Hostelling International - New York

Had a good stay. Very basic bed but good enough. Best part was Dave's Tour. Did his Dave's Downtown Tour and then went back for his Dave's Central Park Tour. Best $10 (each) I spent during my stay in New York. Really knows his stuff and gives great value for the money. Great way to learn a lot about the city in a short period of time.

Unique Quality: Close to Central Park. Cheap. Put anything and everything into a locker.

Directions: Upper Upper West Side.

The location is very good. I read some reviews saying the neighborhood was a bit rough, but I really liked it.. It was central at the same time as being distant from much of the noise in New York. The fact that its so close to Central Park is just great.

The staff is helpful, even tho it can get a bit crowded at certain points of the day, with a lot of people checking in and not to many people at the desk.

This is a great place to met new people. New people was coming in every day:) When you're sharing a room with 10-12 people there's bound to be some problems: like people walking in loud and drunk at 4-5 in the morning..
But that's just all part of the charm of staying at a hostel - as long as it doesn't happen to many nights in a row.

All in all I had a great time staying here and well definitely come back!!

Unique Quality: Plenty of computers, nice TV-lounge, movie-lounge, out-door patio
They also had loads of tours and activities - one of the tours I went on was a walking tour of New York : We ended up walking for 12 hours.. It was crazy:P We went to some nice places.. Brooklyn, Wall Street, had dinner at a local Chinese restaurant

Found on Upper West side a couple of blocks from the Subway and the same again from Central Park.

The Hostel has cheap dorm rooms. Showers are shared but clean. Lockers need your own padlock.

The hostel is in a pretty dodgy area. I found it fine, but many people were mugged when I was there, so take care.

The Hostel is huge and runs many trips, but gets booked up very quickly in peak season so book ahead.

I strongly recommend against it. It is a big impersonal place, and under the best of circumstances they treat their customers like dogs at the pound.

If you have problems there, they just don't care:
1) A drunken roommate urinated on the carpet one night. I told the person at the desk. Their response was to move me to another room, not to clean it.
2) They rented their hall ( 20 ft from sleeping rooms ) to a church for one evening. At 11:00 pm the singing and halleluhaaing was keeping us awake. Desk clerk said it would be over by 11:30. Subsequent hourly questions were met with similar lies. It finally quieted down at 2:30am.

And they overcharged my credit card.

Big Apple Hostel was much, much friendlier.

I stayed at HI-New York for 4 nights in February and 2 weeks in June 2007, and I loved it! The building is undergoing reservations, so they put me in an 8-bed female dorm instead of the 4-bed dorm that I reserved. The lockers in the rooms were big enough to hold my entire suitcase. The front desk/check-in staff was abrupt to almost rude, but they were very busy with several large groups while I was there. The bed sheets were changed between visitors, and the rooms and bathrooms were cleaned at least once a day. The bathrooms were tiny, but clean and functional. There was a little cafe on the first floor and a kitchen in the basement, so I never had to eat take-out.

My only gripes with the hostel are that there is only one (slow) elevator in the building and that the internet is too expensive for daily use. The kiosks are $0.10/minute with a 30 minute minimum (expect a $10 pre-charge if you use a credit card). The wireless if free, but the connection is slow and not secured. My other minor complaint is that the maximum stay at the hostel is 26 days, but the computer will only let you book for 14. Since I already had another reservation, I had to switch hostels in the middle of my 6 week internship. Also, unless you know the people in your room, ALWAYS put anything you want to keep in a locker! The girl on my bottom bunk stole $150 from my purse while I was sleeping. I was naive to think that my purse was as safe on the bed with me as it was in my locker. The hostel staff was apologetic, but there was nothing they could do about it. By the time I realized the money was missing, the girl had left.

I love HI-New York, and I can't wait to come back!

Unique Quality: 1. The security staff is excellent! Even though the hostel has a capacity of 600+, the security personnel (Juan) knew my name by the end of my first day. He always checked receipts and room cards as people came into the building and was always eager to offer assistance, or even just to chat.

2. The hostel is only one block from the #1 train.

3. The maximum stay at HINY is 26 days, but you have to call to make extended booking.

Directions: Take the #1 subway to 103rd Street and walk one block from Broadway to Amsterdam. You can get almost anywhere in the city in 30 minutes or less!

The ususal hostel with the usual facilieties at the usual standards.still it is quite cheap for ny standards location is excellent and they organize very nice tours.I reccomend you the bronx tour and the harlem one, that includes a baptist ceremony in the hearth of harlem, great experience.The guides are very knowledgeable and they give so many interesting infos about the area, that you would n t otherwise understand if you are on your own.

Directions: the undergound stop is the 103rd for the 9 line(local don t get the 3 one or you ll end up in harlem)or the 96th with the d line(always local)

H.I. New york is located in the upper west side of Manhattan , on Amsterdam Avenue not far from 103rd Street station, it's clean and the stuff are friendly, may be the only thing is that it's a little bit far from Downtown manhattan but not far from transportation at least ;)

Unique Quality: clean, big, cheap, service is okey

Directions: upper west side of Manhattan

I've stayed at Hostelling International three times for periods of approximately two weeks, all during the July and August months. Located on 103rd and Amsterdam, it's nicely removed from the hustle and bustle of busy downtown. Here, nestled in the quiet neighborhood of Morningside Heights near Columbia University, Hostelling International-New York offers many amenities that I enjoy.

Most rooms feature 4 beds (2 bunk-beds) or 6 beds (3 bunks), but several rooms feature as many as 12 beds (6 bunks!). Floors and rooms are either coed or segregated by gender. Linens and towels are provided free of charge. There are lockers in each room (you need to bring a lock), as well as larger lockers available downstairs in the common area ($2-$5 per day).

There is a common bathroom (gender segregated) on each floor, and bathrooms are well-kept with no noticable grime or musky air. (Do bring appropriate footwear to wear in the bathroom, though! You never know!)

My favorite feature of staying here is the activities. They offer a variety of social gatherings such as music in the yard, free walking tours of various neighborhoods, and a general atmosphere of commaderie with fellow budget travellers.

There is a cafe (Cicoria Bros. Caf?) that serves light meals, beverages and snacks. Open daily from 7AM to 2PM, & Tuesday to Saturday 6 PM to 10:30PM. There is also a gift shop of sorts that sells HI membership, locks, metrocards discount tickets to Empire State Building, tour tickets, guide books, souvenirs, film, toiletries, travel accessories, batteries, Super Shuttle reservations/tickets, alarm clocks, & Railway passes.

Internet access is available in the library, cafe and the 2nd floor. $2 for first 20 mins.$1 for every 10 mins thereafter.

There is a kitchen located in the basement. Open from 5:30AM to midnight. Laundry is located on the second floor. Open from 7AM to 10PM $1.50 for washer, aprox. $1.25 for dryer, 75 cents for soap & softener.

Unique Quality: Amenities include a games room, high speed internet stations, laundry facilities, a community kitchen, a TV lounge, a cafe, a large outdoor garden with patio, and a gift shop.

Directions: 1/9 subway uptown to 103rd Street and walk one block east.

Not bad stay.Pretty reasonable facilities for the price especially if you don't mind dorms. However bit souless as so big and not really many ways to meet people as so big and everyone doing own thing. No social activities reallly organised to allow mixing compared to other hostels I've stayed in. Worth becoming Youth Hostel member to get better price.

Unique Quality: Great Location for a base in New York. Price wise a fair choice.

Directions: Near the Subway easy to find as huge building

I went there with 7 friends, with a reserved room at a group rate that was made a month prior to our arrival. The room wasnt ready. They made us wait almost 2 hours to have it ready. No drinking was allowed on the premises, and this was quite annoying on New Years Eve. There was a huge tv room with couches where a whole bunch of people that didnt know each other would sit and stare at the screen like drones. The bunk beds were suitable, but the rooms smelled a bit like feet. I wouldn't recomend this place. It's not terrible, but it's not enjoyable.

Unique Quality: Clean bathrooms and showers. Good security. Good hostel for families. Bad hostel for partyers.

Directions: Across the street from a great Mexican bar/resto!