I could hang up my clothing and towel. This kept them from getting wet. However some sort of a bench to put my stuff on would have been even more helpful.
The bed was very comfortable. Since my friend Jade and I traveled in the low season, we were the only ones in our dorm room one of the nights. However I feel like once summer hits, they will be busy. After all, it’s a pretty fun Lagos hostel.
The rooftop pool
Not every hostel has it’s own pool. However Top City has a pretty sweet one. While it was a tad too cold to swim, we did utilize the pool deck for some dress photos. The view from up top is also pretty amazing. I imagine once summer hits, the pool deck will be the place to be.
The view from the top was absolutely amazing.
One thing I wish I did more of during my stay was take more photos of the social life. Daniella, one of the amazing hostel employees, was wonderful at getting everyone together and getting us to go out. Every single night there was always a group socializing in the common area and playing games. Then we would go out to one of the bars in Lagos. The night scene is pretty great.
This photo was actually stolen from my friend Jade when she got us all together to eat burritos. My experience at this fun Lagos hostel would not have been the same without Daniella and how well she connected all of us.
Shots around Lagos
The town of Lagos and the beaches are simply amazing. I don’t think I’ve seen beaches quite as beautiful.
View from my room …
The street that Top City is on. Also that’s my friend Jade from the blog It’s time to explore which you should go check out!
Have you traveled to the Algarve before? What did you think of it? Have you stayed at a fun Lagos hostel?
I was provided a complimentary stay in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.
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