Cash or card at hostels in Croatia

I stayed in an eco-hostel on the coast near Pula and they only accepted card. They don’t handle cash because they donate from card payment records. I used my HSBC debit card and also paid for kayak rentals and dinners on site by card. Earlier in the day I carried around 75 euros in cash for souvenir stands and coffee carts. So yes hostels accept cards almost everywhere especially for rooms and extras but bring a little cash for smaller vendors or emergencies.

Booked three hostels in Dubrovnik and each one took payment by Amex or Visa when I arrived. Even their mini-bar purchases and chores like towel swaps were charged to my card. I did run into one independent guesthouse in a coastal village where they said cash was preferred but the hostel partners in the same town accepted any major debit card. So unless you are going ultra off-grid, cards will work at almost all hostels.

I travelled through Split and Hvar recently and stayed at budget dorms. All of them accepted Mastercard for the room and shared kitchen fees. A couple of smaller spots still mentioned cash as backup, though only one needed cash when their machine lost power during a storm. They told me they’d call me to pay by link or bank transfer instead. My friend just transferred via Revolut. I would carry maybe 50 to 100 euros in cash just in case, but most places card works fine.

Stayed at a hostel in Zagreb just last week and paid for check-in and extras like laundry with my Visa card. No issues at all. They even let me pay for a late checkout and breakfast cart items by card. From what I saw, most urban hostels now have portable card readers and prefer card over cash. I carried a small amount of euros in case I ran into something truly cash-only, but never used it in the hostel context.