FAQ - Frequently asked questions

Guests with a FIX booking (cheaper rate; paid in advance) can arrive at any time without any difficulty.

Guests with a FLEX booking (payable on site; can be cancelled free of charge by 6 pm) should call us on +49 30 80 947 5110 and have their booking guaranteed by submitting their credit card details to a Customer Service Agent. Then you can arrive later without any problem. The credit card is for security purposes only – you can still pay on arrival. The card will only be charged if you do not arrive. Without a credit card, we cannot guarantee that your room will be available after 6 pm.

Almost every a&o location has its own car park or underground parking. The following prices apply by car and day:

Check-in is possible at any time. There are various check-in options available, it is best to use our digital options to check in even faster and more convenient. Your room is ready for you at 3 pm.

Check-out on workdays is until 10 am. Weekends and also holidays until 11 am.

Forgot something? We would love to help you out! Just use our contact form for a personal inquiry directly to the desired a&o house. If we have found what you lost, we will send you a short manual for the pick-up request via DHL.

You can view and download the house rules here. Most importantly, smoking is strictly prohibited and no alcohol may be consumed in the rooms. The night's rest from 10 pm to 6 am must be observed.

In many cities, tourists pay an additional overnight tax. In certain exceptional cases, overnight guests are exempt from paying this tax. You will find the exemption forms below. Please fill in the relevant form in advance and present it when you arrive.

AMSTERDAM:
In Amsterdam, overnight guests pay a city tax of 12.5% on the net accommodation price. The legal regulations can be read here in Dutch language.

BERLIN:
In Berlin, overnight guests pay a city tax of 5 % on the net accommodation price. Special rules for Berlin: Exempt are students on study trips, people accompanying disabled people (proof required) and patients who have been prescribed a stay by a doctor.

BREMEN:
In Bremen, overnight guests pay a city tax of 5 % on the net accommodation price if they are 18 years or older. Special rules for Bremen: Guests staying at the a&o Bremen for more than 7 nights in a row are exempt from the 8th day.

BUDAPEST:
In Budapest, overnight guests pay a city tax of 4 % on the net accommodation price if they are 18 years or older. Special rules for Budapest: Exempt are students (second or higher education); persons performing a compulsory service; persons performing an entrepreneurial activity of a company based in Budapest; persons performing the work/performance of an employee; persons staying with us due to official/judicial arrangements.

COLOGNE:
In Cologne, overnight guests pay a city tax of 5 % on the gross accommodation price. Special rules for Cologne: On presentation of the exemption form, school trips are exempt from the accommodation tax.

DORTMUND:
In Dortmund, all overnight guests pay a city tax of 7.5 % on the net accommodation price.

DRESDEN:
In Dresden, overnight guests pay a city tax of 6 % on the gross price if they are 18 years or older. Special rules for Dresden: Persons under the age of 27 staying overnight for educational purposes are exempt; persons with a degree of disability of 80 or more as stated on the relevant ID card; persons accompanying severely disabled persons with the B mark on the relevant ID card; persons staying overnight in Dresden due to mandatory medical treatment and their accompanying person, provided that the overnight stay of the accompanying person is necessary for medical reasons; persons who are registered as residents at the address of the accommodation facility. If one of these cases applies, please complete this form before travelling and present it to the a&o Dresden.

DÜSSELDORF:
In Düsseldorf, overnight guests pay a city of €3 per night. Special rules for Düsseldorf: Overnight stays that meet the basic requirements of accommodation and school trips are exempt. The city tax is waived from an uninterrupted stay at the location from the 22nd day of the stay.

FLORENCE:
In Florence, overnight guests pay a city tax of €4 per person per night at the a&o hostel. It is charged for a maximum period of 7 consecutive days. Children up to the age of 12 are exempt from the city tax.

FRANKFURT:
In Frankfurt, overnight guests pay a city tax of €2 per night. Special rules for Frankfurt: Freelancers and employees staying at the a&o are exempt. Students are exempt from this upon presentation of a school certificate.

GRAZ:
In Graz, overnight guests pay a city tax of €2.50 per night if they are 15 or older. Special rules for Graz: Students and accompanying persons who stay overnight due to courses or school/vocational training; students and teachers from (technical) universities with a temporary residence in Graz; as well as persons who stay overnight for more than 14 days without interruption due to the exercise of their professional activity are exempt.

HAMBURG:
In Hamburg, overnight guests pay a city tax based on net accommodation price per person per night: Up to under €10 = €0.00 | €25 = €0.50 | €50 = €1.00 | €100 = €2.00 and so on: each €50 plus €1.00.

LEIPZIG:
In Leipzig, overnight guests of legal age pay a city tax of 5 % on the gross accommodation price. Special rules for Leipzig: Exempt are persons with a degree of disability of 80 or more as stated in the corresponding ID card; persons accompanying severely disabled persons with the B mark in the corresponding ID card; persons staying overnight in Dresden due to mandatory medical treatment and their accompanying person, provided that the overnight stay of the accompanying person is necessary for medical reasons; persons who are registered as residents at the address of the accommodation facility in accordance with the Federal Registration Act. If one of these cases applies, please complete this form before travelling and present it to the a&o Leipzig.

PRAGUE:
In Prague, overnight guests pay a city tax of CZK 50, which currently equates to around €2.00 per person per night.

ROTTERDAM:
In Rotterdam, overnight guests pay a city tax of 6.5 % on the accommodation price.

SALZBURG:
In Salzburg, overnight guests pay a city tax of €1.75 per night if they are 15 years or older. Special rules for Salzburg: Exempt are persons who are in Salzburg for school lessons; persons who are staying in Salzburg for more than 2 weeks for professional reasons; persons with at least 50 % disability and one accompanying person. Appropriate proof must be provided.

VENICE:
In Mestre (Venice), overnight guests pay a city tax of €1.40 per night if they are 16 years or older. Special rules for Venice: All overnight guests pay a lower overnight tax in the month of January. For children between 10 and 16 years, the rate is reduced by half. Also exempt are disabled persons; bus drivers, accompanying persons and tour guides of groups of 25 persons or more as well as patients of a Venetian hospital and their accompanying person (only with appropriate proof). If one of these cases applies, please complete this form before travelling and present it to the a&o Venice.

VIENNA:
In Vienna, overnight guests pay a city tax of 3.2 % on the net accommodation price. Special rules for Vienna: Exempt are students at Viennese (technical) universities; minors staying in Vienna for the purpose of school attendance/vocational training or in youth hostels; as well as persons staying at the a&o for more than 3 months without interruption.

WEIMAR:
In Weimar, overnight guests pay a city tax for up to 7 consecutive overnight stays if they are 18 years or older. The city tax is €3.00 for a single room and € 2.25 for a double or multi-bed room. Special rules for Weimar: Persons staying overnight in Weimar for professional reasons are exempt from this, please inform the a&o Weimar before travelling. Appropriate proof from the employer is required and must be submitted. You can download the information sheet for overnight guests here.

Dogs are always welcome at all a&o locations! You can bring a maximum of 2 dogs in your room for a fee of £11.50 per night and dog.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to bring dogs into the multi-bed rooms, as it is possible that it would make other guests uncomfortable. For the same reason, we ask you not to bring dogs to the breakfast room. We appreciate your understanding.

There are free coach parking spaces close to most of the houses. If available, we offer parking spaces for cars for a fee. The prices for coach and car parking spaces may vary depending on the location and type of parking space available (underground car park, car park, etc.).

With our Early Check-in for €13 you can enter your room at 11 am, on weekends at 12 pm. You can book this service for single, double or family rooms at aohostels.com.

The Late Check-out until 2 pm for €13 allows you a nice and long sleep-in, on weekends even until 3 pm. Available also online.

You can store your luggage in our lockers. For groups there is also a free luggage room.

A precise description of the directions can be found on each location's website.

You can of course also bring your own food when staying with us. Our tip: It is best to check in advance whether the a&o you have booked offers a guest kitchen where you can prepare your meals.

You can find out either by reading the e-mail sent to you 48 hours prior to your arrival or by checking our website here.

We make it easy for you to find suitable attractions even before you arrive: When you book a bed or room online, you will be asked in the next step about additional services such as breakfast, parking and so on. At this point, we recommend the CityCards! These "cards" also include a ticket for public transport - museums and cultural and leisure facilities are thus greatly reduced.

Buy tickets for your new favourite attraction from the comfort of your own home.

If you are already on site, simply speak to our colleagues at reception. Our friendly staff have a selection of tickets of various types ready for you and will of course help you.

Every a&o offers free Wi-Fi in all public areas, such as the lobby or the bars, and in every room as well.

From the age of 14 you can stay in our a&o's all by yourself.  All you need is a signed declaration of consent from your parents and a copy of the personal identification from the parent who signed the form.

There is an exception in Great Britain (Brighton & Edinburgh), where minors are only allowed to stay overnight alone from the age of 16 with the consent of their parents.

In almost all of our a&o establishments, you can find single, double and family rooms, however you can also book a bed in a dorm for four to eight people.

Exceptions to this rule are the hostels a&o Köln Dom, a&o München Hauptbahnhof and a&o Hamburg Hammer Kirche, as these hostels only have private rooms, and are therefore unable to offer bookings for a bed in a dorm.

Therefore, you have two options for booking with a&o:

• First option:
  You are booking a private room i.e. a single, double, or family room. The price includes bed linen, hand towels, 2-in-1 shampoo, a hairdryer, and you can enjoy the convenience of your own bathroom.
• Second option:
  You are booking a bed in a dorm room. This option offers you affordable accommodation in an uncomplicated atmosphere. With this option, each room has its own bathroom with 2-in-1 shampoo and a hairdryer. You can also add bed linen and hand towels to your booking.

The only exception is our a&o Hamburg Reeperbahn, where there are still a few bathrooms on the floors.

You can enjoy a rich breakfast buffet for only 11€ in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Scotland, Denmark, and the Czech Republic. The cost for the breakfast buffet is 10.65€ in the Netherlands and 9.90€ in Italy and Austria. Please note that prices may vary in countries where the euro is not accepted as a means of payment. You can book breakfast online at a reduced rate of 10€. For children up to 6 years, the breakfast buffet is free, from 7 years the buffet costs half the price per child.

Breakfast hours are Monday to Friday from 7:00 am to 11:00 am, and Saturday to Sunday from 7:00 am to 11:00 am. For groups of 10 or more, we also offer dinner (by arrangement). Upon request, we can prepare packed lunches for 7.90€ (groups of 10 or more receive a 0.50€ discount). This includes a sandwich, fruit, a sweet treat, and a drink. For detailed information, click here.

We appreciate your understanding that lunch and/or dinner cannot be added for individual guests. However, you are welcome to book packed lunches in advance online or on-site (one day before required).

Yes, these offer ample space for smaller and medium-sized groups. Should the room still be too small, we can make the dining area available (non-eating times only). For teachers and accompanying persons, there is also a teacher and guide lounge, called a&o Lounge.

Check-in is possible at any time. Your room is ready for you at 3 pm.

Check-out workdays is until 10 am. Weekends and also holidays until 11 am.

A precise description of the directions can be found on each location's website.

We make it easy for you to find suitable attractions even before you arrive: When you book a bed or room online, you will be asked in the next step about additional services such as breakfast, parking and so on. At this point, we recommend the CityCards! These "cards" also include a ticket for public transport – museums and cultural and leisure facilities are thus greatly reduced.

Buy tickets for your new favourite attraction from the comfort of your own home.

If you are already on site, simply speak to our colleagues at reception. Our friendly staff have a selection of tickets of various types ready for you and will of course help you.

In general, this is possible. However, we do not accept formal deliveries. For the safe arrival of your postcards or parcels, please note the name of the receiver and the date of stay on the item. We will then deliver it to the guest.

In general, you can use your booked parking space as soon as you have arrived. We usually have so many parking spaces in the cities with their own parking facilities that it is easy to find a previously free space.

The right to use your parking space usually begins at the start of your stay with us, i.e. at the check-in and check-out times: 3 pm to 10 am the next morning (or 11 am on the weekend).

Of course, you can bring your own bike and store it with us. If you are concerned about the pitch and security, please contact us with your booking no. – either by email at [email protected] or give us a quick call at the reservation desk, +49 30 80 947 5110.

Many a&o hostels in Germany already offer charging stations for electric cars, available to all guests. Whether you're looking for a charging station, wall charger, or an EV socket, the following a&o locations are equipped (please check with the hostel for exact facilities and specific details):

Aachen Haupbahnhof, Berlin Friedrichshain, Berlin Hauptbahnhof, Berlin Kolumbus, Berlin Mitte, Bremen Hauptbahnhof, Dresden Hauptbahnhof, Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof, Frankfurt Galluswarte, Frankfurt Ostend, Hamburg Hammer Kirche, Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, Hamburg Reeperbahn, Köln Hauptbahnhof, Köln Neumarkt, Leipzig Hauptbahnhof, München Hackerbrücke, München Hauptbahnhof, München Laim, Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof

Internationally, both a&o hostels in Vienna have EV sockets, and charging stations in Copenhagen and Rotterdam are coming soon.

You will find barrier-free rooms in almost all a&o hotels and hostels. Please feel free to call us on +49 30 80 947 5110.

The rooms in the a&o hostel area as well as in the hotel area receive a daily needs check. For a careful and compatible use of resources, we avoid a daily complete cleaning with chemicals. We restock the hygiene articles, remove the rubbish and, of course, carry out a basic cleaning on departure.

For the environment's sake, you can request a new towel at the reception in the hotel area (for a small extra charge) or simply leave your towel hanging on the hook in the bathroom for further use.

Smoking is prohibited throughout all a&o Hostels (including e-cigarettes, vaporizers and hookahs). The consumption of cannabis is prohibited on the entire property. Unfortunately, we must charge you €200 for infringements to cover the cost of additional cleaning and associated loss of sales. Should the fire department respond to the activation of a fire detector, we must also charge you this considerable fee.

All single, double and family rooms come with bed linen and towels. Multi-bed rooms also come with bed linen. You can bring your own towel or get one for €1.75 at reception.

In every a&o there is a Kids' Corner with toys, a colouring board, crayons and children's books. In some a&o hostelss the Kids' Corners even have slides or playhouses. Your children can let off steam while you relax and enjoy a coffee in the lobby or breakfast room.

We do not offer in-house childcare, but we can offer you a good babysitting network for some cities, which you can contact independently.

Of course, we offer shared rooms with women-only occupancy. You can book these Female Dorms conveniently online – a symbol in the photo shows you the correct room category.

As a "frequent traveller" you will receive special treatment at a&o – similar to the major airlines. For €69 you can order your a&o Traveller Card at any reception desk or by phone/e-mail. If you need more than one a&o Traveller Card, we would also like to accommodate you here: The price of the second a&o Traveller Card is €60 and each additional one costs €50.

You can find all the advantages of this card for you as our guest here. Please understand that the Traveller Card cannot be combined with other a&o discounts.

You can purchase a a&o hotel voucher for 129,-€ for yourself or a special occasion. The box includes 2 nights in a double room for 2 people with breakfast buffet included. Kids can stay overnight for free in their parents' room. Find out more here.

Our Online Shop has got plenty of other useful and interesting products.

We don't request a deposit, but we ask for groups to behave themselves properly.

Up to the age of 7, your children stay in your room free of charge. Families usually choose the room category "family room" (designed for 4-6 people, in some hotels also for 8 people). The room rate is determined by the number of parents (legal guardians) travelling with the children. The little ones are always welcome. That's why we are happy to provide cots (up to 2 years recommended) and high chairs free of charge if required.

You don't need to worry about anything – the children's discount counts automatically when you book. Therefore, you can also combine other discounts.

It depends on the rate you booked. If you booked using our Flex-Rate, then you can cancel at any time. Otherwise, the room will be kept available for you until 6 pm on the day of your arrival. Please let us know if you will arrive later. The Fix-Rate is, as the name says, "fixed" and cannot be cancelled. The price cannot be reimbursed even if you do not stay here. That's why this rate is especially low. For groups of 10 or more, there are special cancellation rules that you can find in our Terms and Conditions.

Our prices are determined by availability – completely fair, completely transparent! That means that if beds of one room category are in short supply at a specific date, then the prices go up. And if the desired occupancy rate has not been reached, then the prices also fall automatically. What does that mean for you? Basically, the earlier you book, the lower the price. Those who make decisions on the spur of the moment also benefit from exclusive last-minute deals – of course, only as long as the respective category is not fully booked.

As the largest hostel chain in Europe, a&o offers special discounts for journalists, from our 20% press discount on bookings with our Flex rate to the benefits and services included in our business package for business travellers.

For press discount, please fill the relevant form and upload your press ID: Apply here for press discount

You will then receive a discount code from us within 2 days after verification. Please show your press ID when you check in at a&o hostel.

Each student with a valid ISIC or ITIC ID card gets 10% off the daily-updated rate at all a&o Hotels and Hostels. Simply type in the discount code isic into the appropriate field when booking online.

You can choose from a pool of payment options. We offer you the convenience of paying your bill by instant bank transfer, by credit card (VISA or MasterCard), by PayPal or by direct debit. When paying by PayPal, we charge a processing fee of €2.45 if the amount to be paid is less than €200. You should only choose direct debit if your arrival does not take place within the next 5 days.

If you stay at one of our a&o Hotels and Hostels for a longer period of time, we recommend purchasing a Traveller Card. It offers exclusive prices for frequenters and other great advantages. Find more information here.

When travelling with lots of people or at regular intervals, we're happy to advise individually. Our competent sales team deals with your requests at: [email protected]

This is very easy: Email us to [email protected] with the booking number and your changed data, and we will update your booking. Of course, you can also call us on +49 30 80 947 5110.