For such a large building it is also a shame that the building has only got one elevator which is not enough for the number of guests and I always had a long wait to get to and from my room on the 4th floor as a result.

The other things that I didn't like
- Elevator was slow, better to take stairs unless going with luggages
- AC in my room was very noisy.

The only thing to improve maybe is the slow elevator.

For excuse makers (“well New York IS expensive”), Sydney’s combination of real estate and wage prices equal NY’s.Fact is NY is expensive because it has conditioned people to pay more
- slow lifts.

There was only one elevator and the hostel was busy all the time, I had to carry my bags down the stairs because I was in a hurry.

Only fault was they only had one very slow elevator, which made for a slight inconvenience.

The only negative thing i can think of is the elevator is very slow.

The elevator is extremely slow, so you may prefer to take the steps.

The elevator was suuuuper slow, something that made the lines very long to get up and down with luggage.

The elevator is really slow - I feel like they should upgrade it ASAP as it really is a pain particularly if you're staying on some of the higher floors.

I don't think I've ever encountered such a bad elevator.

Elevator - There is only one elevator and it's really very slow.

The heater in my room wasn't working properly, the hairdryer in the bathroom wasn't working and the elevator was very temperamental!

Just a tiny point was that, for the size of the hostel, having only one lift was very inconvenient as it was very slow (it always seemed to stop at every floor, regardless of whether there was anyone there or not) and gets very crammed - if you wanted to take the stairs the stairs from the basement were different from the stairs going up to different floors.

If there's one thing to complain about it's the elevator which might make you lose half your holidays in terms of time lost - or gain some physical condition due to your use of stairs :)
But a good pick if you look for a reliable hostel!

but only one elevator (which smells gross all the time), so if you have a heavy suitcase, be prepared to wait a bit.

The elevator can take a bit of time to come up and down, so being on the 2nd floor meant that I could use the stairs instead every time.

The lift was slow and often full in the mornings so I just used the stairs all the time as it was faster and right opposite my room.

but yes, the lift was very slow and we generally used the stairs.

We started to do the Harlem Gospel tour which was interesting,

It was a quiet place and secure place to sleep while dealing with a stressful situation, and the neighborhood is full of interesting stores and a nice place to walk.

They have alot of interesting events and the WiFi worked perfectly!

but good and very interesting city tour organized directly by internal staff

The staff is friendly and attentive to customer needs, in particular I would like to thank Betsy for her professionalism and courtesy.

I've stayed in hostels before and I've had good experiences, met some interesting people.

Interesting non touristy area, good bars and restaurants nearby.

Staff are knowledgeable and friendly, the cafe, lounge and patio courtyard give you room to spread out and the hostel offers interesting programming all week.

We took Jerry's Grand tour organized by the hostel which was interesting,

That said, New York is an interesting place for a solo traveller.

They have daytime tours like walking tours of the city (the Harlem gospel tour with Evan was particularly interesting), discounted tickets to Yankees games and bar crawls/clubbing in the evenings.

), The Harlem Tour and the Greenwich Village Tour both with Evan who is also terrific and well informed, telling you all sorts of interesting details on History, music and so on.

Additionally the staff offers guided tours (just put your name on the list in the foyer) and a nice barbecue on thursday evening, where you can meet interesting people!

The tours were a good way to meet people and they were good and interesting!

The hostel atmosphere is friendly and welcoming and I found many of my dorm mates to be friendly and interesting.

Good hostel, quite cheap for NYC - well located in the upper west side, near central park and the metro line 1 - quite clean & safe - free snooker - some good walking tours for 10$ (not all of them are interesting), pub crawl & clubbing night
Really big (more than 600 beds) - very impersonal atmosphere - no alcohol permitted inside the hostel - expensive and unpractical locker - really cold in the bedroom at night

So impressed by this hostel; great location, affordable price, great atmosphere, very helpful staff, very clean bathrooms, great priced food in the cafe, wifi throughout the building, a fantastic kitchen, and interesting activities.

While the subway is close, it takes you at least 10 subway stops to get anywhere interesting.

Great mirrors in the in the girls bathroom, lots of space for female beauty regimes, mascara applying, tweezering, hair straightening/blowing/styling, facial exercises..etc They have automatic flush toilets, which are interesting, yes, convenient, yes

I met so many interesting people which I enjoyed because I traveled alone.

Very good cafe and the location is super good.

!, laundry, restaurant, games, big bathrooms with many showers and toilets so no need to wait, computers,… the location is also great.

The location is great, the tube is just 2 mins away, super clean, and the staff very friendly and helpful!

Pros:
Clean rooms
Huge communal spaces
Lovely cafe within the hostel selling sandwiches, salads, pastries, hot and cold drinks
Excellent location - literally 2 minute walk from the subway.

First of all it's really well located, it's close to 2 subway stations and to Central Park.

but there was a good selection of food, drinks and snacks at a competitive price point

Fantastic location so close to a metro line and very close to Central Park

The rooms were extremely clean, the staff and service was wonderful, the location is excellent (just steps off the 1 line), and it is so affordable for NYC.

HUGE hostel located in an awesome building.

Located in the Upper West Side within walking distance to the subways and Central Park.

..ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

This place has a lot going for it – great location close to transport, supermarts, restaurants, good security, big, clean, good dorms with solid beds and lockers, clean bathrooms, spacious common areas, free or inexpensive NYC tours, a very good cafe

Located on the Upper Westside, it's just one block from Broadway and the subway.

Location is convenient: close to subway and bus stations, you can also easily walk to Central Park or find place to eat!

Overall good hostel, I stayes 4 nights and it is very convenient in terms of location, the price was fair and the dormitory clean.

The location is awesome, only a block from the subway.

The location is good in Manhattan since we could reach the metro red line very fast.

The location is good with a subway station a 5 minute walk away and the hotel being very close to Central Park.

+ Great location in a historic building, close to Central Park, big room, kind of budget friendly, good breakfast, very close to the number 1 subway and just 20 minutes to Times Square, helpful staff, restroom is beyond my expectation - very clean and equipped with showering system, overall it was a nice experience.

my first time in a hostel, clean, nice, there is a place to buy food inside, the reception is not always so pleasant and at the comedy show it was good,

THE FOOD at the little restaurant is something i’ll forever remember it was so good event

Close to the subway and buses to explore NYC, cafe, cleaners everywhere, security, activities.

It was nice to have the cafe on site for convenience, and the food is fine.

The cafe has some good food to order and the waiting room and patio was comfortable to be in.

It is modern, with a cafe, pool table and many reception rooms.

A top notch cafe that has everything you need.

- The little cafe up at the front was great, a really pleasant surprise.

Lots of grocery stores and restaurants close by.

The area is also seemingly pretty safe and has a lot of food and some bars around it!

There's a large kitchen in the basement for guest to store, and cook their own food.

I did like the area, it was easy to get around by subway, or foot, lots of food markets and food places to eat etc.

A full restaurant scale kitchen, two cinema rooms, a living area, a cafe, a dedicated locker room post check out, nice garden area and YOGA STUDIO!

Good things:
Good connections
Nearby the central park
Plenty of food options around
Great place to hangout
Safe
Metro access
Nice staff
High speed wifi

Drawbacks:
Slow escalators 
AC is old style
Sometimes over crowded

Check-in was easy, the rooms were clean and the food sold at the deli was good and reasonably priced (by NYC standards).

The room itself was clean - the bedding was very thin -

Clean spaces, safe area 2-min walk from subway (1 line, easy access to Times Square), nice amenities and window in room opened for fresh air.

The rooms weren’t cozy at all and the light was very bright.

The rooms are quiet and the bedding is comfortable.

I went to my room, everything was fine, I could rest.

Our top floor room was spacious and included a subtle pop of decor.

I initially booked 3 beds in an all girls room well in advance, and that went fine.

The rooms were good which had lockers for safe keeping.

The rooms are clean, the restrooms are shower areas are spotless, the common areas are nice and cozy and the outside sitting area is great and really pretty after dark with all of the lights strung up.

If you are storing large things, It is a separate small room that the staff has access to.

My room was spacious, was in a 10 bed dorm, and not every night were the beds occupied.

The room was very clean room, with a personal locker.

Each room has separate air con/heater, it was warm and comfortable and you have control of the temperature.

The students stayed in dorm rooms of 10/12 whilst the staff stayed in on-suite rooms with 4 people.

The facility was clean, common areas for reading for visiting, excellent provided bagel egg sandwich, coffee and fruit (deluxe room) daily, one bloc from the #1 Train, common kitchen, yoga studio, luggage storage and 24 hour manned front desk.

but they made a disgusting joke about people out of status, it's not the best joke for to do it in a place full of foreigners.

The three friends who were with me agree, so we are now trauma-bonded thanks to this disgusting, incompetent, undeserving, poor excuse for a hostel. DO.

Also, the damp and dank carpet wasn't cleaned ONCE.

The smell in the corridors and in the hall smelled greasy and stale.

Only thing this time is the room smelled a bit like feet, thought it may have been someone in the room

This is simply ridiculous and it was DISGUSTING to have to pick my stuff up FROM THE TRASH.

When I came back after 2hrs my perfume was gone missing :( the thing is that I just bought it (100$).

First dorm I had to stay in smelled simply horrible - like a million stinky feet.

but I absolutely recommend that everyone avoid this terrible hostel and they're rude nasty disrespectful staff

The breakfast that was included was ok'ish, sometimes the choice was limited or the croissants/doughnuts were a bit stale.

The shower stall in the bathroom had giant clumps of hair at the drain. Disgusting.

The only negative about staying here was that our floor and room had a wet/sweaty cloths smell.

To summarise, stinking and uncomfortable rooms, terrible food, far away from centre of city, impolite staff.

Room had a horrible odor, switched to another room that wasn't much better.

For 60 dollars a night share room with ten people share bath with hundred people, no breakfast, terrible odor, old facility.

Found the washroom pretty disgusting and when i returned in the morning it was still in the same state.

The only part that wasn't great, was the 8-bed room I stayed in, which didn't smell to good, and wasn't very new -

Right near the subway on 103rd st. A bit noisy staying in the rooms at the back of the building as it was nearer the outdoor communal area which had a lot of people smoking and talking late.

It is situated close to the tube 103rd St Station, perfect for our daily sightseeing.

- if you see a tour on the reception noticeboard you like, book early.

I stayed here over the Christmas Holidays, and the Xmas light tour with the volunteer from Brooklyn was amazing, highly recommend going on his tours, as he does a variety of tours throughout the year, he told us!

Staff were friendly  and there were a number of organised events on offer such as walking tours and bar crawls that helped guest to mix and great a good atmosphere for lone travellers.

The Williamsburg nightlife tour was my favorite.

The hostel hosts tours and activities every day and evening and has all of the amenities that one can wish for a hostel (washing machines, storage facilities, computers, a printer etc.).

they put on excellent tours (tho are $10 usually) and there’s breakfast for pay in the lobby.

HI NYC goes two steps up on this with:
- extra activities like free or inexpensive tours most days, a weekly BBQ night with FREE WINE TASTING
- an excellent cafe with products matching outside joints in variety and price, which proved very popular to the point where….

Their tours were a great way to meet fellow guests!

The hostel offers a variety of activities, including tours of New York City, and I hope to take advantage of those on a future visit.

The beds were comfy, towels were included, each bed had a light and plug socket and there was something on everyday that the hostel organised some of these were a tour of the Brooklyn bridge, a visit to the high-line in Chelsea, pub crawl for 21+, a welcome party, music nights and so on.

Do some of the group tours and the welcome parties.

I didn’t take advantage of any of the tours or groups they have as I was only staying one night and I had quite a lot of work to catch up on,

People who work there are great and friendly, the rooms are clean, bathrooms are clean and big, breakfast was included and nice, they offer nice tours and trips (free and paid) and are conveniently located.

They host events every day from walking tours to pub crawls and there is something for everyone.

The hostel staff is very friendly and informative and they offer a variety of activities around town including pub crawls and tours.

My room was an 8 bed dorm shared with 7 other girls something I have experienced on a tour group before arriving in New York for a second time.

What i loved was the "Brooklyn Twilight" free walking tour I took that was organized by the hostel, such a great experience!

but they also had other things that you could get involved in like walking tours of the city etc.

HI New York City Hostel

elevator

smell

restaurant

location

room

Pros : price 
Cons: staff not friendly at all
budget hotel, make sure the ac is working after you arrive.

This is a no-frills reasonably-priced hotel in midtown Manhattan.

but if you are on a budget, this is a great option.

If you're looking for affordable accommodation in New York, please consider POD 51.

I don't need a ton of space and I was traveling alone for one night so I went with the Pod because it was close to my office and affordable.

The hotel was pretty much as advertised -- small rooms/pods at an affordable (by Manhattan standards price).

Overall, Pod 51 hotel is a cool place to stay, particularly because it's economical and convenient.

The hotel is well located, with several places for breakfast with very affordable prices, not to mention the numerous Starbucks stores scattered around the city.

I'm not one to share. But if you need to budget even more,  shared bathrooms are  easily accessible.)

but only have a low budget, I would recommend this hotel to you.

You can find very nice restaurants and cafes nearby, for all budgets, I strongly recommend Paris Baguette and Devocion for excelent coffee and bakery, I loved the sorroundings, two metro stations very close.

For a budget traveler, I'd recommend this.

While this hotel is considered to be a no-frills, budget option, it was EXACTLY what we needed for our stay.

Given that it's in NYC, it's a "budget" hotel.

Excellent location in midtown and very affordable.

The hotel is affordable and very good value for the price.

Pod 51 is a great choice if you need a place to sleep for a night or two on a budget.

I got a bunker room for $150 which is quite a good deal in NYC.

It also helps guests familiriaze themselves with the interesting spots around them

You can walk and see just by walking most of the interesting locations.

Near interesting restaurants, a pharmacy and a restaurant with bagels

The luggage rack didn’t fit where it was placed and the bed was turned on it’s side which led for interesting sleep experiences.

The best aspect of my staying was the free walking tour every morning: very nice New Yorkers brought us around the city, showing us some beautiful areas that we would never find on our own and telling us very interesting information.

but I guess that is a sensible trade-off for a location that is within the city and near to all interesting locations.

It is an interesting place to visit and the view of the top floor is awesome.

The most interesting part of the hotel is it's location,in the heart if NY where the most interesting things are at a walking distance if one is not lazy.

An interesting walking tour was also sponsored by the hotel.

We did not eat anything at the hotel as there were so many interesting restaurants nearby,

They offer every day free walking tours of different areas with a professional guide - we did a very interesting one to SoHo.

You have 2 subway stations around the corner which take you to all interesting sites in Manhattan.

The only 2 concerns I have were the sound of pipes knocking during the night and the hardness of the bed.

We stayed on the 3rd floor, where the room was quite dark and very noisy.

but there is a lot of noise including at night (some hitting the pipes, every night - maybe some construction work within the hotel)

but the noise from the street is near unbearable.

This is not the noise of the city that one expects everywhere,

Absolutely terrible experience — no heat, noisy beyond belief, drafty windows, cigarette smoke from bar traffic below window, very unhelpful hotel manager….the worst hotel experience of my long life.

but beware the cleanliness here, and how much the hotel cares about it, it’s horrendous.

but still, we felt like the room doesn't fit the price 
A lot of noise..No place to make your cap of coffee..

However, if you need comfortable place to stay, be aware this is for a very tiny person who would not care about loud air conditioner inches from the head if the bed. T

but on the other hand it acts as white noise to cover sounds of the city like sirens so flip a coin on it.

Rooms are small and can be noisy at times

The first night was terrible, the AC was too noisy, the room dirty and with an unpleasant smell, the sheets dirty and torn.

I was on the second floor so I was a little concerned about street noise,

Keep in mind possible noisy rooms (Contact Hotel prior to booking).

Room’s ridiculously small  and air conditioner very noisy needs upgrade and the price per night over $200 too much.

There were large groups making noise all night, running through the hallways.

There is no noise or other sources of discomfort.

My sole critique was a bathroom and shower area so tiny, it reminded me of what one might have on a cruise ship, or in the back of an airplane or a bus!

“pod” sums it up - a small room with exactly what you need and not much more, pretty spot on with what we were looking for.

Rooms are quite small, perfect for solo travellers.

The room is very small, almost no space for anything

Room very small, furniture old and bad quality, 1 chair in the room very uncomfortable to site at the desk and work.

but rooms a bit small with showel/toilet crammed in.

We had a bunk bed room and it was a great idea - a good amount of privacy still in a tiny room.

The room is very small, you can't even leave two suitcases, the mattress was worn out, what is nice is the roof terrace, you can sit comfortably and enjoy the view, everything can also be easily reached on foot

Rooms are very small, not like the pictures.

But my room was tiny - a glorified closet.

but that’s not a bad thing
The rooms were small and the bathrooms were communal but everything was clean and accommodating 
Very walkable and there’s subway stations at the end of the street
I enjoyed my stay

The Pod 51 is in a really nice neighbourhood, super central, restaurants and bars in close proximity plus the subway and bus just around the corner.

staff is friendly and love that is close to two subway stations less than 5 min walking and around the corner there’s two other bus stops so is great for tourist people, i would have given five stars

The location is near lots of restaurants and close the subway.

Situated close to the subway it was easy to get to with heavy luggage and then easy to move around the city.

The hotel is situated near 2 subway stations that make it very easy to get where you’re going.

but clean , the guys at the reception must have better information about transportation to JFK air port , the staff at the bar were very nice and helpful , 
The hotel is very close to Subway stations

Situated close to the 6 and E subway trains and bus lines, one can easily travel in all directions effortlessly.

Perfect location
Near Rockefeller Center, Central Park, Bryant Park
Near subway
near Grand Central station
Everything you need is available
Very clean 
Very good service
With a small Café inside (eating, drinking)
Impressively roof deck

Best situation near subway near DuaneReader where you can buy almost everything.

The hotel has a great location near some subway stations, restaurants and it is near some attractions at a walking distance, it has a great view from the rooftop as well.

a nice clean hotel,rooftop and garden terrace,subway is near,good pricing,good location,everyday cleaning service,only 1 subway station away from connection to JFK airport train.Central park is easy to reach

The location was amazing, so central and close to subways taking you into Central Park/Times Square/ downtown.

but quite satisfactory for one  and adequate for two .The location and proximity to the subway make it a perfect location.

Close to subway, easy to get to airport by public transportation.

Close to the subway and also in walking distance of times square

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