Central Park Hostel

decent but far

I stayed at this hostel for three nights of a 4 night trip with my husband. It was our first experience at a hostel and it was fairly decent. Where to start: First off the staff was appathetic at best. If you are travelling as a couple I recommend trying to secure a private room. Had we a private room we would have been happier then sleeping in bunks. At least here the bunks are co-ed as at some hostels they are not. The rooms with the bunks are decent- each room has an air conditioner, and small lockers and each floor had several full bathrooms with showers and tubs. The only thing was the showers in one of the bathrooms would soak the entire floor so it would get pretty sloppy in there at times. The basement has a common room that is non-air conditioned to maybe keep people from hanging out there, but there are a couple of televisions, a kitchen area, a pool table, two internet connections and a common sitting room. No laundry and no one seemed to know where the closest laundry mat was.
As for location- it is pretty far away from everything and on the edge of Harlem ( however you may feel about this). We assumed that since it was near central park that is was well central but we were at 103 street and Times Square is at 42 ave.- that gives you an idea of how many blocks away were were from the action. Everything in NYC is lower in number. The higher the number the farther away you are getting from Times Square. Each morning we would have to get on the subway and make our way down to 42nd Ave. then make our way back again to get ready for dinner or going out- it was time consumming.

Unique Quality: The gem of this place was the convenience store located across the street on the right hand corner. It had a deli in it as well as selling beer, and food. For $3.25 you could get the best fried egg, bacon and cheese sandwhich then take it to Central park to eat.