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.

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.

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?

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.