Boulder International Hostel

Haunted
I stayed at the Thirteenth street location and I tell you this place is haunted. The door to the bathroom continuously opened and closed on its own, several times I heard footsteps in the room although I was there alone, there was an overall depressing feeling and I felt watched pretty much all the time I was in there. I stayed there for four weeks, in town for a training session, and eventually met a few of the "long-term" residents, who said the person who stayed in the room before me was a drug-addicted, suicidal schizophrenic who disappeared a few months before I stayed there, and that the room hadn't been rented out again until my arrival.

Find another place to stay
Stayed half night in June 2007. Staff not very helpful. We were not able to get useful directions from the desk staff and found the place by accident. Warning -- the locals also think of College ave. as 12th street. We found shower stalls so mildewed that we did not shower and a private room so smelly that we left at 4 in the morning. We were not able to sleep due to the smell. When I realized that I would be leaving early before the desk open I got my key deposit back that evening (thanks to a hint from someone on this site). I was aggressively flirted with by a guest walking around in the commons area with only a small towel around his waist. His excuse was that he was doing his laundry. I met him again later in the hallway by the ladies showers, didn't feel safe to go in.

Ok hostel
There are a lot of fraternity houses nearby, so I guess the hostel is located in student area which is good, I guess. There is street parking and also parking at the back of the hostel (ask for permit). The hostel is clean and I found the staff to be friendly and helpful. Pearl street (mini promenade) is located ten to fifteen minutes' walking distance. The bed wasn't that comfortable but that happens. You have to pay extra for the linen but I used my sleeping bag which was fine by the guy in the reception. The laundry room, kitchen, and restrooms were clean. The only annoying thing is that many places have this timer for the light.

Boulder is a fun and safe place. A much better way to explore the Denver area than any of the Denver hostels. I stayed in a private room for $40. The dorms are $20 and crowded, with an all-day lockout. This place deserves three stars for safety, location, and value. My room is bare and cell-like with a bed and desk. The staff are friendly and there's a door code for the front door if you want to check out the local bars. I recommend a place called the Sink, which is right down the street. If you're looking to relocate to Boulder, I was told that they offer weekly rates on the private rooms at several locations.

I stayed in a private room. It was cheap, clean, and quiet. I had no problems! The bathrooms were clean enough, but the price was great. The front staff is very nice, and very helpful. I would highly recommend this place for a cheap and clean place to stay!

I stayed here in September for a night. It was a nice place to stay. There was a friendly person at the desk and even free snacks in the morning. The bathroom was a little strange but the shower and stalls were fine. The room had two beds and a desk. It wasn't noisy when we stayed and i didn't feel unsafe at all. I would stay here again if i needed too.

This hostel was pretty good. I stayed in a private room, which was fine for the money I paid. Don't expect a posh hotel experience and you won't be disappointed. It was pretty noisy at night. It is located in the college district, so there are lots of partying young people staying up late, coming in drunk. There was also this weird noise coming from the pipes all night. It sounded like someone was hammering on the pipes. This happened all night long, on both nights. Bring some earplugs, but otherwise, it was fine.

The staff was very nice. There was plenty of hot water in the shower. The bathrooms were clean and newly painted.

I stayed here back in January. Fortunately, I rented a private room and didn't have to deal with any weirdoes directly. On the plus side they let me check in at 9 a.m. I had arrived in Denver very early on Amtrak and was exhausted. The girl at the front desk was friendly and the room, though void of a TV or anything other than a bed or dresser, was ok for $35. The kitchen was awful; the sink was full of dishes, The oven didn't work, and there were plenty of knives but no spoons or forks and an old disgusting sponge on top of the dish pile. The bathrooms were fairly clean, but the water pressure in the shower was nonexistent. There seemed to be a lot of people with mental health issues staying in the dorms, even though they have a sign posted that there is a 3-day limit and no Colorado residents. Sadly, this place is your best option if in the Denver area. Both established Denver hostels are really flophouses in dangerous neighborhoods. The Boulder hostel is at least in a nice area, close to the express bus to Denver and near the University and the good bars and coffeehouses.

PLEASE SAVE HOSTELING. Hostels are all turning into expensive flophouses for psychiatric patients, alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, and becoming shooting galleries (meaning a place for people using needles for drug usage). And they are an expensive place for the homeless to live. First, the location is great! Denver is fun, and Boulder is beautiful and doesn't really have a bad side of town, UNTIL... I found the Boulder International Hostel to be riddled with psychiatric patients. Also living there are drug addicts (needle users), prostitutes and alcoholics. Seemingly, there is daily fighting amongst the tenants, and of course feces smeared on the walls of the tenants' rooms. And we won't talk about the odor there, and overall uncleanness of the place and the tenants, except the smell was bad. The most disturbing part was the under age drinking and other illicit drugs that were being bought and sold. Middle of the night drunks kicking down doors. As well as meth, whatever that is, being sold. And do not post your place of business as a hostel when you are going to fill it up with criminals. It a family thing, traveling that is. There must be hostel guidelines. If there aren't they should start some. It is unfair to travelers looking up hostels who are not looking for drug-infested whorehouses. If you are going to rent to the drug addicts and alcoholics, list as such. Hosteling used to be a place for budget travel, a place for young adults, traveling for educational purposes, to go and meet people all over the world. College students, learning about the world, and yes, I think that is so important, because if we never travel, we become ignorant. It saddens me to see that the Denver Hostel and the Boulder Hostel have changed the new meaning of hosteling. Both hostels are owned by the same family. I believe I heard the owners were brothers. What is even more sad is that travelers cannot safely stay at these two hostels. That is how it is now. Boulder has a million-dollar-plus facility, which is cleaner and much nicer than the hostel, for local residence. And they won't charge you $150 a week or whatever price they are charging for rooms at the hostel, which seems to change from person to person. The reason I took time to post this: I hope the owners will clean up their act up and not just fill the rooms up with anything. I wonder if the owners ever thought that if they quit renting to NON-TRAVELERS, maybe the travelers would start coming back because they have a good reputation. Just a thought. HAPPY HOSTELING.

I stayed for four nights during the summer and enjoyed my stay. Location: The location is ideal, a fairly short walking distance to the University of Colorado, Boulder, to "The Hill" (area near the university with cafes), "Pearl Street Mall" (area with the restaurants, boutiques, etc.), the public library that has free Internet, the creek, and hiking areas. Perfect! There really is good vegetarian food and the university campus is gorgeous (I also found free Internet on campus). My complaint is that, yes, there are lots of frat houses and other big student rental houses. One night was pretty noisy, as there was a loud party right across the street. I closed the bedroom window and slept okay. There is off-street parking behind the hostel if you're lucky (which, in June, I always was), but if they're really crowded you'll need to know how to parallel park on the street or be willing to walk awhile from your car to the hostel. Rooms: I had a private room (with which, by the way, you get sheets included in the cost and don't have any special hours or curfews — you can stay in it all day if you wanted to). There were two beds even though there was only one of me. My only complaint is that in winter you might want more than the one blanket they give you. There were two dressers, a closet, nightstands, chairs, and a desk. The lighting was a little poor. Facilities (bathroom and kitchen): The bathroom does leave something to be desired. The showers could be renovated, although I found them useable. They provided little free samples of soap, lotion and shampoo. The kitchen had a stove, microwave, two fridges, a big table, and lots of dishes/pans/silverware. It was a little annoying, though, in that the kitchen was way at the end of a long winding hallway through the men's section of the floor (I'm a woman). On the first floor there is a lobby with lots of sofas and a television with basic cable, as well as fast computer Internet (something like 20 minutes for $1). Staff: The staff were very kind and helpful. No complaints there! Generally I enjoyed it and would not hesitate to stay there again if I ever went to Boulder. I probably won't, however, as I couldn't deal with being surrounded by $1,000,000 houses (I'm not exaggerating at all!) One good touristy thing to do is visit the Celestial Seasonings tea factory, which is fascinating and you get all the free tea you want, but the cafeteria there is really lame.

A good location — about 10 minutes from downtown. But unfortunately the surrounding frat houses made noisy nights inevitable. Kind of a rip-off, considering there's an extra charge for sheets and a pillow, the bed was the most uncomfortable that I've ever slept on, the shower looked so disgusting that I went without (and so did the other girl in my room), and you're not even allowed in your room between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.!

I thought this was great value at 38 dollars a night and a brilliant location for Boulder's natural attractions and its nightlife. The woman who checked us in was friendly and helpful.

I liked this hostel very much for the price. A private room was only $14/night with two beds. Another mom and I stayed in one room with two babies and were quite comfortable. It was clean, staff were friendly, and I met lots of neat guests. There is limited free parking, so try to get there in the afternoon and get a pass. It is in the fraternity/college area, so it can get loud on weekend nights. But we didn't mind. There's so much to do in Boulder area, that you'll probably be so tired, you won't notice the noise! I doubt there's anywhere else to stay with a comparative price in Boulder! The extras were few, but enough. The bathrooms and kitchen were very clean. The rooms were nearly empty and pretty old (only beds, desk, closet), but they were clean, and the linens were plentiful and clean. It has a large communal area downstairs with (fee) computer, television, couches, and newspapers; very nice. I would recommend booking a room over the phone, because it's a busy town, and the rooms can fill up fast and unexpectedly. Overall, it wasn't spectacular, but well worth the small amount of money!

When I stayed here they had a policy of a three-night maximum stay in the dorm room (which costs $20-23 per night). The dorm beds had little back support, but they were clean, as was the bathroom/shower. If you want to stay longer you need to take a private room ($32). The place didn't have much of a communal feeling. Also, the hostel (the big white house — there's another building owned by the hostel elsewhere in Boulder) is located in the middle of bars and fraternities, which makes for very noisy weekend nights. You can probably find better accommodations elsewhere. The nightly cost is a bit much for a traveler, for what they offer.