Chelsea International Hostel

Chelsea International Hostel is located on 20th Street and very close to 8th Avenue.It is close to most of NYC attractions.There are metro stations on 23rd and 18th streets.

Chelsea is also close to historical Greenwich Village.Not to be surprised and for the ones who go to NYC for the first time Chelsea is a gay district of NYC so do not get surprised by what you will see.The hostel is located right opposite a NYPD police station so it is secure enough I guess.There are students from all over the world.Receptionists are not the most friendly people on earth but they help you with anything.

There are closets in the rooms but no lockers.There is a medium-size yard at the middle of the hostel that you spend time but no common room to watch TV or something like that.They don't check you in at least before 11am so try not to arrive very early in the morning.

Overall, it is a nice hostel and location is good.

Before I get started to write about the hostel - keep in mind, New York is a busy place, don't travel to New York without having booked a place at a hostel. You might end up having troubles to find a cheap place to stay.

But back to the Chelsea International Hostel, it is well located at the 20th street and only a few blocks away from two subway lines.

The hostel has a couple of entrance door and a nice outdoor common area (which is sometimes already closed at 11pm) as well as the common rooms, where you have the internet terminals. You have to ask the receptionist to get in there after 11pm. I couldn't see if there is a common kitchen or a decent sized TV around.

The offer free breakfast, but if you are not at 8 am sharp it's not worth going there. after 5 past 8 the queue is already more then 20 meters long. If you don't need to save 5 USD on the breakfast I would recommend you to go somewhere else.

I had a few nice chats at the outdoor area / terrace the one night I stayed, my brother said, that afterwards the area was closed most of the following days.

What I like:
You share your bathroom with up to 8 persons, but jet again - toilet and shower are in the same room.

What I didn't like:
The wireless lan was only usable during the off-peak times, in the morning and evenings in was unstable and unusable.

PS: The website booking takes a few days to send you a confirmation, so its not good for late bookings.

http://www.chelseahostel.com/

This is the perfect hostel if you only want a cheap place to stay the night. It is located in Chelsea and fairly close to the subway so getting around the city is easy. The place was clean, but not spic and span. The rooms were fairly cramped compared to some hostels I have stayed in. I remember the staff being friendly but not overly so. IIRC there is a courtyard in the middle of the building with some chairs. I stayed here for a few nights with my brother, but it was three years ago and I don’t remember the specific details any longer. We stayed right after New Years, and it is a great time to visit New York City. All the Christmas decorations were still up and it was snowing!