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At Hostel Hoff we focus on independent volunteering within and on the outskirts of Moshi, Tanzania. Hostel Hoff started very small, back in 2006 with the hope of helping volunteers side step international profit orientated "organisations". It is our belief that you should not have to pay to volunteer, therefore prices cover your accommodation and the volunteering experience is free. The projects we work alongside include nursery & primary schools, vocational training centres, orphanages, centres for children with disabilities, medical centres, women's groups, community development & conservation projects, and many more.
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Fantastic place to stay in Moshi! If you’re on a gap year or taking time out to travel, you should definitely check out Hostel Hoff!
I stayed here with my boyfriend in March/April 2021 and we are so pleased we did. The hostel was great, comfortable and super clean. The staff were really friendly and so helpful in showing us around Moshi and giving us advice. The food was excellent, nutritious meals freshly made, very tasty.
We were travelling during covid but had no issues. Places are quieter than usual and you can see the impact covid has had on the tourism industry. All the more reason to travel if you feel safe to do so, everywhere is open in Tanzania and they have hand sanitiser, washing stations and great cleaning at the hostel.
We volunteered at a preschool and orphange in Newlands which is just outside of Moshi. We loved it but it did require about an hours travel there and back each day, the public transport is fairly regular and cheap but it’s just worth considering when you get to select where you’d like to volunteer. Hostel Hoff have connections with loads of projects around the Moshi area so there is a wide variety of volunteer opportunities.
We can also highly recommend the safari with African Scenic Safaris. We went to Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater, must sees!! We saw the big 5 in three days and amazing scenery.
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Date of stay: March 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Mary Mushi, General Manager at Hostel Hoff
Responded 13 Dec 2022
Hi Kate, Thank you very much for such an incredible review. Thank you for trusting us and staying with us on such a dificult time everyone was going through. Thanks for your great support to the project during those hard times. We really appreciate it and we are looking forward to have you volunteer with us again. Thanks,
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I really loved my stay at Hostel Hoff. The meals were incredible, the cleaning was thorough, guests were always well taken care of, whether it was finding activities to do or making sure we understood the culture and how to navigate it. I also really enjoyed my volunteer project, especially since it was a chance to really get to know local people and the community. I highly recommend and want to return myself!
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Date of stay: November 2022Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Mary Mushi, General Manager at Hostel Hoff
Responded 13 Dec 2022
Thank you very much Celeste for such a great review. You had a challenging project with no structure but you worked hard and gave it structure. Your support for the club is immesurable. We will be very happy to have you back here again. Thanks
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Hostel Hoff is an amazing place with an amazing staff. Facilities, location and people are top class. The hostel staff will help with anything you need so you don’t have to worry. Welima, Elia, Mary, Simbo and Obedi made my stay perfect. Asante, I will definitely come back to Hostel Hoff!
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Date of stay: June 2021Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Mary Mushi, General Manager at Hostel Hoff
Responded 13 Dec 2022
Thank you very much for this great review. We really do appreciate it. You are welcome anytime to the HOFF, your second home. Thanks,
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I stayed at Hostel Hoff for 12 weeks and it was super nice, had just what you needed. It was centrally located in Moshi, but at the same time a safe and quiet area. However, I thought there was a lack of information about the possibility of being placed in a tent, and unpredictable expenses (drinking water, tips at the end of the stay). In addition, the breakfast was somewhat boring and not filling enough for a whole day on a project, so many of us bought extra breakfast ourselves. However, the dinner was very nice. The staff were very friendly and welcoming, although a little distant at the beginning of my stay (perhaps because of many people and a lot to see). The guards always made you feel safe and were very nice and could always give you a laugh. I also thought the cleanliness was in its place. There were several of us who thought that a little presentation was missing from Mary (manager), who was also the contact person, as she was only on a short visit once during my stay. She was, however, very helpful if there were errors or omissions, but everything was mostly done via text message.
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Date of stay: February 2024
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Trip type: Travelled solo
Room Tip:Stedet er virkelig en oplevelse/sted der er værd at prøve
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hostel Hoff is a wonderful hostel located super centrally in Moshi, but on a very safe street. The staff are fantastic and very helpful and you quickly become friendly with them. The hut itself has everything you need - a good bed, a fridge for your own use, a western-style shower and toilet, a large garden and space for pleasant moments. I would recommend everyone to go there :)
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Date of stay: January 2024Trip type: Travelled solo
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Nice rooms with the option of double-room for two, tents or dormrooms up to six people. I really enjoyed staying in the dormroom with two-four other girls. The staff at the hostel is always kind, very helpful and ready to have fun. Also the security is 10/10!! You can easily arrange trips directly through the hostel also. I went on a 4-day safari trip, hotsprings and to Lake Chala. I definetly recommend.
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Date of stay: September 2023Trip type: Travelled solo
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I had the best time at Hostel Hoff! The staff is so welcoming and friendly, it feels like home the second you get there. Great food and rooms are getting cleaned everyday. Its a calm and safe location, and still very close to the city center of Moshi. I would recommend anytime!
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled solo
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There are countless reasons why Hostel Hoff gets such consistently high reviews on TripAdvisor: It is true that it is clean and safe. It makes your trip to East Africa almost too easy, perfect for first time or novice travelers. You essentially have zero responsibilities once you’re at the hostel except the 4 hours per day you are at your project. They do all of the arrangements for your project before your arrival. They even do your laundry and cook great meals. You will meet and live with many beautiful and amazing people from around the world.
These are all superficial reasons to note though, and in this review I will offer a much deeper perspective on why I would strongly advise future travelers NOT to stay at this hostel and to consider other volunteer options in Moshi. Of which, there are many beautiful, albeit less commercialized or internet-popular as Hostel Hoff. Do thorough research! Don’t just stay at this place because it has good trip advisor ratings.
As someone who stayed at this hostel for 3 months, I saw and experienced some of the deeper and darker character flaws of the management who run and own this hostel, which resulted in me leaving with a very bad taste in my mouth.
This hostel is essentially a tourist trap. It’s owned by an Australian woman who doesnt really have the best interest of her clientele in mind and who doesn’t really care about operating this place with any sort of integrity.
In short, do not stay here if you want to experience Tanzania as a REAL volunteer, and not simply as a voluntourist. The Hostel Hoff grounds are a commercialized, gated, snow-globe of a western utopia on the outskirts of Moshi, separating you from the reality of the town and making it impossible to authentically experience the life here.
The $22/night fee which includes your dorm bed, plus two meals might seem cheap to a westerner, but once you’re there with the 30 other people living in the small hostel paying that same daily fee, you’ll realize that it is actually a LOT of money for Tanzanian prices, and you’ll start to question by the bare-bones state of the hostel where your money is actually going. When I was there, the power went out for 5 days straight, which meant for 5 days, the entire hostel didn’t have lights, hot water, or electricity, while all of the surrounding buildings had generators, the owner at Hostel Hoff refuses to invest in one. Not to mention, the electricity consistently goes off in Moshi all the time, at least 4-5 times per week, so its strange that they wouldn’t invest in a generator when their clientele is paying such big money to stay there. When I was there, it was 95 degrees farenheit most days, and NONE of the rooms have any fans, you would think with the hefty price that people are paying to stay here, that the owner/management would invest in some fans and a generator at least.
The owner also refuses to pay for wifi, so everyone has to buy individual expensive data plans for their phones and hotspot to their laptops if they want to use them.
There are many other amazing hostels around Moshi where the daily price is $10/day. Those hostels include all the same amenities, meals and projects as hostel hoff, yet they also include a back-up generator, wifi and fans. That is a MUCH more reasonable price for what you are getting, especially for people who are wanting to stay extended stays. There are a LOT of additional unexpected expenses you will be paying for during your stay at Hostel Hoff ontop of the $22/day fee for the bed/dinner, so the money REALLY adds up. I was spending up to $75/day sometimes in total, on lunch + transport to my project+ other activities, so finding a hostel with a cheaper daily rate is really worth it in the long run.
Most of the projects are free, yes, but most of the projects Hostel Hoff offers aren't very good and are unorganized and need a LOT of work. Which isn’t ideal or conducive for volunteers who only want to stay 1-3 months to just jump in and expect to make a difference… Don’t expect to leave feeling as though you’ve made a huge change or really helped out in these projects, as most of them are free and you get what you pay for, really.
The main thing that made me realize that this place is really money hungry and doesn’t have the best interest of its clientele in mind was when I decided I wanted to leave two weeks early than I had originally planned. My project had a spring break so I didn’t want to just sit around the hostel if I wasn’t going to be volunteering anyway. When I told the management and owner that I decided I wanted to leave 2 weeks early to do some other traveling around Tanzania, they INSISTED that I pay for those two weeks even though I wouldn't be present. I was really confused because I wasn’t going to be using the dorm, or eating the meals, or using any of the facilities for those two weeks. I’ve stayed in over 50 hostels around the world, including other volunteer hostels, and I’ve never been so ruthlessly forced to pay such a large sum of money for something I literally wouldn't be using. You would expect the management to work with you a bit, but all these people cared about was getting their money. All in all, I was forced to pay for all the time that I didn’t even stay because they threatened to take legal action for me “going against their {corrupt} policy.” That was a lot of money flushed down the drain for me, and a huge disappointment.
That was my experience. I would spend your money elsewhere in Tanzania, don’t hand it over to the western manager/owner, they don’t need it, a lot of people in Tanzania need your $$ more than they do! There are a LOT of great volunteer and hostel options in Moshi, that operate with MUCH more integrity and care than this hostel. Just do a bit of research!
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Date of stay: February 2016
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Melissa F, General Manager at Hostel Hoff
Responded 30 May 2016
As with the review from Nick, we appreciate your comments Megan. During the many conversation we had over the 3 months you were here, we wish you had bought up your concerns about your disappointments and cost of staying at Hostel Hoff. It would have given us the opportunity to explain more about what we do. Our goal is to provide affordable volunteering opportunities. Our prices are the lowest we can do whilst providing good salaries to our staff, paying proper government taxes, fees and our commitment to our projects. You will not find other volunteer hostel in Moshi, which is this inexpensive whilst having the extensive list of projects to choose from. Our rates range from USD$19-$21 and these have never increased more than 20% within the last 10 years. Over the last 10 years, Hostel Hoff has been able to build a children’s home which now houses over 80 vulnerable children, fully financially support Hope Orphanage and invest money into many other projects in need. The facilities at Hostel Hoff are comfortable and although more luxury items could be implemented, that would cause either a higher cost or us offering less to the projects we want to support. Your volunteering experience will be what you make of it. If you are dedicated to the project and put in hard work for the Monday-Friday’s you are there, you can make a huge impact during your stay as many of our volunteers have over the years. As you are aware, the project you volunteered at, would not be able to provide education for the disadvantaged children which are there, if it wasn’t for volunteers. Our issue with your payment was not because of the last 2 weeks where you decided to travel. It was about your threat to post all over social media, bad reviews if we did not waiver the payment of the time you had stayed at the hostel. This would not have been fair to us or the other volunteers, to allow people to stay without paying. Amanda has given up her life in a western country to be here in Tanzania, support these projects and provide much needed volunteers for them. Hostel Hoff as a business provides employment to many a lot more support in the local community than many businesses are able to. We are pleased that yourself and Nick met at Hostel Hoff and wish you all the best for your future together.
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I spent three months earlier this year at Hostel Hoff. During my time there was a complete turnover of guests and I can honestly say I have never met a more interesting, diverse group of people. I was worried that travelling alone to Tanzania to volunteer without the backup of a "volunteer organisation" I would be vulnerable if anything went wrong, but for me the cost of paying one of those companies was prohibitive (and none of your $£€s goes to charity, don't be fooled). It turns out I needn't have worried, Amanda was an outstanding source of support and information and her staff do her proud. I can also highly recommend her company for a Kili climb or safari.
Hostel Hoff isn't the place for you if you are the kind of person who needs to use a hairdryer on a daily basis (electricity nationwide is sketchy and there is no generator there), are bothered about the cosmetic appearance of your accommodation (the place could do with a lick of paint but is clean and safe) or if you are freaked out by creepy crawlies or potentially living in a permanently pitched safari tent. But then you should probably give Africa a miss altogether if this sounds like you...
The hostel is only short walk from town but you have to get taxis after dark for safety, even if there is a group of you and you are only going around the corner. But this is not peculiar to the area and not even the locals wonder out after dark. I didn't lose a single thing the whole time I was there but there were robberies so just keep your wits about you and don't be cheap when it comes to spending a few pennies on a cab; to lose your camera with all your travel pictures is more expensive.
The friendships I made in Moshi will be lasting and volunteering at KYGN was the most rewarding experience of my life so far. If I'd been in a backpacker hostel with noisy holidaymakers passing through or in one of the so-called secure compounds of the organisations with the trust-fund brats I wouldn't have enjoyed it a quarter as much. Book in and don't look back.
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Date of stay: February 2011
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Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Staying at Hostel Hoff was hands down the best choice of my entire Africa trip. It was incredibly well-organized, ethically-run, clean, safe, and had some of the most welcoming staff I'd ever met.
The facilities and grounds of the hostel far surpassed my expectations. There was good wifi, hot water, near-constant electricity, and beds were very comfy! There was a nice kitchen we could use, dishes and fridge and toaster. There was a big common space indoors with TV that was loaded with movies and shows, a giant bookshelf full of novels in all languages, towels/sheets, and a big comfy couch!! There was a nice dining area outside we ate at every evening, with electric plugs nearby, and the woman (Mary) who runs the hostel ate with us every night! The facility has indoor rooms (think: college-dorm-type setup,) as well as permanent outdoors tents for the more adventurous! The tents are super cool--zero bugs/snakes, stay cool in the heat, and have locking cabinets/a dresser/big comfy wooden beds with mosquito netting. You get to be in nature when you wake up, and can see the smattering of stars across the sky when evening comes(:
I felt very safe in the town itself, and could walk around alone there for hours at daytime (I'm a 21 y.o. female). Hostel guards kept us very safe at night--never once felt unsafe.
There are cleaners daily for the hostel, and a groundskeeper who keeps the nature tame! The food at Hostel Hoff is the best I've had in my entire life. Dinner and breakfast are provided. There is always fresh fruit/veg at meals, and more than enough food to go around! I'm still dreaming about Victoria and Jessica's chicken stew over steamy rice, eggplant spaghetti, chips mayari, and toasty chapati bread! YUM!
The volunteers I lived with and met have become lifelong friends. Everyone is super friendly and welcoming, they go out for drinks on the town, dinner at nearby restaurants (the brownies at La Fuente are to DIE for,) and shopping days in town! It's truly a lovely community to come back from projects to every day. After dinner we would always play games or watch movies together and I don't think I've ever laughed as much as when we all played charades together!! Lots of people were there solo, as was I, so don't worry if you're going alone. You'll fit right into the Hostel Hoff family!
The hostel is a 10 min walk from the town center, very close to post office/bank/supermarkets/good restaurants/nightclubs.
Mary is the woman who runs the show. She answers emails within a day (usually less!,) and is constantly on top of everything happening there. Her communication and organization are flawless. She makes changes whenever issues are brought up, magically fixes electricity cuts, checks up on everyone, and really makes the place feel like home when she visits every night! I can't say enough positive things about her.
The hostel will help you get a SIM card, and give you a town tour as well! They have numbers for safe motorbike/tuk tuk/taxi drivers, massage and manicure people, doctors, etc., etc., all on hand.
I will note that their weekend tours are wildly overpriced. (Masai tour, waterfalls, coffee, etc.). While I'm sure they're lovely, I would really urge you to look elsewhere. There are loads of wonderful, safe, super fun, and fairly priced tours offered elsewhere in town!
The company that runs the hostel also hosts Kilimanjaro climbs and safaris. I went on a safari with them (African Scenic Safaris,) and had a phenomenal time. I really encourage you to check out their TripAdvisor page, as they've got thousands of reviews and 5 stars! I've had 9 friends climb Kilimanjaro with them and heard nothing but positives. They're safe, ethical, fairly priced, and have a super high summit rate.
Tanzania really is the "heart of Africa" and I feel very lucky to have picked Moshi as my first destination on such a beautiful and misunderstood continent. The hostel became my home, and I hope to return some day.
I strongly urge you to send them an email (a quick google search will get you to their website/contact details,) and book the flight! You won't regret it!
I volunteered at their medical volunteer option--St.Joseph's hospital. This next bit is about that:
I was able to be incredibly hands on (within my level of training) at the hospital. I performed CPR on countless kids and infants, was able to help insert/remove IVs, observe surgeries (heart, c-section, appendectomies, etc.,) clean and triage burn victims, change dressings, help with charting and rounds, consult with doctors, help with births, transport patients, and give advice where I could.
As a nursing student, I came with the idea to work on a different ward (male, female, labor & delivery, and pediatric/children's,) each week, to maximize the scope of my experience. However, after one week on the children' ward, as my focus in school is pediatric trauma nursing, I fell in love with the kids and knew I'd found my spot! I worked the pediatric ward for 4 weeks, with days here & there spent in labor & delivery.
The experiences I had there were beyond comprehension. In my time on the children's ward I witnessed & experienced deep joy, sharp sadness, loss, wonder, and fascination all wrapped into one. I became dear friends with the local nurses, as well as foreign med students and volunteers. I had profound experiences there that have shifted my views on medicine, invigorated my passion for pediatric trauma nursing in 3rd world nations, and given me a newfound appreciation for the resources available at my home hospitals.
I fought tooth and nail alongside other volunteers for countless children and newborns, performing CPR, mouth-to-mouth, intubating, doing the kangaroo method to raise body temp., etc., etc.. Quite a few kids and infants who we worked on in my time at St.Josephs ended up succumbing to their various conditions/traumas and dying with us. Holding them as they passed, fighting to save them, informing their families, and everything that came between has fundamentally changed who I am. Witnessing and helping with births, watching babies enter the world and holding them in their first moments here with us? Words don't even come close.
Volunteering at St. Joseph's was a deeply profound privilege. I had experiences that will stay with me for the rest of my life, met patients who have impacted me at the core, and was able to witness things I couldn't have seen elsewhere.
Staff all spoke very good English, doctors and nurses were very kind and open to feedback, the facilities were well-organized. They did not have any continuous monitoring of heart rate, blood pressure, etc., (in fact did not have any BP cuffs at all,) but did everything they could with what they had.
The effort you put determines the quality of your experience there. If you leave at noon, or don't ask to help out with things, you can have an entirely different experience than I did. Stay until 2pm, ask nurses and doctors if you can help with/perform skills within your medical training (such as asking to wash burn victims, take over CPR if someone has been doing it for a long time, change bandages, observe a surgery,--only if you are well trained in that area,) speak with other volunteers, follow up with your patients, etc. You get out what you put in!
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Date of stay: July 2019
Location
Service
Room Tip:The tents are super nice and well-built. No bugs, colder than indoors, and you're right by...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Mary M, General Manager at Hostel Hoff
Responded 6 Oct 2019
Hi Diana, Thank you very very much for such a lovely review. Words can't explain how happy we are.Karibu tena Hostel Hoff-your second home
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Cape Town, South Africa67 contributions23 helpful votes
Hello,
There are rooms inside the house, and commercial grade proper safari tents available, all of which are furnished. Private rooms are available and there are ample bathroom facilities. For more information please visit our website hostelhoff com Thank you so much for your inquiry.
There are more places to choose from in the Moshi area.
LOCATION
TanzaniaKilimanjaro RegionMoshi
NUMBER OF ROOMS
9
Prices are provided by our partners for one room, with variable occupancy rules as provided by the property, and reflect total costs of the stay, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
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