Yiwen S.
Yelp
my friend and i got a twin (2 beds) room for relatively cheap here. the shared bathroom on the floor is split by gender and only contains one toilet, one shower, and two sinks. while there was never really a line for anything, looking back on it now after having been to so many hostels, their facilities should've been a lot bigger.
the front desk people are really friendly, but i never saw the same face twice in the three days i was there. there's an access code that you need to get into the front door -- it's changed on a weekly basis. each room has its own set of keys (10 euro deposit per key).
the kitchen is the size of a regular kitchen that you would find in a house. no clue how crowded it gets at night since there isn't much space, even in the adjacent lounge area that boasts two sofas.
the rooms are clean and spacious, and the hostel is generally quiet. someone comes in once a day to take out the trash, so don't leave your valuables out. the pillows and bedding kinda sucks. the stairwells can be tricky, especially if you walk into the wrong one.
the hostel is located in prenzlauer berg, which is pretty out of the way from all the tourist sights. it's conveniently located next to a U2 rail stop, but it would've been nice to stay in mitte instead.
there's two grocery stores within a 5 minute walk of the hostel. one to its west, one to its south. there's also an organic market next to the U2 stop, but it's pricier.
overall, it's an ok hostel. as the first hostel in a long string of hostel stays during our trip, it looked quite impressive. but in retrospect, it's just average when compared to some of the better hostels we stayed in.