this text is from STRIKE the newsletter of ZSP in warsaw
„If you or a friend ever come to visit Poland and are considering paid accomodations, avoid a place
called “Nathan’s Villa Hostel”.
“Nathan’s Villa Hostel” is a network of hostels found in major cities in Poland and meanwhile also in Romania owned by
an American guy named Nathan. Nathan apparently runs a very worker-unfriendly place, not always paying minimum
wage, not paying people for some “trial periods” and not paying them extra for overnight shifts. Nathan apparently is also
just… um… not a nice guy.
Nathan has been put on warning: clean your act up or we will hound you. We will see
in the next few time is Nathan has seen the light or not.“
slave work in good bye lenin hostels krakow/zakopane
i am a long time receptionist from sleepy lion/central globetrotter hostels leipzig/germany and started working in good bye lenin hostels krakow and zakopane from december 2008.
i didnt care about agreements for payment on the beginning, because i was very happy and enthusiastic living and working in krakow now, and the hostel owners gave a very good impression, because they gave me free stays for all together 2 weeks last summer, in the time when i was still representing another hostel (most hostels give free stays or discounts for other receptionist just for some days – if they give it at all).
after one month working in all 3 good bye lenin hostels, especially in peak times like christmas and new year, they told me that 3 up to 4 shifts per week i work just for my stay in the hostel, which is somehow hard but acceptable. later i got to know, that they are also going to charge me for my 2 weeks staying in their hostel in zakopane while working there so many shifts that i even didnt see much of the town itself. not to mention a 16 hours shift on my birthday, for which i had to agree to have at least a little time to join the guests new year party.
Normally nobody of the workers there has to pay for that, because people who work in Good bye lenin hostel Zakopane HAVE to stay in the hostel, otherwise its too difficult to work in that hidden place. asking about that, i got told „your case is different“, without further explanation.
there is mostly not much money to earn in poland and i didnt expect much, but suddenly i was also supposed to get just 5 zloty/per hour, instead of 6 zloty from the 2nd month (1euro = 4 – 4,5 zloty).
it appeard very difficult to work there after a while. the manager is very rude, missing no chance making staff feeling uncomfortable, to compensate his personal mental problems. as a result the whole atmosphere was often like acid. not surprising, there is surveillance cameras observing the reception, which is recording the work of the receptionists.
in the end the bosses and me agreed on the evening of 8 of february, that i will do my last shifts until end of february and for my outstanding money i will have free stay in the hostel for march which was more than a good deal for them. i finished my last shift in that night, the next day i packed my back because i needed to go to germany for 2 weeks and suddenly, just 2 hours before my train left, the manager told me, that the bosses told him to kick me out with all my property (which is not so much, but too much to take it all on travelling).
i tried to call the boss who made the agreement with me – he was not available of course – and the manger told me i will also not get my outstanding salary or the free stay for march. i somehow managed to hide my things in a friends flat in the last moment, but i was really shocked. even if i did something really really wrong, there should have been at least an explaination for such rude behavior. nobody deserves to be treated like this, being kicked out like some dirty asshole.
after staying in gbl hostels people always get asked to give some rating, thats why the hostel management tries to give an good impression to the outside – to guests and people from other hostels.
for asking uncomfortable questions feel free to contact the following adress: hostel@goodbyelenin.pl
also put this adress in the bcc: krakow@goodbyelenin.pl it helps my former coworkers get to know whats going on.
