Hostel Musala
The owner-run Mostar volume hostel — 691 reviews say the same thing about Bata: he picks you up at the bus station, pours you a rakija, and you wake up booked onto the Kravice-Blagaj-Pocitelj day tour you didn't know you wanted.
Hostel Musala is the highest-volume guesthouse in Mostar with 691 reviews at 8.8/10, six minutes on foot east of Stari Most. The hook is owner Bata — free pickup from Autobuska Stanica, a homemade breakfast, a welcome rakija shot, and the Herzegovina day-tour to Blagaj, Kravice and Pocitelj that takes the booking-confusion out of your single Mostar day.
Hostel Musala sits on Krpina, a quiet residential lane in the Brankovac neighbourhood four blocks east of Stari Most. The walk from the front door to the Old Bridge is six minutes through the bazaar and shorter still to the river overlooks. Autobuska Stanica (the east-side international bus station) is a fifteen-minute walk; Bata will pick you up free if you message ahead.
The hostel is a converted Bosnian stone-and-stucco family house with seven rooms — a mix of mixed dorms (4-bed and 6-bed), private doubles and one apartment. Air-conditioning is in every room (non-negotiable in July when Mostar hits 38°C), bathrooms are shared on the dorm floor, and there's a small communal kitchen and a courtyard garden with the morning breakfast table under the grapevine. Bata's homemade breakfast — pita, ajvar, eggs, watermelon, Bosnian coffee — is included and served until 11am, late enough to survive the rakija round.
The Herzegovina day tour is the social anchor: Blagaj Tekija (the dervish house at the Buna spring), Kravice Falls (the Bosnian Plitvice, with swimming), Pocitelj fortified village, picnic lunch, back by 6pm. 30 EUR per person, six-person van, Bata or his cousin driving and translating. It is the single most-booked thing here and the reason the review base is 700-deep.
Who this is for: solo backpackers and couples on the Croatia-Albania circuit who want one Mostar night that includes the day-trip out to the waterfalls, an honest welcome and an English-fluent owner who will troubleshoot your bus connection south. Who it's not for: anyone wanting hotel-grade privacy or a quiet 9pm — the courtyard is the social hub and runs late.
- 01Owner Bata picks you up free from the east bus station — the single biggest pain point in arriving Mostar after a 4-hour bus from Split.
- 02The 30 EUR Herzegovina day-tour with hostel guests is the genuine cheapest way to see Blagaj-Kravice-Pocitelj, and the van is small enough to feel like a road-trip.
- 03The courtyard breakfast under the grapevine — pita, ajvar, eggs, Bosnian coffee — runs until 11am, which is the right window after the previous night's rakija.
- 04Six-minute walk to Stari Most through the bazaar, with the river overlooks at five.
- 05691 reviews at 8.8/10 — the largest review base in Mostar, which means you know what you're getting.
- Free pickup from Autobuska Stanica
- Owner-led Herzegovina day-tour, 30 EUR
- Homemade pita-and-ajvar breakfast in the courtyard
- Six-minute walk to Stari Most
“The owner is super nice and he arranged me a private room. The breakfast is generous and the location is right next to the old town. He drove us to Blagaj and Kravice for 30 EUR — incredible value.”
“Great welcoming host, clean property, very close to the centre, the bus station and main attractions. Bata picked us up free and drove us all over Herzegovina the next day.”
“Lovely guy who runs the place. Not far from town centre. Nice room. The shared kitchen is small but everything you need is there.”
- Stari Most (Old Bridge)6 min walk
- Kujundžiluk Old Bazaar5 min walk
- Tima-Irma (ćevapi)7 min walk
- Karadjozbeg Mosque4 min walk
- Autobuska Stanica (east bus)15 min walk
- Crooked Bridge (Kriva Ćuprija)8 min walk
