Julie A.
Yelp
I had so many great memories here! It was my first stay at a hostel and I was a bit nervous about it, but it was just like staying at a college dorm, except people were much happier because they were all there on vacation.
The people are what make a hostel great, and this place had a fun, community feel. I was staying here for Ultra weekend and some guy I hadn't met before introduced himself in the hallway and said "Hey, are you going to Ultra? A bunch of us from the hostel are heading there tomorrow and catching a bus that way. You should come out with us."
People are really nice and friendly and come from all over the world. I stayed in a 4 people room. My roomies were from Argentina, South Korea, Canada, and Connecticut. I also met people from Sweden, Norway, Italy, the UK, and Germany.
The atmosphere gets a solid 5 stars if you're into a party type of hostel. The reason one star gets knocked off is one member of the staff wasn't too helpful and the loud noise from the first floor (I stayed on the 2nd floor directly above) made it a bit hard to fall asleep the last night I stayed. Luckily, I brought ear plugs hehe.
It was ironic, because the next door neighbors were playing their music on our floor and I didn't even hear it through the walls. For the most part, people were really respectful. The hallways were quiet and the cleaning people were really cool, too.
Here are some tips:
Tip 1: they clean the showers around 10am when most people are just waking up, so if you want to get clean without interruptions, either shower at night, or wake up and shower around 9am.
Tip 2: Free breakfast is from 8am till 10am. It's just bagels and bananas or oranges. But hey, it's free and toasted fresh bagels are pretty darn good when you're starving.
Tip 3: If you want a good night's sleep and you get cold easily, please bring a sweatshirt. They also have warm blankets available at the front desk, too. Once you check into your room you are also given bedsheets and a towel. The front desk also has drinks available if you get thirsty and other drinks available at the bar till 5am if you are the other type of thirsty. And if you are mad hungry they do have college "ramen" noodles and some other foods.
Tip 4: There is a fridge and a microwave in the kitchen/lounge area. If you want to put food in there, ask the front desk for a bag and label. I wish I knew this, because I would have stored my Shake Shack fries in here instead of letting them perish in my car the entire weekend. There's also a mini theater connected to this room. They have theme nights posted on the wall here, too. I came in here to put some "ramen" in my tummy and quickly go to bed, but ended up chatting it up with some bartending school hostel guests from sweden and norway. My quick snack eventually morphed into drunken noodles in my belly.
Tip 5: Bring slippers to wear in the shower. They clean the bathrooms a whole lot, but still.
Tip 6: They have both co-ed and females only rooms.
Tip 7: Sunrise/Sunset on the beach yoga is only one or two blocks away. (Good luck waking up or staying up long enough for that sunrise. Lol.) So is Amnesia nightclub and Big Pink restaurant.
Tip 8: Yes, there is wi-fi here but you use it downstairs in the computer lounge area. They have computers available for use. You let them hold onto your ID while you browse the net.
Tip 9: In addition to the bar mentioned above, you can play pool for more opportunities to mingle and meet with fellow travelers.
Parking is available through parking passes and you park on the street in the blocks nearby. They have a map at the front desk, so make sure you know exactly where to park.
Price was decent. The hotels were priced really high that weekend, but I paid an avg of $80 a night.
I probably wouldn't stay here with my son with the community bathrooms and all, but definitely would come back with a friend. Most the hostel guests here are in their early 20's, but they were friendly to everyone.
I think I had such a blast here that I somehow got sucked back into time and forgot that it had been 10 years since I was living at college. Lol.