West End Studios - New York City, USA 

AVERAGE!!
Posted: Mon, Nov 23 2009
I had read a few reviews about this hostel before i stayed there and was expecting the worse, it was average, i booked a single room but when i arrived they said that they do not do single rooms, (Dorms only) and that this was a mistake made by the agent i had booked through (gtahotels.com) as i had arrived quite late and tried to sort this out the agents were not available so i had to take my chances with sleeping with strangers and as a young woman on her own was quite frightening but in the end everybody was lovely and i had a great time. If you are looking for somewhere to lay your head then this is the place for you.

We liked this place!!
Posted: Sat, Jun 28 2008
Okay, so it isn't the ritz, but what do you expect for the prices you pay! We paid about ?100 for a ten night stay, that was about $200 a time! At first we were a bit like woah, we can't stay here, but then we remembered who cares, we're only sleeping there! The room we'd booked had gone, but we got upgraded anyway! We arrived at like 11pm, that was no problem, and the woman behind the desk (yay heidi!) helped us with pretty much anything we needed. ended up spending a lot more time in the hostel than we thought because it was a cool atmosphere! i'd stay there again! as for the bathrooms, the cleaners were there at least once a day!! they were ALWAYS clean.

Shared Room With Old Homeless Guy. Not Kidding.
Posted: Thu, Jun 12 2008
West End Dosshouse, more like... As we found out, it is apparently also used as emergency accomodation for the city's homeless. We shared a dorm room with a sixty-something homeless guy who kept all his belongings (mostly bric a brac, costume jewellery and toiletry samples) in bags and boxes all over the room, and kept us up playing with his rings with the light on. I was suspicious, as the poor guy was hardly the typical backpacker, and when he was out I noticed some papers on his bed - on closer inspection, they were documents between the City and West End Studios placing him there. Sorry, but this is so not on when you pay for a hostel. Yes, it was cheap, but you do not expect to be in a situation like that, especially if you're a young woman. And yes, as the other reviews say, the place is a complete dump. Apart from the reception area, which is incongruously gorgeous, giving the impression of a classy place. Don't be fooled! It's like camping out in a long since abandoned house. I think the dorms are especially bad, and the bathrooms were pretty uninviting. Water was leaking through the bathroom ceiling. Oh yes, and we got trapped in the lift in the basement at one point too. If you're going to New York, let this be your last resort - book somewhere nice in advance to make sure you won't have to resort to this dosshouse.