Capital View

The staff was nice and friendly, it was a good location because it was within walking distance of other eatery and entertainment places. Had a beautiful rooftop for chilling. The only real major downside was that there were bedbugs, I got multiple bites so anyone coming here, be mindful of the bedrooms. Other than that it was fine.

Capital View Hostel is a little off the beaten path from all the main attractions but it is located in an up and coming neighborhood. Its a few blocks from the nearest coffee shop if you are there on the weekend but its a nice walk. The staff is a super friendly and outgoing crew. They were generous and very spirited. I enjoyed hanging out with them on the rooftop deck, thanks for the beers Mexican Stan! ;) The house could use some updating and small renovations (bathroom, kitchen) would drastically improve this otherwise wonderful building. My one and only complaint is that while I felt very safe walking to and from the hostel, around 3 am, there are street walkers who occupy the corner that the hostel is located and they make quite a racket while you are trying to sleep. I was woken up and kept awake between the hours of 3 am and 7 am both nights I stayed there. If this problem could be taken care of as well as the updates, this would be one of the better hostels that I've stayed in. I would recommend it however and will probably stay there when I return in April. Thanks! Tarah

I stayed for a week here. Staff is friendly and helpful, they try to make it a quality experience. Kitchen is well stocked and rooms are clean and common areas have entertainment. Rooftop is awesome. Guests seem to be about 50/50 workers and tourists. The location is good and felt safe but I would not walk east at night. Wifi wasn't usable for me anywhere besides the kitchen and it was not fast, others had trouble too. So I had to expend all of my cellular data. But it's a 5 star stay if the wifi is improved. Id stay again.

Cute hostel, perfect for traveling on a budget. They don’t provide locks for free, they sell them for $8...I didn’t use any and my roommates were very respectful of my things and my space. Even though there was one toilet per floor, I didn’t have any issues at all sharing the bathrooms with other guests, everyone was also very friendly. Will consider this place for next time.

-Awesome location in the city, you can walk to a lot of cool places and the immediate surrounding area is really nice. There's a small French Cafe close by that I also recommend. -Staff are really nice. I had some awesome conversations with some of them. Genuinely cool and helpful people. -The other people staying there that I met were from everywhere. I met a couple of really cool Europeans. A really cool guy from India too. I wish I had spoken to more people. It really was a great place to meet people. -Bathrooms are in nice shape, sleeping area that I was in was alright. I slept on the first floor in the coed room. Room can get muggy. Be sure to open a window or something. Building certainly wasn't dirty or gross, but it's not the mf Marriott either. Its an old apartment building that's been renovated to accommodate hostel goers, and it shows. There are signs of wear and tear. But there's also a really nice cleaning lady who comes in every day. Some people here were unfair about the shape of the place I think. -Overall, this is an nice place to stay and an awesome place to experience the city at. Highly recommended.

It was a very nice hostel to stay. I've been there just for one night but it very cool to experience a couple of hours over there. The staff was very friendly and they advised me very well about the questions I had. One staff member ask me to join the Jacuzzi party at the rooftop with some friends of him and other guest who stayed over there, it was a really nice experience I won't forget so thanks for that! For the rest.... Only one thing to improve... I hope that the 2 showers I had are fixed again, It was not a big issue but it could be more pleasant to have some warm water ;-) Besides that, I would absolutely recommend this Hostel to friends and even for myself to stay again! Regards from The Netherlands!

We had an awesome time here! Super easy to get here from the capitol on bike. Lots of restaurants close by, and walmart is a few blocks away. The staff that we hung out with were super cool and helpful. They do a good job keeping it clean. The guests were from around the country and world. Very fun to just hang out and talk with people. We used the rooftop deck too, good bonus. All this for less than it would cost for anywhere nearby.

A well run hostel by great people. You can't go wrong, except that some days the shower takes a little while to heat up. But is that really the most important thing? Also, I think it will be fixed soon. Stay here, you'll meet good people and have a good time. Great location, great management, cool building. Can't go wrong.

FAMILY FRIENDLY! The shining star of our recent vacation was the luxury apartment option from the Capital View Hostel! We stayed 3 nights and wish we stayed longer! SUPER REASONABLE RATES! Located off site away from the main building's dorm rooms and public spaces, the apartment offered my family (with 7 year old) privacy and amenities beyond our wildest hopes in a fantastic neighborhood! Easy walk to Union Station and we even walked to the white house, the circulator bus also stops nearby if walking is not an option. The apartment itself was secure, safe, and clean with kitchen, dining, living, master, nice bathroom, spare bedroom, walk in closet, and balcony. Wifi and cable too! What a splendid home to return to after a long day in the crowds and at the monuments. You could probably sleep 6 comfortably! What was the best surprise you ask? The rooftop grill/lounge area with pool and hot tub! Wow! With panoramic views of the city, it was the perfect way to end the day. The staff was also incredible... they were prompt to answer emails and helped us with storing and walking our luggage to the apartments. Truly one of our best experiences in DC. I cannot stop raving about how great Capital View is, and cannot wait to return! Thank you so much!

Capital Rat Hostel ... ew! Let's start with the pros of this well-situated establishment; it is central in Washington DC, the staff was very nice and helpful and it has nice equipment. The kitchen is large, they have an awesome TV room and a decent amount of facilities. The biggest pro though is their rooftop deck. They have a dart board and a lounge-like corner which is very comfy, great music and a nice view. The Wifi is fast as well. Now the big cons: There was a rat in the kitchen-bin when we wanted to make ourselves a late evening snake. That destroyed our appetite big time and kind of frightened us where hygiene is concerned. Also, the bedsheets were pretty dirty and there was a hole (I have a bad feeling that it was rat-related) in our bedroom wall, only covered with a plaster. Overall, a hostel with great potential. They need to get their hygiene and rat situation under control though to be considered worth the money that they ask!

Hello I've stayed here prior to this visit and it was a okay experience. My stay the second time around is absolutely RIDICULOUS. My check in was really unprofessional and the girl had a real bad attitude, seems to not care or even want to be at her job. Maybe she was new or needed some assistance but by this point I was ready to go but I was too tired to find somewhere else. The state of the house and it's cleanliness has definitely reach a all time low. From the bathrooms to kitchen , just was filthy! Hairy and dirty showers, dust everywhere (which kicked off my allergies), my sheets were bloody and a odor filled the house. Smelled of weed of the first level and a weird trashy feet smell on the upper levels. I came down to grab a drink of water about 12am, as I went to the kitchen and turned on the lights a rodent ran under the stove. I was in a state of shock, this wasn't a little house mouse this was a rat. Long tail hairy and really big... At this point I had to exit the house. Went to my room and packed my things, and found me a hotel. Where I know there are nice people and a clean rodent free atmosphere.

Clean, comfortable except I was constantly being bothered by gamers who were engaging in unwelcome remote contacts with my body. Repeated requests to be left alone were not effective. The people who run this place violated my privacy by engaging with cyberharassers. They were not able to tell the difference between a guest under their roof deserving of protection and the right of quiet enjoyment and a role play gaming scenario where people were (without their consent) being treated like gaming assets. I'm a lawyer, so this all seems crazy to me. That said, I keep seeing patterns such as this more and more within this community.

Terrible experience. Strange clientele, dirty rooms, old and in disrepair. Not worth the money. Employees are strange and unfriendly. Neighborhood sketchy. I would not recommend.

Note: I'm 42 and this is my first time at a hostel. Given my trip fell apart and the place I thought I was staying didn't pan out and therefore that this was my only option short of spending 200 or more on a hotel in a city I can't bear, it was a great experience. The staff is friendly and the location is great. From the outside it looks like a normal brick apartment building. As you walk in, there is a lounge with a large screen TV (House of Cards was playing). Everyone is nice and out of a dozen people I saw the night I stayed, only one guy was odd. Not bad odd, but he did speak English and was oddly uncommunicative. I shared a room with three girls and because I didn't arrive till 10PM (a friend had called ahead and paid for my room, sorry I'd had such an abysmal time in DC, a place he has lived on and off both alone and with family), so I didn't eat or interact much. Each bunk in the bunk beds (two to a room in mine) is equipped with four outlets. I've never seen anything like it in a hotel. If your roommates want to turn off the top light, you can still read in bed or type on your phone/computer. The mattress was fine. I mean it's a hostel, but certainly not uncomfortable. The comforter was warm enough and the thread count adequate. You have to strip the bed before you leave and they make a big deal about this, so I'm not sure if they dock you for failing to do so. Each room as a code, but my roommates didn't lock the door until late at night. You also have a code to get into the hostel, but I didn't try it, so I'm not sure how well it works. I don't cook in my boyfriend's spectacular SB condo or my parents' house in LA, so obviously I didn't use the kitchen. But there were people drinking soda and beer (they allow alcohol but prohibit "excessive drinking" (by which they mean "drinking games"). I didn't go up to the roof or shower, but the shower on the 2nd floor seemed just fine to me. This hostel is FAR nicer than a Motel 6 or Super 8 or Econolodge. And the girls are really nice, whether from Brazil or Germany or Spain. I speak Spanish, not Portuguese, but most of the kids speak passable to good English. They make you wear terry cloth slippers, which everyone says keeps this hostel cleaner than most. I've never been to Europe because while (obviously, given my stay in a hostel) I don't require luxury, I am not a backpacking hostel kinda gal. But if I knew that European hostels were as nice as this, I might have gone before I had enough money to travel in modest hotels. Definitely eat at Busboys and Poets. As Andrea V noted, the location

1. They changed our room reservations so our group was no longer bunking together. 2. I walked into my room to discover a gray-haired man masturbating on his bunk. 3. Some people wore only underwear in the rooms, the halls and bathrooms. 4. There was a fight outside my window at 2 a.m. with screaming and a crowd cheering them on. After 30 minutes, I called the police. (Why didn't the hostel staff? It was literally, literally directly in front of my window.) 5. When we decided to not stay for our second night, we were told that despite our experience, there was a strict 24 hour cancellation policy so our credit cards would be charged for the second night anyway. We've tried to communicate via email with the manager to no avail so far.

If you like cold showers in winter and rooms that smell like mould/dead animals then this is the place for you. The staff were friendly however weren't overly responsive when I raised the issue of the stench in our room or with the cold shower, and nothing was done as far as I know. Would not recommend this place at all. The only positive is the location.

My husband and I were looking for an affordable option to stay in Washington D.C. so after long and unsucessful research we decided for the Capital View Hostel and didn't even take the time to look at reviews before we booked. Afterwards I took a look at reviews and saw that quite a few people had complaints. So I was not sure what to expect but didn't have the nerves to look for an alternative. But actually I was very happy with the hostel. Will who checked us in and showed us the house was very friendly. There is no no-shoe rule anymore so you can wear your regular shoes in the house. The warmth of the showers was different, I've notice that one of them got only lukewarm whereas another one was much warmer. But that was ok for me as there were several showers to choose from. We didn't have to wait for a shower getting free at all. We had a private 2-bed room with bunk beds (we chose it because the bunk bed option was materially cheaper than a one big bed option and still a private room). The room was clean and we even had a small sofa and a table/chair. The kitchen was ok, basic stuff that you need to fry a sausage in a pan, make yourself a salad etc and ok clean. With many young people making themselves food it's hard to keep it clean all the time but it was cleaned regularly. There is free coffee. Everything else you need you can get easily at Walmart which is just a few minutes walk from the hostel. The location itself is great. The different smithsonian museums, the Capital, Monument, Lincoln Memorial etc. are all very close. We just took a bus to Georgetown once (also easy - use the "circulator" which is only 1 USD one way), besides that we just walked everywhere. Check-out was easy, you just put off the bed sheets and leave which is convenient when you have an early flight. Overall, you get what you would expect from a hostel. Not really fancy but all the basic stuff you need. Plus friendly staff.

Was a vary easy experience: too book, come and checkout. Very nice rooftop, where you can delightfully get drunk.

This place is decent, I will say that. It has a few things going for it: the employees are nice, the location is great, and the roof top deck is awesome! Sadly, it stops there. It's a very run down place. It's pretty dirty, several spaces in the house are smelly, and sleeping on my mattress felt like sleeping on a hole in the ground- a hole with poke-y bed springs in it. I could feel the bed springs poking up in my back, and I'm pretty sure that my mattress was at least 70 years old. Also, the bathrooms have no paper towels, only regular towels for drying your hands, and during the 4 nights I stayed, they were never replaced, which is a little unhygenic. The kitchen is not very well equipped at all. There's like one kitchen knife and one cutting board. Also, no paper towels or anything to wipe your hands or whatever. It does make me sad to have noticed so many bad things about this hostel, because the atmosphere is actually nice, and I didn't have a horrible time there. But if you are someone who'd be bothered by all that I've written, go somewhere else!

I had to come to DC last-minute in Feb 2014 and was able to book a one night stay here. The location was easy to find and is walking distance from the Chinatown stop for buses to and from NYC! Check-in was seamless. I was thrown off by the shoeless policy but the slippers they give you to wear within the hostel were comfy. Guests and staff were friendly, and room, kitchen, common area and first floor toilets were tidy. Minus one star because it was freezing in my room and the common areas. Rooms on higher floors were not as cold.

I was 28 when I stayed here and purely used it for a place to sleep. There were a plethora of amenities including computers, outdoor deck, decent showers, wifi blah blah. I opted for the abbreviated introductory tour since I was arriving late and leaving early. You aren't allowed to wear your shoes once inside but they do offer a set of slippers for free. The bed was comfortable and can accommodate 6ft-ers.

PLUS: Location is awesome, walking distance to metro, Union Station, National Mall, Walmart etc. I personally really liked the building itself and the art wall in the back, my room was pretty clean. MINUS: Kitchen was disgusting. Stove and oven have obviously never been cleaned. The same with awful refrigerator. I had to wash all dishes and a baking sheet before I wanted to use it. Downstairs in living room was incredibly cold and I still smelled pee or something. Bleh. I stayed for three nights and the bathroom I used upstairs wasn't cleaned even once. I felt like everything was sticky. The light in the bathroom was broken. Last night the dishwasher broke and kitchen was flooded. STAFF: One guy was ok, the rest was unfriendly.

I first stayed at this place back in March of 2012 and I had a GREAT time. The hostel is in a nice building, it was clean, the staff was helpful, and appropriate hosteling norms were enforced. I was really looking forward to staying here again. Things have changed. I just visited DC again in October of 2013. -One of the staff members was nice, but the others were rude, unhelpful, and condescending. From conversations I overheard, there is a culture of backstabbing amongst the staff, and management plays into this. -Not all rooms here are created equal. The room I got was dirty and very plain (the room from the previous trip was well appointed, bright, and clean). -When I went to bed the first night, I discovered dust, body hair, and chunks of lint all over my bed. -The bathrooms were DISGUSTING and in my four days there, I do not think that they were cleaned at all. One of the shower curtains was covered in what looked to be either vomit or feces. Others had tons of mold. -Quiet hours are not enforced. -There were tons of bugs. I didn't see bed bugs, but I did see at least four other varieties of insect. -The entrance is not sufficiently lighted at night -They do not vet their patrons. One of the nights, I shared a room with a guy who actually lived in DC, but had gotten kicked out of his place (in a leave right now or we're calling the cops sort of way) and was staying at the hostel for the night. In most hostels I've stayed in, locals are not permitted to stay. I was surprised that this happened. -I saw several men hanging out in their underwear in common spaces of the hostel. it's one thing when it's in the bathroom (I still don't want to see it), but in the kitchen? The hostel needs to set the expectation of wearing pants in common areas. I did not want to see a middle aged man with a bowl cut drinking beer in his dirty purple briefs in the kitchen. Some things simply cannot be unseen. If I'd have rated this place back in 2012, I would've rated it four or five stars. This stay wasn't very pleasant, though, and the shower curtain thing coupled with seeing not one, but TWO different middle aged men in their underwear in the kitchen earns this place one, solitary star. I'd give it less if I could.

Slow internet, when I shower water suddenly turn cold then I was freezing and stood there wait for long time, arranged two girls into guys room which we paid extra to stay with girls, sheets looks like never washed.

Where to start? I was a bit skeptical of staying in a hostel and sharing with other people, but in the end my boyfriend (who found the place for us) was right. The service was excellent, the personal extremely helpful and friendly and the price more than reasonable.

The staff was polite. Everything was clean. The location was unbeatable: four blocks from the National Gallery. Loved it.

This place is the worst. The room was extremely overheated, and there was nothing they could seem to do about it and did not offer us another room. We had to sleep with the window open, which felt extremely UNSAFE. We woke up to what sounded like RATS in the walls. RATS!!! When we explained our concerns we were not even offered a different room. We said we would like to find another place to stay and were told we would receive a full refund. Their staff LIED to us and said we would get the refund and not to worry. Instead, they billed our credit card for 50% of the rest of the stay. I have been calling them for over a month and keep being told someone will call me back but NO ONE EVER RETURNS MY CALLS. I just called again and the man who answered was extremely rude. He said the manager was "too busy" to talk to me ( this is after the fifth time I called). I pretty much don't expect to get my money back. DIRTY POOR SERVICE THEIVES Don't stay here.

Honestly, one star is too much for this hostel. Capital View is the nastiest place I have ever stayed in. First off, the staff ask you take off your shoes so that you don't dirty up the place. Most likely because they refuse to clean. Not once did I observe anything being cleaned. The shower in our hall bathroom had the worst smell to it that has ever touched my nostrils. The rooms have marks all over the walls, bugs galore and spider webs everywhere. One of the people on the trip with my group could not sleep in his bed because it was broken and covered in hair. There are also bed bugs and flies that are as big as grapes. Do not stay in Capital View the location is in the ghetto and it is awful. They could not pay me to stay there again. EDIT: The response to this review saying that my group was kicked out is a lie. The commenter must be confused because my group stayed for our whole trip and did not have issues with the staff members. That being said, everything stated above is true. I understand that the hostel may not always be like it was for our stay but that is honestly how it was. It's pitiful that a staff member would try to cover this up with lies.

The staff was very friendly, and made me feel at home. The hostel was conveniently located in Chinatown, and near some awesome restaurants!

Avoid this hostel! I stayed there with a friend of mine for 2 nights. It was a NIGHTMARE. It happened so many things that a single post wouldn't be enough, but I will try to explain in a few sentences what a horrible hostel Capital View is, to warn all of you before it's too late. 1. We reserved through the website Hostelworld.com for 2 nights by credit card. We also paid a 12% deposit (19$) for the hostel. The booking fee for the website was zero (as reported on the confirmation email that we printed, before leaving). When arriving to Capital View, the guy at the reception told us that the 12% deposit was in reality the fee for the website (despite the confirmation page EXPLICITLY told that was a 'deposit'), and so, according to him, we would have had to paid the whole amount of money. We obviously complained about that, and we asked the guy to try booking form the website by himself. So he did that and he realised that, as we said, Hostelworld.com was applying a 12% DEPOSIT (rather than a fee). We also spoke with the manger of the hostel, and we told him that he should complain with Hostelworld for the misleading advertisement they were making, rather that with the customers (us) that couldn't have been aware of this wrong website information. Despite of that, the Capital View manager asked us for the whole amount of money, and we have been forced to pay again the 12% deposit that we already paid in advance. He thus decided to lose the trust of two customers for 19$!!!! His choice. I think it was quite evident that it wasn't a customer mistake but their superficiality for not having realized that the website they were advertising the hostel through was actually advertising something wrong. 2. The first night, after having paid for the two nights (and, sadly, for the 12% deposit), we found an EXTRA-CHARGE for one night extra on the credit card. The day after, they told us that this extra night was charged because we didn't showed up for the first night. Really? Are you kidding? Of course we showed up, and we also had a 30 minutes argue for the 12% deposit/fee. After a while, they told us that they made a mistake, and so they refunded us for the extra night that was wrongly charged. What a coincidence! This two facts completely ruined the atmosphere of our journey. We would have expected that a reasonable hostel manager would have met its customer's concerns after the clear evidence of what happened. This has not been the case. Anyway, no harm done. You have gained a lot of negative reviews, two extremely dissatisfied customers and of course 19$ more on your bank account.

Easily the worst hostel I've ever stayed in. The nightmare began from the moment my girlfriend and I arrived. They charged us a $10 late fee for checking in 40 minutes past regular check-in hours. Once we were situated, they informed us of the house rules which included no shoes and no eating in the residence area. Fine. Nice kitchen and very clean property. Common fridges for food storage. Fine. Went out for drinks and bought some snacks. Woke up, went out for the day and came back to find that our UNOPENED, non-perishable snacks had been removed from my girlfriend's purse while we were out and were placed in the kitchen in an area called the WALL OF SHAME. Absolutely unacceptable to remove something from a person's bag without their knowledge. That's both theft and an invasion of privacy. Totally agree with the review that called this a Stasi hostel. Showers are ice cold, no possible way to make them warm even using the instructions on the bathroom door. Terrible. Also, we booked a private room with double bed and were shocked to find a room with bunk beds. The window was broken and allowed mosquitoes in and cannot be opened when it gets too hot. Lastly, as we were in our room changing at around 6pm, a staff member knocked and opened the door simultaneously while we were naked. WORST HOSTEL!! DO NOT STAY HERE!

This place was really fantastic. The linens were clean, the bathrooms were newly redone, and the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. There was always someone cleaning the facility and as a girl, I felt safe and really comfortable. Having not been to DC before, I called prior to arriving and Will (front desk guy) spent 10 minutes giving me detailed directions on the best way to arrive. Capital View was really understanding when I had to change dates around and went out of their way to make sure I had an all female room. I've stayed at other hostals in DC and this was top.

Do not stay here. There are four bathrooms in the entire building, and cleaniness is not the priority. On our recent stay with a groups of high school students, the ownership had miscommunucated our arrival time to the staff, and our rooms were not ready for several hours. Treading water with a small group is one thing, but with 30 tired teenagers is quite another. On our second night, the fire alarm went off twice, but no on site staff member appeared to offer emergency instructions. When the emergency number was called, we were sent straight to voicemail. On our last night, the posted code that would unlock the front door wouldn't work, leaving us to again figure out another solution. When we spoke with the owner about our concerns, the dismissive attitude was insulting. The area surrounding the hostel is also very loud at night. This is not the place to stay if you want to feel safe. Melanie is the one highlight of Capital View Hostel. She is welcoming, delightful and does her best to make you feel at home. Heed my advice. Stay elsewhere.

location: good price: fair all else: awful we were there a total of two & a half days. the first staff member we dealt with was unbelievably rude. I mean... wow!! she was terrible. she showed up about a half hour late to open the place (around 10:30) & was just completely uncool the entire time we interacted. we stored our stuff & came back later & got our room (a private room with two bunks). that's when we dealt with our second staff member. he was also completely unpersonable &, well... rude. the building itself is nice, but the there is no aesthetic flavor on the inside...none whatsoever. but, no big deal...the price was good & the space worked for us. but it wasn't really clean enough. like...unclean enough to warrant a bad review & a promise to myself that I won't be staying there ever again. in addition to the uncleanliness, I guess they'd done some kinda minor construction somewhere & there were like a bunch of two to four foot pieces of wood just randomly plopped down in our closet. I couldn't help but be a bit miffed by that. the bathrooms sucked pretty badly too. on our way out, we interacted a bit with another gal working. she was super-cool. very warm & friendly. very helpful. but, still...overall...well...yeah... no bueno.

I was there for two nights early Jan 2014. It's very different from other hostels that I gotta take off my shoes indoors. I really like the building, the staff I met are nice not like super friendly but not rude at all. I never used the kitchen or the room with tv, they look ok to me tho. The bathroom at my floor works fine, one bulb wasn't working, I could tell they did clean from the trashbin and towel. There's another bathroom I used and preferred on 2nd floor, looks clean too. My room was spacious and very warm. It was very cold the time I visited, and it was too cold for me to sleep well at other hostels in New York. I got an upper bed and I liked it, it ain't usual that I'd prefer an upper bed, it has more space than the lower. I also like the head light can be adjusted so it's not toooo bright for others at night. There's wifi access in room, some hostels only got that in common area. My favorite about capital view is that there ain't no keys so I didn't have to pay key deposit or check out, just strip ur bed and go.

The room I stayed in was unbearably hot. The thermostat is not accessible and no one is there to help you at night. The person staying in my room arrived at 11:30 pm, and was sitting down, standing up, leaving the room, beeping the code to get back in the room, slamming doors, receiving loud text messages, and constantly opening zippered bag literally all night until I left at 8 am. The next day I told the staff and they said 'well, no one else reported it.' and they refused me all refunds. I booked a dirt cheap Best Western room the next night and it felt like paradise.

Very comfortable hostel to stay at. Very good international clientele. Just refinished the floor and carpets., so brand new floors. Hot water works. Won't find better hostel/accommodations in DC.