HI New York City Review: Prices from $38 per night

I came across the HI New York City when I was searching on Booking.com for accommodation for a weekend away in NYC. The only other time I’d been to NYC was on a school trip and I remember our hotel being hundreds of dollars a night so you can imagine my surprise when this came in at under $50 per night!

I immediately imagined the worse hostel but the photos didn’t look too bad and the location was fab so I booked it. And spoiler alert – it was actually a really nice hostel!

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Good Location

HI New York City is in a really good location! It is located on the Upper West Side, only 3 blocks from Central Park and round the corner from 103st subway station. A great location for exploring the city without being in the chaos.

It’s located in residential area that felt very safe and quiet. It’s well connected to the 1, A, B & C subway lines which can get you anywhere in the city. For context, you can get from the hostel to Times Square in just 20 minutes without changing subway lines. And from JFK in an hour, but this does require 2 changes.

Related reading: 2 nights in NYC Travel Spending Diary

Good Facilities

The hostel has a communal kitchen and laundry facilities which is a good bonus. Plus it has a communal are on the first floor which features a cafe, lounge & games room.

And they have a locker room in the basement where you can store your stuff before or after check in for a $5 fee.

The shower and toilet facilities are separate from the dorm rooms and are a good size. They’re both in cubicle style and a block on each floor. Plus the showers have shower gel dispensers.

Basic Beds

Now I stayed here in November 2022 and the dorm rooms were very basic with no curtains around the bed. But the new pictures on the website suggest they’ve had an upgrade and now have curtains.

They did have two personal plugs and a bed lamp which is a great bonus. Plus the lockers were huge – big enough to fit your suitcase.

Private Rooms

Like most hostels, HI New York City does offer private rooms. You can book out an entire dorm if you are travelling in a bigger group. Or you could book a private double or family room for groups of 2 to 4 people.

These are obviously more expensive than $38 per night but for $170 for up to four people, staying in a private room would work out more affordable than staying in a hotel. Plus the private rooms come with an ensuite so that’s a bonus.

Related reading: Find out how I bagged my flight to NYC for just £145

Free Activities

HI New York City offers a tonne of free activities that guests can get involved in. They run activities such as walking tours, karaoke nights, comedy nights, pub trawls and tours to key tourist hotspots like Central Park and Brooklyn Bridge.

My favourite thing about staying in hostel is getting involved in all the free activities. It’s a great way to see a new city, get local recommendations and meet new friends.

HI is a membership hostel

The one downside to this hostel (or upside if you are planning on staying at more HI hostels around the US) is that it is a membership chain. You can still stay here if you are not a member but you will have to pay a fee per night.

A HI membership is $18 for the year or US residents can buy a lifetime membership for $250. This is only really a good idea if you plan on staying in HI hostels a lot.

Non-members will have to pay a membership fee on check-in, which when I stayed was $4 per night. As I was only staying for 2 nights and had no plans to stay at another HI in the near future, I paid the $8 fee on check-in.

So in theory, if you are planning on spending 5 or more nights in a HI hostel then it’s worth paying for a years membership instead. The lifetime membership is only worth it if you have 63 nights or more planned.

And with a 21 night limit per calendar year, this would have to be spread over three years.

Verdict

Whilst the beds weren’t my favourite (I prefer capsule style hostels) and I had to pay an additional membership fee on arrival, I did enjoy my stay at HI New York City.

The location was great and the facilities were clean and nice. I would 100% stay at this hostel again!

Check out the HI New York City hostel here.