HI New York City Hostel

As I mentioned in this post, HI New York City Hostel was my first HI hostel. Decided to stay here when I went to NYC years ago because the rate was relatively affordable. If I remember it correctly, I paid about USD 250 for 6 nights for a bed in a 12-bed Economy Female Dorm. I considered it a steal because if I were to stay in a hotel in the middle of Manhattan, the cost could easily go up to USD 1200.

HI New York City Hostel

Another reason why I decided to stay here was because they gave detailed directions to the hostel from the LaGuardia Airport (LGA). It was a huge plus point because almost all other places only listed the direction from the JFK Airport. I landed at LGA so, I was instantly sold.




HI New York City Hostel is located at Amsterdam Ave, the upper west side of Manhattan. According to the website, it's only a few blocks away from Times Square and Central Park. Couldn't affirm this fact because I used the subway all the time when I was in New York. However, what I can say is, that the hostel is a block away from the nearest subway station; 103 St and you can easily go to Times Square and Central Park (to name a few) using the subway line at 103 St.

PSA: I personally found the neighbourhood quite sketchy so I would recommend any solo travellers to start their day after 8 AM (in winter) and go back to the hostel before midnight, or before 10 PM.

HI New York City Hostel

Unlike any other hostel that I used to stay at, HI New York City Hostel doesn't offer a free continental breakfast to all guests. Instead, they only offer free continental breakfast if you booked a Deluxe Premium dorm. Additionally, I know they have other amenities like a kitchen, laundry, and in-hostel cafe but I couldn't comment on that because I didn't use the said amenities.

The bed and room themselves were quite spacious and comfortable. You won't have problems to put your stuff even if you over-shopped :p And what made it even better was even though I booked a bed in a 12-bed Economy Female Dorm, the maximum number of occupants when I was there was around 6 people?

12-Bed Economy Female Dorm @ HI New York City Hostel

The washroom on my floor was squeaky clean as well. I think they had about 4 or 5 shower stalls and toilet stalls. I didn't have to wait for a long time to shower or to use the toilets every day. The only problem that I had every day was when I had to become an ass whenever I wanted to wash my face and brush my teeth. Every day, there was a flock of insensitive girls trying to do their make-up in front of the sinks without giving way to other people who wanted to use the sinks. So yeah, there's that.

Tip: You probably want to wake up early if you don't want to wait in line when using the washroom, especially if you can see a bunch of girls who wear heavy makeup staying on the same floor.




HI New York City Hostel also offers free and paid tours. When I was there, they offered free tours such as the Pub Crawl Tour and Central Park Tour. I joined the Central Park Tour because I didn't want to get lost exploring Central Park on my own. Thankfully, I enjoyed the tour. Probably will talk about this tour in another post.

PSA: I just checked the website, and they offer quite a lot of interesting tours. Most of them are free with some of the paid tours starting at USD 10

Overall, my stay at HI New York City Hostel was an okay experience. I did enjoy some of the things that they offered but I believe there's always room for improvement.

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15 Comments

  1. nampak bersih dan selesa. i never thought dekat NY pun ada hostel cenggini~~

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    1. Dorm dia memang bersih dan selesa. Toilet dia pun bersih gila. Sangat puas hati bila stay dekat sini :D By the way, kenapa tak pernah fikir dekat NYC ada hostel macam ni? :O

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  2. Wahhh 250 USD for 6 nights ? jangan convert duit malaysia >___<
    Itu pasal lah masa datang sana jadi gelandangan tak menginap mana-mana. Walaupun harga hostel murah. Eh, masa aku gi sana, usha jugak rate satu malam. the cheapest one was about 24 dollars for one night. Maksudnya yang ko punya nie quite mahal jugaklah. but maybe hostel nie dekat dengan macam2 dan ada kelebihan lain, so okaylah.

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    Replies
    1. Up until now, whenever I travel, I have never converted currency rate to MYR. Aku selalu convert to CAD. Kalau dalam CAD rasa macam affordable, then it's affordable :) Tapi, lepas ni kena convert ke MYR la sebab nak balik Malaysia dah ㅠㅠ

      Kalaulah aku boleh travel jenis macam engkau, memang aku travel macam tu. Unfortunately, I'm quite fussy whenever I'm travelling. At least kena ada tempat yang selesa untuk tidur even mahal sikit. Kau jumpa hostel mana yang rate macam tu? :O For me, ini pun dah paling murah sebab dia macam still agak dekat dengan Midtwon Manhattan.

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  3. i've always wanted to at least be here once

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  4. boleh beramah mesra dengan orang katil sebelah. kalau saya yg jenis tak peramah ni tktaula boleh ke tak duduk campur2 gini :p

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    1. Kalau jenis ramah tamah, bolehlah tegur orang katil sebelah, katil atas, katil bawah, katil depan semua. Hahaha. Tapi akak bukan jenis macam tu. I don't actually mingle around with the other people sangat pun. Masa dekat NYC, akak keluar awal pagi, balik tengah malam. So, tak sempat nak beramah mesra pun.

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  5. Bagus juga bila they offer a free tour kan. At least jimat sikit duit dan tak lah hbs masa tersesat sana sini.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Betul. Jimat duit sikit. Tapi kalau pergi Central Park ni sendiri pun free juga. Cuma yang best bila ada tour ni, tahulah serba sedikit sejarah dengan bangunan-bangunan sekeliling Central Park tu. Kalau tak, menonong pergi tak kenal apa pun. Hahaha

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  6. walaupun hostel ttp mahal jg ya... yelah bandaraya metropolitan kot...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Betul, agak mahal tapi for the NYC, this is the cheapest that I could find at that time. Kalau duduk dekat Midtwon, duduk hotel boleh cecah USD 1.2k

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    2. kalu mahal cm tu bw khemah laa jwb nya... ;-) x pun tumpang tidur masjid hehehe

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    3. Nak pacak mana khemah tu? Hahaha. Masjid dekat overseas selalu dikunci kalau bukan waktu solat, so yeah tak sure boleh tumpang tidur ke tak.

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