I stayed here for about 5 nights with a friend in May of 2005 -- we'd both stayed in hostels outside of the U.S. before, and figured we'd save a lot of money by going this route in NYC as well. We had no idea this place would be so awful...it would've been worth the extra cash to stay in a real hotel.
Staff was incredibly rude and loud, playing music at all hours of the night and drinking at the front desk. We shared a coed room with a mix of folks, ranging from foreigners who stashed old food under their beds and made the tiny, tiny room stink of garlic, to some sweet girls who were the best roomies we could ask for.
I just about lost it when the staff burst into our room at 3:30 in the morning, shouting and flipping the lights on so they could change the sheets for some folks who had just arrived in the middle of the night. After that, the only thing that helped us survive was Tylenol PM.
We are young, hipish (I think!) 20-somethings, and we were fully prepared to embrace the city and its culture, and put up with inconveniences during our stay. But this place was ridiculous. That said, there are a few good points: location -- nice and close to just about everything, price -- cheap, of course, and despite the apparent shadiness of some of our roomies, none of our stuff was stolen or bothered. Perhaps it's improved since 05, but proceed with caution.





