HI - Luxembourg City Hostel

The AJ Luxembourg Youth Hostel provides an exceptional value in the capitol city. The building is secure, with keycards required to enter the building (past the lobby, restaurant, and breakfast room), stairwells, and different floors of the hostel. Two buildings overlook a river valley, medieval arched bridge, and the skyline of the old town. The larger building was recently renovated, and consists of three floors of modern guest rooms, while the smaller, two-story building is older and accommodates larger groups.

With its size, several accommodation options are available, including large dormitory bedrooms, small dormitory bedrooms, and private rooms. It seems that all rooms have their own bathroom facilities. Our private rooms for two had four bunk beds, a table, dresser with space for Master Locks, a shower, toilet, and sink. This room is also rented to parties of four. The hostel, including common areas, is spotless. Accommodations are very quiet at night but the lobby and hallways can be loud during the daytime.

Some rooms have a terrific view of the river valley, while others overlook trees or the large, arched bridge.

The hostel provides an excellent breakfast in a very large, cafeteria-style room with huge windows. Breakfast includes cereal, milk, coffee, several types of juice, rolls, bread, peanut butter, jelly, a nutella-like product, honey, bananas and apples, yogurt, and a mysterious sour cream-like item. The breakfast is well-staffed and items are continually replenished. However, one morning, they ran out of yogurt and juice. A restaurant within the hostel serves lunch and dinner and has a lovely bar and patio overlooking the river valley.

The staff is very helpful -- check-in procedures are smooth, linens are provided, and directions are given in English, German, and French. However, they gave us better directions when we spoke in German, compared to English. The front desk also rents bicycles and has access to a large, underground bicycle storage facility.

Finding the hostel can be slightly difficult, as the city bus stops on the top of the hill (the hostel is located down below in the river valley, via a set of long stairs). Trees partially obscure the roof of the hostel, so it is difficult to see the building immediately upon exiting the bus. Despite this, the hostel is a terrific value, especially considering the full breakfast, proximity to old town (ten-minute walk), restaurant on premises, and high cost of staying in this city!

-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review