Deco Walk Hostel

Mediocre hostel
The location definitely great. This is the only hostel located right on Ocean Drive, which is beach side. The lobby and the room i stayed at (room 1) had a ocean view from the window, which was beautiful! The entire hostel was one of the cleanest, most modern hostels ive stayed at, and ive stayed at close to twenty around the nation. Free internet on two computers were very handy. Well stocked bar and great entertainment system. Free use of beach towels was a plus. Each room had a small flat screen TV and a small fridge to keep personal drinks and food in. As well as a personal bathroom. The room I stayed at had that great view, but what they failed to mention is the noise of Ocean Drive during the night time. Ocean Drive is a drag strip filled with overpriced, loud, spanish tourist venues, which are great, but are an annoyance at 3 a.m. when trying to sleep. Their free breakfast consist of Coffee, Milk, and two pieces of toast. Thats it. Could use much improvement with the cost of this hostel being one of the highest in the area. No group outings or daytime events. let me repeat, no group outings. Glances at the chalk board located in the kitchen indicates there was once a caring atmosphere where the staff actually did things at night, but it looked like it was not updated in months. Which made this a very boring hostel since clubs in Miami are so hard to get into in smaller groups. The kitchen was small, only enough for two people to cook. No oven and very little kitchen utensils. And the pots, pans, four dishes, two cups, four forks, four plastic spoons that were there seems to be bought from a yard sale since they were so beaten up. Lot of stuff missing from their listed amenities -- no bike rental, no game room, no hot tub, no book exchange. The staff really need to have a lesson on etiquette when dealing with people staying at the hostel. Three times during my stay I observed rude behaviors by different staff members, including an argument in the hallway by the manager. As well, the staff need to be more familiar with their surroundings. I had asked where the closest market is and was directed close to ten blocks away, where a small adequate market was only around the corner. Larger Whole Foods, which wasnt mention, was down 10th st as well. The staff are also beyond strict about their check-in and check-out policy, where i observed people coming in at 2:45, and even though the rooms were ready, were not checked in until 3 exactly. Same with checkout, a girl in my room was finishing packing and at 11:01 a staff member came in and rudely questioned the girl why she wasnt ready to leave. The rooftop area, which is maintained by the staff, was not kept up all week. Old beer bottles and trash cluttered the area. As well the so called jacuzzi and pool table was kept closed my entire week stay. Overall, nice, but not comfortable, boring, needs new more upbeat staff, ones without the typical "im better than you" miami attitude. This hostel has a lot of catching up to do. There are too many other better hostels in the nearby area that have more charm and appeal. Skip this below-average one.