This section is dedicated to take away all your "I wish someone had told me that before I went!" experiences. This way, you can spend less time settling in, and more time making new friends in your chosen hostel.
Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, is a city confused. The local language is called surzhyk and is a mix of Russian and Ukrainian that full-blooded Russians don’t consider Russian and Ukrainians don’t consider Ukrainian. Very few people here use the country’s language of Ukrainian.
Kiev is a large city, and what makes it seem even bigger is that everything is so spread out. Each nightclub is a taxi ride away from the next because there is no concentrated area of good clubs and pubs. Even the sights are not easy to get to.
Kiev hostels are all over the place as well, although there are more around the main street: Kreshchatyk, than in other areas of the city. From this area there are a few very cheap places to eat, with food reminiscent of a school cafeteria: cheap and cooked in large quantities.
Kiev hostels seem to almost all be members of two chains. If you stay at one of the hostels in a chain, they will try to force you to stay at another of theirs in a different city. We recommend doing your own research and deciding based on that. I would also say check on the map where the Kiev hostels are as many of them will bend the truth about how close really are to the sights or train station.
Many Kiev hostel owners seem to live in their hostels. In this kind of hostel the owners do their cooking, eating, and sleeping in either the common room or in the dorm with the other backpackers. These hostels are also run more like coach surfing places than a normal hostel, but if that is what you like then you will be happy there.
