Advantages: Fantastic Location
Disadvantages: Not great quality rooms and washing facilities

...If you appreciate the "well, it's a roof over your head" style accommodation then I promise you will love the YMCA Westside, NYC. I was lucky enough to spend 5 days in New York last year as part of my college course so the accommodation was out of my hands. Fortunately I prefer to prioritise location to accommodation. As far as youth hostels go, the YMCA west side has everything and more. Literally 1 minute to the end of the road, cross the street and you will be in Central Park. Being in the middle of one of the most famous concrete jungles, central park is a particularly stunning view. Maybe it's the contrast of the tall trees and quiet pathways to the colossal skyscrapers and rowdy streets that heighten the beauty situated so close to the YMCA. Within walking distance there is the famous ice rink (from Home Alone 2), which is well... Read review

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Advantages: Close to Central Park
Disadvantages: Too many to list

...I went to America in mid-Ferbruary with my school band. We spent the last 3 days, 2 nights in New York City and spent our nights at the West Side YMCA. When we pulled up outside we were quite wary of the place but inside the reception was beautiful... what a false impression that was! We were all staying on the 15th floor, girls on one side, boys on the other and teachers in the middle. When we stepped out of the lift we were shocked. It looked like a prison corridor, the doors were cold uninviting metal with a small grate in the top, there was a dreadful smell, very stale. (apparently there were wooden doors on some of the lower floors). The rooms were tiny, just enough room for a bunkbed, a tv (which we were most grateful of) and a small desk. There was barely enough floorspace for 2 people's suitcases! My room seemed clean enough... Read review

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Advantages: cheap and cheerful
Disadvantages: small rooms

...I have stayed at this place twice and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone looking for an inexpensive place to stay in New York- and let's face it there's not many. I booked this first through STA travel who messed it up- so do it independently. The cheapest rooms are small and have bunkbeds, tv, air conditioning and shared bathrooms but there are also suites available. The staff are friendly and there are lots of on site facilities such as a gym, swimming pool and a cateteria with decent food. The rooms are cleaned everyday and the place is very well kept. There are always people around to give directions and recommendations and you can book trips to places such as Washington, Boston and Niagara Falls. The best thing about the YMCA Vanderbilt is the location. At East 47th street between second and third avenue it is in a fairly quiet... Read review

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Advantages: Nice location
Disadvantages:

...The West Side YMCA is a huge building situated on West 63rd St., in a fairly quiet, but safe area, just across from the Lincoln Center. It's a convenient location, just a couple of mins walk from Central Park, and an easy bus ride to downtown. We stayed for 3 nights in a private room, which has 2 beds (bunk) with cable TV and aircon, and access to the shared bathrooms on each floor (separate sex). That was 84 dollars a night, which by NY standards is pretty good, and I think you can get a private bath for about 30 bucks more, but if you're on a budget, as you obviously will be if you're staying here, then you probably won't bother. Overall, it was fine. The room was, as expected, basic, but clean. The bathrooms were pretty big, with 10 or so showers and and equal number of sinks, and while they're definitely of the school changing room... Read review

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Advantages: excellent location, it is really downtown NYC
Disadvantages: expensive, dirty rooms and unbelieably dirty decaying bathrooms

...I had been to YMCA West Side in New York once ten years ago, before they renovated it, and I enjoyed it much. Thus last summer I went back there with my girlfriend without even having a look at the rooms. I wish I did not go there! Definitely I will not go there any more. I am 32 and since I travel quite a lot I can say I have some spirit of adaptability. However there's a limit to everything. The place where this hotel is locate is very good, one minute on foot from Columbus Square in the middle of downtown New York. Unfortunately this is the only positive thing about YMCA West Side. PRICE: price is too high for what you get. 100$ for a twin bedroom is a bargain for the are you are going to stay, but it is a theft for what you are provided for. What's more YMCA demands you to pay in advance for the whole period you are going to stay... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, Central Location, Nice Food
Disadvantages: Some rooms are poor, lifts sometimes take a while to get to you.

...I spent three nights at the West side YMCA. The first was spent in a twin room on the 10th floor. It was just big enough for a bunk, table, TV and a lamp. It was air conditioned, although it was noisy, and had a great view (only some rooms have this) There were bathrooms on each floor - one set male one set female. The girls had a combination lock on the door, but everyone knew the code. The boys door wouldn't shut properly. There were 3 toilets, which wouldn't flush at certain times of the day, and three showers - you could only use two of them, which screeched "like the exorcist". The curtains left an inch at either side, and there was a big mirror opposite you, above the sinks - very communal. We then kicked up BIG FUSS...(we were a school group) Then...we got Rooms on floors 12 and 13(top two floors) that had been rennovated... I... Read review

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Advantages: good location, friendly staff
Disadvantages: limited facilities, small, no disabled access

...Centre, uptown on the west side. And you get better facilities at a YMCA such as the one on the lower west side.... Read review

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Advantages: Very funny
Disadvantages: not as good as the 1st

...Waynes world, the superb comedy film with Mike Myers sequaled with the eagerly awaited Waynes world 2. The Film centres around Waynes vision of putting on a concert in a park after meeting a naked indian in his dream. He is dead set on the idea, but he needs to fill in more forms than a supermarket application! His girlfriends is being drawn away from him by a snidey record dealer, who has his heart set on geting rid of Wayne. Wayne and the gang set out on reconisance, and end up doing YMCA in full costume in a gay bar. Plans for the concert continue and Waynes girlfriends father turns up. With a hilariously dubbed fighting scene Wayne is informed that his girlfriend will wed the record dealer. He races off to get her. Meanwhile thousands of people turn up to the concert, but no bands are booked. Garth tries to humour the crowds... Read review

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Advantages: sleek and stylish
Disadvantages: small keys make it hard to dial

.... (although the space for first name, last name, company, street, postcode,city and country may be overdoing it a bit!) The only disadvantage with this is, if someone is phoning you, you cant tell where from straight away, you would have to check your call register after you've hung up. There are plenty of ringtones on this phone (my favourites being 'The Muppets' theme tune and YMCA - allthough this may cause some embarrasment, when YMCA is blaring from your handbag on a crowded bus! On the downside you cannot send and recieve ringtones as with Nokias. The menu on the SL45 is quite difficult to get the hang of, I owned a Nokia 3210 for a year before getting my SL45, and I have to say, the Nokia menu wins hands down on ease of use.. but after a bit of time and patience the SL45 does become relativly simple.Also there is a help system, if you... Read review

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Advantages: Fun music, good crowds
Disadvantages: drinks are pricy

...If you live in London or want to visit. I have to recommend this bar. It's based on the t.v. show Cheers. There is Cheers merchandise to buy at the door. Otherwise, it is just a great place to go and have a drink. I went there after my friend's got their A-level results last summer. We queued for an hour outside another club. Then got fed up and walked down Shaftesbury Avenue to Regent Street. It was a week night in August, but the place was buzzing. There wasn't a queue, but inside it was packed. A warning to males though, you may be charged entry. This is usually due to the amount of males wanting to go to the bar. If you want to dance the night away, you can. However, it is also a really unhostile atmosphere to meet new people. They play old classic cheese like YMCA and well known pop songs. This means that the atmosphere is really... Read review

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