I wish I'd booked my stay at Kismet Dao through one of the big hostel booking sites so that my review could reach more backpackers, as I think there are some important things to know before booking a bed or room here.
I always like to stay in smaller rooms in hostels, and while there were no six-bed rooms available I did get into a seven-bed room on the top floor, called The Snorer's Den. In addition to the seven beds advertised, there was also a mattress placed on the floor (under the window that didn't seem to close properly), and with someone on the mattress every night it was actually an eight-bed room. I think this practice is standard for the hostel. Outside the room there was a toilet, and down one or two floors there was a bathroom with two showers. I think there was one more toilet below that, and another shower (for men) on the ground floor. Anyways, access to showers and toilets was not a problem during my stay. There is also a lounge area on the ground floor, however I did not find the couches very comfortable and didn't really like hanging out there. There is one computer with internet access on the ground floor in addition to free wifi throughout. Breakfast consisted of milk, cereal and coffee, served in bowls that had a permanent layer of grime covering the insides.
Having been on an awesome tour through a hostel in Suceava, I was looking forward to going on another tour through a hostel. I booked a tour of Bran Castle, Rasnov Fortress and Peles Castle through the hostel. While it's great to do these as a tour (as you need a vehicle to do it in a day), the entire thing was a disorganized mess. The tour was scheduled to leave at 9:00 am, but the bus driver didn't show up until after 9:30. Then, we were rushed from site to site, barely given time for lunch, told Peles Castle closed at 3:00 pm (when actually it was more like 7:00 pm) and made to make a detour in the tour bus to drop the guide off at home first (I don't believe she was a licensed guide, either).
However, all of that paled in comparison to my final night in the hostel. In the middle of the night I woke up to an extremely strange sound. It was so unidentifiable that I actually thought I might be going crazy and would need to see a doctor the next morning. When the sun rose and I woke up again, there was a head peering down from the top bunk, staring at me. It was a small child. A small child who turned out to be extremely ill, on medication, and occasionally hooked up to a ventilator. The hostel had allowed him and his mother to SHARE a bed in a dorm room (which was already over the posted guest limit due to the mattress on the floor). As the child's meds wore off he coughed and hacked, and his mother kept going up and down the bunk bed ladder. I know hostels need to make money, but allowing a SICK child and his mother to SHARE a bed in a dormitory is totally inappropriate. As the morning progressed many of the people in the room also started showing symptoms of a cough or flu, and I ended up being sick for the next three weeks (requiring me to pay for more expensive private rooms so as to not spread my germs to other people in dorms).
I can't recommend Kismet Dao when there are other hostels in Brasov that are much more comfortable and much better organized.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC