Hostelling International Washington DC

...room by myself, and so Hostelling International Washington DC was the way forward for me. And you know what? I'm glad I did.

This hostel wasn't the cleanest one in the world, but it did it's job. The outside blends in well with the surroundings and due to all the flags sticking outside is relatively easy to find. The rooms themselves were surprisingly attractive to me. My room was quite large (despite having chosen the option to have ...
...spacious) and contained a decent sized locker for each person. The bed was comfortable - and most importantly not sqeaky! - and the pillow, blanket, towel etc were all very clean and comfortable.

The hostel contained a few facilities that are worth mentioning. There was a laundry service, but as I didn't need to use it while I was there I can't really comment on that. It also contained a locker room, which is very expensive for what ... more

I stayed at this hostel for a few days in mid August. It was my first time ever staying in a hostel as I've always gone with hotels, being unable to see the allure of sleeping in a room with a million other people. Unfortunatley, the sheer amount of places I wanted to visit meant there was no way I could have the money to stay in a hotel or have a room by myself, and so Hostelling International Washington DC was the way forward for me. And you know what? I'm glad I did.

This hostel wasn't the cleanest one in the world, but it did it's job. The outside blends in well with the surroundings and due to all the flags sticking outside is relatively easy to find. The rooms themselves were surprisingly attractive to me. My room was quite large (despite having chosen the option to have thhe most people in the room, it was still very spacious) and contained a decent sized locker for each person. The bed was comfortable - and most importantly not sqeaky! - and the pillow, blanket, towel etc were all very clean and comfortable.

The hostel contained a few facilities that are worth mentioning. There was a laundry service, but as I didn't need to use it while I was there I can't really comment on that. It also contained a locker room, which is very expensive for what it is. I needed to use it on the first day as I arrived about five hours before check in and so didn't really have a choice in the matter. The system used to store your lockers is annoyingly complicated for what it should be, the electronics used seem to work only at random and the machine that you pay with seems to reject almost everything you put inside of it. THe locks last for 24 hours - and if at any point before that time you open it, you'll need to pay again. But don't worry, as the lockers in your room are pretty big and I was easily able to fit my entire suitcase as well as some random extra crap inside of it.
The facility used most by me is probably the TV room. It looks quite like a cinema - a dark room, a big screen, and lots of chairs. The chairs are really comfortable and the screen is a good quality one, you've also got a big variety of channels to choose from. There is also a common room where you can find books, information on the area, and just generally hang out. The dining facilities are good as well. The kitchen is well organised and has a lot to choose from, however unfortunatley the appliances tend to be too close together so it can be quite hard to use them if there's more than three people in the room - which there probably will be! This hostel didn't contain a cafe, but it did offer a breakfast service. It costs $2 to have a buffet style breakfast. You can only go through once, if you go through again you have to pay again - but you can do what I do and just sort of pile your plate with multiple bowls of cereal etc. There's a good variety, there's always cereal and the other foods change from day to day, some days there could be muffins, etc etc. The bathrooms are also good quality and were kept very well clean.

Appearance wise, the only thing that let this hostel down were the corridors. They are falling apart and when I first walked through to my room, the flickering lights and grey walls immediatley led me to think about horror movies and wondering when my death would be!

As for location, this hostel is in a great spot. You're near some great - although pricy - resteraunts and stores, and the metro isn't too far away. If I remember correctly it was only about five minutes away, and it was easily accessible with me and my giant luggage without becoming too stressful to carry to it. You're also well within walking distance of many landmarks and museums, and if you're not, the metro is really easy to figure out.

My only complaint with this hostel would be the people working at reception. I'm sure it's not true of all of them, but they were all very rude when I spoke to them. I specifically remember asking one of the people at reception about directions somewhere, and asking if I turned a certain way would I be on the right side? (meaning: the correct side.) She responded with "What a stupid comment, you'd obviously be on the left," and walked off. So not the best of service there!

All in all I really enjoyed my time at this hostel, but it obviously comes down to who you talk to and who you end up in a room with as to how much you're going to like it! In my case I was lucky enough to be put with some great people and I met all sorts of awesome people in places like the TV room, even when I was stuck outside because I couldn't check in! If you're not that great at meeting people or want to go exploring the hostel also offers some free tours. I did one of Georgetown, and though I didn't particuarly like Georgetown I still had a lot of fun as the tour guide was great fun and really knew what he was talking about, and also because I got talking to a lot of the other guests who I was then able to meet up with for dinners and things - and some of whom I'm still in contact with now! 

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