Joyce H.
Yelp
Overall, this hostel is very homey, with lots of Midwestern hospitality that feels specific to Detroit. The hostel is located in Corktown surrounded by friendly neighbors and empty lots. It's close to the infamous ruins of the abandoned train station, and some new redevelopments and businesses like Astro Coffee, Slows BBQ, and Mercury Burger. It's somewhat jarring (even coming from a city like Cleveland), but over the weekend, I learned to accept the landscape as is, and also to accept the history as is. Detroit is one of the most fascinating stories out there for an American city, and I have great hope for it.
The hostel has a very homey feel -- they do potluck dinners with the neighbors on sundays to build trust within the neighborhood and guests are invited to join in. There's an urban garden in the back where you can feel free to use the veggies for your own cooking at the hostel. It's ironic that such an industrial city has gone back to almost rural, make-do roots. I suppose the city has always been a make-do city.
I didn't receive the keypad number combination in our confirmation email, but luckily, the host was there to let us in.
We were able to rent bikes to travel around the city. The bikes are pretty janky, but they lasted the trip of about a few miles down to the riverwalk. We had bike locks at the time, but I'm sad to hear from other reviewers that there are no more bike locks around! That's too bad.
I was hoping to run into some interesting guests while we were there, including urban planners. I would have loved to hear more from there. There were a bunch of guests doing an art show at Belle Isle, but we didn't get a chance to catch up with them at the show. There were very loud European visitors who came in at 3am on Friday night, talking loudly and complaining about the management. This was disappointing, and I felt in some ways that it was very uncouth. All the other guests were very respectful, quiet, and interested in the city.
The main room is shared by all guests (unless you get the private room), and while I was comfortable on my top bunk, I agree with others that it would be nice to have a female-only room.