Places to Stay within Europe

[wilson49332]

If you have any suggestions as to places to stay, post it here! We want to know where you stayed, and if you liked it or disliked it. I will start this off when I have time by featuring a destination, and adding places I stayed at.

Please post what city you were at, name of hotel or hostel, and rate it 1-5 (5 being best), and add some positives and negatives. Let us know if you would stay there again!

[wilson49332]

I will start with some of my Hostels I have been to.

London: Astor and St Christophers.
Both were great. I would say stay at them if you can. Drawback for both were the smaller rooms, but nothing out of the usual.
Both would get 4 stars, both were clean and the bars were nice. They are chains so they have more then one, I stayed at the Village, and Astor Hyde Park. Drawback, no breakfast at either (from what I recall, otherwise it wasnt anything to speak of). Both had EXCELLENT places to hang out and meet people, I loved that. They both had free movies, and SKY (Satelite dish like the Dish here) which was good!) I was too tired to check out the hot tub they had.

Berlin: The Heart of Gold Hostel
Excellent Hostel! Best I stayed at. Free high speed internet, very clean, good locker facilities to put stuff if arriving early, and neat looking (in a spaceship theme). Breakfast was decent, even including good orange juice that is fresh squeezed with the machine they have! Free Internet! (It says you need to pay at the desk, but you ask them for the code, and they never ask for you to pay.) That was a huge perk! Very friendly staff, came from the US, and were just working there while studying at the local university- so they knew the town and what Americans want to do well. Grocery store RIGHT next door was a huge help.
5 stars

Paris: Absolute Paris
Well as with any hostel in paris, beware. VERY cramped, there were 3 bunk beds pushed together in a room fit for 1 bunk bed- US style. Room was the size of my parents master bathroom and closet combined (small!) You couldnt even walk to the window, had to climb the beds to get to it. Wasnt too clean, had a roach trap underneath my bed with a few unfortunate victims. Was Ok for Paris though given you must PAY through the wazoo to get anything nice there. It was close to the Metro (and Gare de Est) however, key for me, and quiet. Bathroom was decent, but had NO shower curtain!
3 stars, but I have heard Paris isnt a hostel friendly city. Stay at a hotel if you can, or a pension may be better. Breakfast was a simple roll, and a crappy drink so nothing good there. Internet was I think 4 euros an hour- about average. I would stay there again, only because I have had friends tell me other hostels are worse in areas you dont wish to be walking in at night. (This was in a decent area of the city).

Rome: Hostel Allesandro
Decent place. Very close to Termini station and hence public transport. Also busses around the corner, and staff was helpful. Room was spaced well, and I could actually walk in it. Clean. Very Hot however, and a bit loud given it was close to the transport center of Rome and a main street. Kitchen was great, as was breakfast (they had a juice machine like you see in hotels here that you could put your cup under and press the button and you get unlimited juice. Best breakfast I got in Europe. A bit far out of the city center however (10 minutes by subway but not walkable)- normal though for Rome. Groceries were not too far away either.
4 stars

Wien (Vienna)
Well I got in late as a last minute idea to go there, so I paid dearly. I had to stay at a hotel because the hostels were all booked due to the river festival I had no idea about also festivities around Mozarts birthday. But I stayed at the Ibis hotel right next to Wien Westbahnhof. It was called IBIS Mariahilferstrasse. Thats the main station, and was great because you walk out the main doors and it is like one block away in site. It was also right next to the U-Bahn station. Also great location for shopping, as it is right on Mariahilferstrasse, the main drag for shopping. It was only 60 euros (about 85 bucks US). That was during summer peak times, it is MUCH cheaper in the off peak times. That sounds like a lot, but wasnt for a regular hotel with breakfast and air conditioning.

Fot a hotel, 5 stars. Excellent breakfast, thought it was 6 euros extra, they ask you if you want it or not and add it to you rooms bill. All you can eat though with full pancakes, waffles, etc....


Number Two- Wombats City Hostel. Also within blocks of the west train station. Great staff, very clean. New, so it looks appealing unlike some hostels in the area. The main attraction here was the helping staff, and the great things to do inside the hostel including a great lobby with big screen televisions, movies, gameroom- all free. Great to meet others.
There pubcrawl was great as well. Offers many tour packages as well in the city for cheap.
5 stars

Number Three- Hostel Ruthensteiner
I didnt stay there myself, but I did walk in for a minute, had friends stay there as well. Heard the hotel part was great, but the hostel part wasnt so nice. Great staff though, he tried to phone other hostels for me when he was booked, unfortunately everyone he called was also booked. He then proceeded to give me a couple hotels to look at including IBIS, and told me if they were also booked then just come back and he would give me a cot for free. Very nice though, wasnt going to let me sleep in the park or train station with the bums (which I was worried would happen given the last train back to my house was gone until the next day.) This is not co-ed, seperate buildings for sex which must suck!!
My buddy gave it a 4 star rating.



More cities/ hostels to come as I have time. Add yours!

[jabroni79]

London: Ace Hotel (5 out of 5)

This hostel is one of the cleanest hostels I have been to. It is fairly new, so all of the beds are in good condition. The bathrooms and showers are private and clean. There is a nice internet lounge, a bar area, pool table, and flat panel TVs. The best thing about this place is that it is quiet. The only drawbacks are that the free breakfast is not much and that it is not near all the tourist locations in London. But, it is only a 5-10 minute walk to the Tube station, so this is not a problem.

Geneva: City Hostel Geneva (4 out of 5)

This is one of the better hostels I have been to in Europe. The rooms are clean and the beds are comfortable. The bathrooms and showers are clean. The staff is friendly. There are kitchens available so that you can cook your own food. It is about a 15 min walk from the train station and a 5 min walk to the nearest grocery store. It is locatied in a good area for restaurants and bars. The only drawbacks are that the hostel is located close to the train tracks, so it can get noisy if you open the windows.

Interlaken, Switzerland: Balmer's Herberge (1 out of 5)

This place was like summer camp for 18-22 year olds. Unless you like that idea, I would suggest that you not go to this place. The breakfast is not much to talk about but you do get all the instant coffee and tea that you want. There is a club in the basement of the hostel that kept me up until 1:30 in the morning due to the heavy bass. The bathrooms and showers are small and are in the open, with rooms located right next to the door of a toilet or shower stall. I sleep in a 34 bed dorm and the mattress was uncomfortable and the beds were very small. The only good things about this place are that it is cheap and they offer several tours and activities in the mountains.

[politicslovr]

Paris, France - Auberge Internationale des Jeunes - 5 stars

AIJ : Budget Youth Hostel in Paris [link]

Five language web site with prices and directions by metro from every major train station in Paris AND airports. 17 euros/night during peak travel season.

Since I've only stayed at this one hostel, I cannot compare it with others in Paris or Europe. But after hearing all the hostel horror stories, I was pleasantly suprised and wouldn't mind staying here again.

Staff
Friendly, warm, VERY HELPFUL. Multilingual.

Technical Stuff
The following things are included: swipe key, CLEAN sheets, luggage storage (if you arrive during lockout, you may store your luggage in the basement for up to 12 hours before you officially move in to your room), simple breakfast: half a baguette, butter, jelly, hot drinks (e.g. coffee, hot chocolate). Lockout 11am-4pm. The stairs are a b*tch, so bring lots of patience

Arrive in the morning if you can. Rooms fill up fast. If you arrive later and the place is filled, the staff will refer you to the Bastille Hostel. It's owned by them and is connected to the AIJ indoors. The price per night is a bit higher because the Bastille only has single and double rooms, but it's nice. I stayed there for one night in a single. I had my own shower and sink. Two toilets were right down the hall.

There's a little insert-money-here internet machine thing, but it's nothing to brag about.

Environment
AIJ is in the 11th arrodissement, in between Place de la Nation and Place de la Bastille. [link]
It's not really near any tourist sites, but it's uber-close to the metro (M. Ledru Rollin - line 8 ), and there's a small park nearby. A bar across the street becomes packed with happy young people like yourself at night. Monoprix (store with pretty much everything) is down the street. There's a decent boulangerie with incredibly convenient hours on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine. In case you get desperate, McDonalds is pretty much right around the corner.

Overall, the neighborhood is busy, but safe - even at night. Nobody even drives on Rue Trousseau at night, so hostellers hang out in the street/bar/sidewalk.

Rooms
I stayed in the cheapest kind of room they had. Four people, two sets of bunk beds. Plenty of floor space. Really. I was with three other girls (you know how we pack!) and we all had room for our stuff. We had our own shower, toilet, and sink. If you happen to get a room facing the street, pat yourself on the back and enjoy the okay view of Rue Trousseau. Rooms were CLEAN

Showers
Can't comment on account of me forgetting all my toiletries in another French city Bathing is overrated! Don't think I saw a shower curtain

Backstory
Since I am oh so talented at planning ahead, I found this place about a week before I arrived in Paris. Low on cash after studying abroad, I begged my fellow classmates for tips. One person suggested AIJ (She had stayed there the previous weekend). I'm glad I took her advice.

If anyone wants to know anything else, don't hesitate to contact me.
_________________
Certified Franceologist.

[almarek]

Florence, Italy:
Youth Firenze 2000. I give this a 4/5. It was very very clean, quiet, and safe. It was about 15 minutes on foot from the train station but in a nice area of town. It didn't have a great mingling area as most hostels do, so if you're looking for a social atmosphere, this probably isn't it. All rooms had private bathrooms with showers and rooms had only up to 5 beds. I found this hostel a nice break from the up-all-night social hostels. It had more of a hotel feel for the price of a hostel.

Interlaken, Switzerland:
Funny Farm. I give this a 3/5. The view was great, the staff was great, and they had activities that you could sign up for (white water rafting, canyon jumping, sky diving, etc) The rooms weren't the greatest and the showers were short haha...but rooms had a balcony with a great view and the hostel was located right below a smaller mountain that was fun to climb up to eat lunch. A good pair of headphones will go far in trying to sleep, as there's a nightclub in the basement with rather loud music. On the other side, it's a great place to meet people from all over the world.

[sticks]

I had the worse experience at No. 8 Hostel in Willesden. The price was good but nothing else was. I had to share a room with this girl who was basically crazy. I came in from going out with my friend who left his things in my room. He went to the bathroom before he got his things to leave. I was getting ready to go bed. Less than two minutes later the girl walks out the room. The next thing I hear is a knock at the door. The manager came to tell me she wanted to sleep and we were making too much noise. Granted, i just came in from dancing, but i wasn't loud. I understand I woke her up but i didn't complain when she woke me up from sleeping. She made noise, turned on the light, shuffling through her things. It became an issue when she was being disturbed. I told the manager she could have just told me and it would have been a non issue. She started cursing f this and shut up,when i said i might as well get another hotel room if tis is how it's going to be. i didn't feel safe anymore. She stormed out the room again and started crying. The manager was really no help. Instead of telling the girl calm down, he's asking me if i plan on really leaving cause i won't be refunded the money i paid. What a jerk.

[james1982]

Hotel in York

I recently visited York and found it to be a real gem of a city. It's very historical and there's a huge amount to see. If you're Interrailing, I'd recommend spending at least one night here. In terms of accommodation, I'd suggest a hotel called Four High Petergate [link] It's right in the city centre and the building is actually part of the city walls! It wasn't particularly cheap, but I arrived late in the city and was just delighted to find somewhere comfortable to stay.