HI Hostel NYC was clean, convenient and easy to find. I frequently use hostels or rentals with…read morecommunal spaces. The bathrooms here were clean and functional. Staff was friendly and made check in a breeze! In addition to a communal kitchen they had a cafe downstairs with grab and go options, a hot menu and coffees. Easy location to the subway and Central Park. We loved staying in a mostly chill area of the city. Easy to walk to restaurants all around.

I will admit that I was hesitant to stay here. I've never experienced a hostel before and was…read moreanxious about the 3-mile distance away from the theatres I was in town visiting. I am so proud to say this hostel was perfect for a solo traveler! It was a short train ride from the hustle and bustle of NYC but was tucked into a quiet residential area that felt safe. Pay attention to the type of room you book. I did a 4-bed women-only room. It was clean and they provided towels & soap/shampoo in the lavatories. I will definitely stay here again. It was 1/5 of the price I usually pay for my theatre runs & I slept like a baby. Bring a small lock for your assigned locker. The beds are bunk style so be aware you might be climbing a bit. There's a bar, snack counter & "community activities." It was hot inside one of the mornings but it was scorching outside. I live in an area where we keep our AC's cranked up so I just wasn't used to that. The elevator is a little slow but that's okay. The employees are really kind and helpful. They don't mind answering questions. 10/10.

My first time traveling alone through New York and I came here. Clean, felt safe, and quiet…read more I had breakfast in the kitchen with some other travelers. They provided some fruit and other options. I like this location in the city. There is a Whole Foods near with a hot bar & a great place to sit upstairs. The flatiron building is close by, Ralph's coffee, Eataly, and La Pecora Bianca (Italian). And, plenty more to do in walking distance

Fantastic accommodations for the price and great location!…read moreFriendly staff and private rooms are available. Comfortable beds and pillows. And they do provide towels and a delicious and fantastic breakfast which helps you save some money while staying in NYC. There is a full kitchen available to use and a refrigerator so you can save and reheat leftovers from eating out, or make a meal yourself if you wanted to (there are dishes and all of that available). The common area are nice and clean, and the area where this is located felt very accessible and safe. I really enjoyed the flatiron district and this is very close to the flatiron building and Madison square park which was beautiful. Citi bikes and subway was also a short walk away and there was a CVS right around the corner in case you forgot anything for your stay. I would definitely stay here again!

Well worth it! A great location, clean, and safe. You will not find a communal area to meet other…read moretravelers though, which is fine with us.

Chelsea International Hostel is a favorite for when you want a long weekend in Manhattan. After…read moreexperiencing this place years ago I always refer my friends. My generation is familiar with Hostel vacations. Heck you just need a shower, toilet and place to get some sleep for a while. My friends have never complained when I refer them here. These days I'd book way in advance. Everyone is short on cash and prices are skyrocketing.

I loved this place, mostly because it's in such a GREAT location. Half a block from Central Park on…read moreone side and lots of great restaurants and shopping on the other. 2-minute walk to subway. The staff were very friendly and the other people staying there were nice too. Note I don't usually stay in hostels because I'm old and bougie, but my family was visiting from far away and they booked it - it worked perfectly because the private room sleeps 6 so we could all stay together with a double bed plus 2 bunks and a private bath. I'm only giving 4 stars because of a couple of things -#1 the double bed in the room was too soft and soooo squeaky, any movement was amplified 1000x. #2 The lightweight comforters on the beds are not washed. That really grossed me out when we gathered all our sheets at the end of our stay and were told to leave the blankets as they are not washed between guests. YUCK. If I had known in advance I would have gone out and bought a fresh blanket. Ugh the thought of it now still churns my stomach. Otherwise a great stay, very accomodating lovely place, and the price is right.

Really liked it here, everything worked out fine. It is just…read morea hostel and so should be your expectations. Do not set them to high. The area of the hostel is one of the best I have ever been in NYC.

I found Times Square House on Hostelbookers.com, and after reading glowing reviews on both…read moreHostelbookers and Tripadvisor (though one of the tripadvisor reviews is a misplaced review for another hotel and several are in a language I can't read) I was excited to try it out. I wanted to contact the hostel to inquire about their "no luggage storage" policy (does that mean my luggage won't be secure in my room when I'm not in?) and their cash-only policy (what would the total cost be, with taxes?), but couldn't find contact information anywhere on the web... In fact, I couldn't find any record of this hostel elsewhere on the web because, it is, in fact, not a hostel, but a (very nice!) man renting bedrooms out in his Hell's Kitchen apartment. What this means for you, staying at Times Square House: 1) there's no "staff," no employees to speak to in advance about your concerns, or during your stay. The apartment owner is available via e-mail AFTER you book, and in-person during your stay, but keeps regular business hours (meaning, he goes to sleep in his bedroom across the living room from you or downstairs from you at night, and isn't up till morning, so there's no assistance after hours. 2) There are four bedrooms with up to two people per, and two bathrooms total. So at 11 AM checkout, you will have to battle the other occupants for a bathroom like you're back in your college dorm. My traveling companion and I managed to check-out in time, so no idea if there are consequences if you don't because some other occupant wants to give herself a makeover in one of the only two bathrooms present. You also have to deal with the other occupants' hygiene issues, like clumps of hair in the drain, toothpaste in the sink, wet towels on the floor, etc. Unlike a real hostel, where you'd have many restrooms to choose from, and cleaning staff making the rounds, you're stuck with whatever condition the previous person left the bathroom in at Times Square House. 3) Speaking of the bathrooms, both at Times Square House feature signs that read "please don't use too much toilet paper, toilet clogs easily!" My traveling companion experienced this first-hand, and, with no plunger present, well, you can imagine. Again, no hotel or hostel would allow plumbing in this condition. 4) You can get a lovely, private room at Times Square House. While the room was not the one shown on the hostelbookers site with the exposed brick, it was very nice. Hardwood floors, an AC unit, cool wall art and a comfy bed. No TV, but that was ok. The bed only featured a bottom sheet and comforter (no top-sheet, and I'm guessing the comforter doesn't get washed after each stay, so lots of potentially-commando travelers+direct contact with comforter=EW!). My companion and I paid $120/night to stay at Times Square House, which is reasonable for a private room, and tough to find within Manhattan proper. 5) This "hostel" is in Hell's Kitchen, NOT Times Square. I thought such a pricey hostel, named Times Square House, whose listings feature lots of pics of Times Square, would actually be in Times Square. I was willing to pay double what other hostels were charging per night to be right in Times Square. My companion and I walked from Times Square station to Times Square House, and it was a sweaty, lengthy hike. But more importantly, the neighborhood, Hell's Kitchen, is sketchy. And dirty. Like a lot of NY. But there are a lot of convenience stores/little produce markets. And Times Square House is right next to the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market, which was super cool! Lots of neat finds, for pretty good prices. 6) Since Times Square House is literally someone's house, and he lives there, it's quite awkward at times. You're bathing in someone's shower with them, a complete stranger, right next door. The owner is generous and offers access to the items in his kitchen, but using a stranger's dishes, drinking his milk, brewing coffee in his coffeepot just felt too weird to me, with him there. I was concerned about inadvertently breaking a rule (no shoes in the house, no cooking in the kitchen, shoes go on the rack when you're home, no alcohol in the rooms), using someone's "special" mug or the last of his girlfriend's soymilk. Maybe I'm too neurotic for this kind of setup. Love the anonymity of a real hostel or hotel! Again, the owner is very nice, and did his best to make Times Square House comfortable. 7) Bring your own soap/toothpaste/washcloths etc. A towel was provided, but there weren't any in the bathrooms themselves, nor soap in the shower, nor tissues in the bathroom or bedrooms, and while the toilet paper did get refilled when it ran low, I didn't see any extra rolls available in the bathroom. Overall, Times Square House is pretty bare-bones, and not quite what I was expecting. But it did the trick as a place to sleep after adventurous days in NY. If that's all you need, and don't mind the close-quarters, go for it!

THE BATHROOMS ARE GROSS. Please bring sandals in. Also, they don't change towels everyday?!…read more Also, you gotta walk up the stairs with all your luggage, fyi. Other than that, eh, not bad.

The local is still my go to when in town. Rooms are always clean, it's affordable, and they have…read moreevents happening some nights. Staff was amazing, especially Erika. The only con is the actual rooms don't have hooks, so during the colder months there's nowhere to hang a coat or jacket.

I totally recommend this stay for solo travelers. It is a hostel style pod community in the heart…read moreof Chelsea! They're not even for profit either, all profits go to the homeless outreach program that the two hosts coordinate. I easily got to the building walking a few blocks from the FlixBus drop off...and at the end of my stay New York Penn Station was across the street for train transportation to the airport! This is good for wandering around the city and coming back to a quiet setting. Very affordable as well! The building is next to a 7/11, the Fashion Institute of Technology college, Madison Square Garden, NY Penn Station, McDonalds, and a 99 cent Discount store. They have a couple rules that are more common courtesy than set rules. There was quiet time between 8:00pm-8:00am to accommodate travelers and their sleeping hours. And no meat or eggs! I had a pretty nice stay and had no complaints at all. They even let me keep my luggage on the day of check out and let me use the facilities outside the pod. 10/10 coming back!!

In between a hostel and a hotel, you get your super tiny own room, shared bathrooms (co-ed)…read more Interaction was a bit weird when I asked if the bathrooms are co-ed, I was told they usually try to have only women? Not sure, and then I was told there's only one male but of course more might show up. You can just answer "yes, co-ed". Toilet stalls and shower stalls were both a bit small. Towel and earplugs provided which was nice, there's no space for big luggages though (which I don't have so wasn't a problem) but beware if you do. Decent AC which is important during the summer! I was in a room pretty close to the kitchen and people started talking there at 7AM. Seriously?! Noise is very much not insulated at all. Friendly staff, pricing is in between hostels and hotels. Good location.

I was a little nervous about staying here at first, because it was such a cheap price for a night…read morein Manhattan. The reviews didn't look to great, but honestly my expectations weren't that high, I just needed a place to stay for the night. Turns out, this place was way better than I thought! I didn't show up until 1:30 a.m. but they were still very friendly getting me checked in. I booked a room with one bunk bed for a great deal (My roommate never showed up so I lucked out and got my own private room ;) There's no frills whatsoever, it's a very basic room but I feel like this should be expected. I usually get suspicious about the cleanliness of hostel beds, but I felt like mine was pretty clean. I had a sink in my room, which made it easy to brush my teeth and get ready in my own room rather than the shared bathroom. The bathrooms are a little small, and I didn't like the fact that there was a half-open window right where the shower was. They have a nice lounge with a bar, TV, computer area, etc., along with friendly staff. It's also walking distance from Central Park!! I would definitely stay here again the next time I find myself in the Big Apple.

All I can say is RUN! Run far far away. I'm serious. My views on this hostel may be a bit biased as…read moreit was my first time staying in a hostel. All I know is I did not get any sleep while there. I ended up staying on the 3rd floor right by the main door where everyone else staying on that floor enters to their hostel rooms. The hinges on the door must have been extremely old or broken so each and every single time someone entered or left the floor, all I would hear is SLAM! SLAM after SLAM after SLAM. All throughout the night. We called the lobby the next morning and asked them if we could change to another room or floor. They said they were totally booked and would send maintenance to fix it by the end of the day. At the end of the day, no changes. It also didn't help that the man staying in the room next to us smoked weed day and night. So that was the first smell I inhaled before I even put the key into my door to open it and see my room. Great first impression, I thought. The room is dimly lit (and I mean DIM to the max) to the point where it was hard to see anything when walking around such a small cramped room. The elevators do not light up so initially I thought it was broken but was later told that it in fact does. The hotel is run by a staff of young college students, so don't expect them to be super professional or anything. And did I mention all I smelled was weed every time I entered my room? Yes, it was a nightmare come to life. I have to say there were two things I liked about staying here. The lobby is clean and spacious with a small kitchen where you can heat food and watch some TV or use their free WIFI. The second was the price. At $30/night it was a great way to travel on a budget. But still, I am so grateful that I got to switch to the Hilton Times Square for my last night in NYC. NEVER AGAIN!

I stayed in a shared room with 5 beds for two weeks while looking for housing in the city. The NY…read moreMoore is an easy recommendation for me for other people in the same situation. I'm a regular hostel user whenever I travel and something I didn't anticipate here was having my own standalone bed (i.e., not a bunk bed) as well as the room having plenty of space. Bathroom was a nice size and was cleaned daily. The amenities in the basement were solid. I didn't cook much but I did take full advantage of the fridges/freezers. Luggage storage came in handy when I moved!

Disclaimer: This review reflects my personal experience. I'm being fully transparent and honest…read moreabout my stays at this hostel, which I visit once a year for both personal and business reasons. I've been coming to this hostel since 2017, and while I've had a mix of experiences--some good and some not--most of them have been positive. I'm bilingual and tend to understand travelers better than most. I usually book through Hostelworld, which I recommend for anyone looking for a fair price and reliable booking. One of the highlights is the people you meet here. I've connected with travelers from Chile, Germany, France, Canada, and Japan, and shared great moments watching FIFA games--yes, including watching Salt Bae embarrass himself on national television. As a photographer and documentarian, it's my job to assess and evaluate conditions at establishments like this. Some people may not like the location, but I personally do. The hostel is only 5-10 minutes from Manhattan's East Village, with a nearby subway stop at Morgan Ave. The surrounding area is made up of warehouses and lofts and is frequently used as a filming location for movies and TV shows. There are also excellent food spots nearby, including a great bar and pizza place just down the block. When checking in, make sure to lock up your belongings. If you have larger items, you can ask the front desk to store them for you. The hostel does offer handicap accessibility and an elevator, which is not common in many hostels. This is a good option for large groups, families, or group travelers, as long as you book in advance. Rooms are cleaned daily, so please allow housekeeping the opportunity to clean both rooms and bathrooms. I recommend staying here because the layout is comfortable, and beds are first come, first serve, allowing some flexibility. The showers are excellent, and there is free coffee and tea available. There is no breakfast, but there are nearby cafés, or you can buy food and cook in the large shared kitchen. Please label your food properly, and if you're leaving and have leftovers, relabel them as free so nothing goes to waste. Another disclaimer: I received no compensation for this review. Yelp has previously accused me of solicitation, and I want to make it clear that this is an independent review. I am a professional traveler, licensed journalist, and documentarian--it's my responsibility to inform others about the conditions and well-being of businesses operating in New York City. There is no laundromat inside the hostel, but there is one just around the corner with affordable pricing. There's also a game room located in the lower basement, on the same floor as the kitchen--great for socializing and downtime. My name is Panda, and this is my official review of the hostel as of 2023. If you need assistance during your stay, I highly recommend speaking with Nico or Jonathan. They are the longest-serving staff members, knowledgeable, attentive, and genuinely helpful.