Admiral Hostel is run by a husband and wife. Guess what the wife's name is. Olga. We have stayed in four hostels or home stays thus far, and we have run into five Olgas. We met one on the train from Ulan Ude to Irkutsk. The other three were home stays, and now one more at Admiral Hostel. I have wondered out loud to Emily if Russians are just trying to live up to the stereotype at this point.
Admiral Hostel itself is clean and has great wifi, which we have found isn't that common in Russia. Both the husband and wife speak English very well, and they are very helpful. They leave you alone unless you have a question, which is nice, but they come off a little cold as a result. They don't offer any sort of breakfast, but you can use their kitchen. Something that struck me as a little odd is that they give you two sheets and a blanket to put on a bed that already has linens on it. It seemed like they were trying to keep the cost of doing laundry down by just having to clean sheets.
Despite all of that, the hostel is in a very convenient location. There is a trolley stop less than five minutes away where you can catch a trolley to the bus station or the train station. They are close to the Marriott, so if your taxi driver doesn't know where the hostel is, he can at least drop you off there. Their Olkhon Island tour is priced well. Of all the people we met, we paid the least by about $10. They will also store your bags for free for a couple days if you are out on a tour. I can think of more good things about the hostel than bad, but it likely won't be one of my favorites of our trip.
As I am sure you have already. Give them a benefit of the doubt. We have had a few cold people here because of the snobs during the summer months.
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