Metropol

Metropol, a small hostel in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, is located an up-and-coming neighbourhood full of small cafes and restaurants, bars, and bookstores.

The Location

The hostel is in a very artsy and bohemian area, with people selling books and jewelry in the streets, vintage clothes chops, and record stores. There are no big chain restaurants or shops in the immediate area except a small Subway restaurant. ATMs are nearby but expensive, and there are no nearby banks, but you are close to a pharmacy and delis.

It is very accessible, as the L train stops a couple blocks away and goes directly to Manhattan, just one train stop away. It is also relatively easy to get to JFK by subway as well. A bus passes nearby and cabs are easy to find, but subway is the fastest and easiest way to go around.

Rooms and Bathrooms

This hostel has three guest rooms (no private rooms) -- one four-bed female, one six-bed female, and one six-bed mixed dorm. They can sometimes seem very small when everyone is in them, but are kept very clean, beds are well made and have great, comfy pillows. Towels are provided as well as earplugs if needed. There are even individual overhead lamps if you want to read after everyone had gone to sleep (there are dimming switches in the room). There are lockers in the room, and these are quite spacious. Dressing mirrors and a small table and trash bin are also found there. There is no key for your door to your room, so doors are usually wide open in the daytime.

There is only one bathroom, and it seems always occupied. There is usually a long wait in the mornings. The bathroom itself is well kept, with numbered shelves for your toiletries, tub, and a good flow of hot water. There is no place to hang your towel and no soap holder, but there is a bathroom scale.

Common Spaces

There is a open-plan living/dining room. Breakfast is served in the dining area/kitchen in the mornings. The kitchen is well equipped, but could use a couple more pots. There are also numbered food bins for your groceries. The living room has two couches, and a big TV with cable as well as a desk with computer and printer -- free to use and you can make free Skype calls. There is no luggage storage area, so luggage is kept in the living room in the corner. There is a very small book exchange and some guide maps available.

In the evenings, some guests watch TV, but most seem to be on their own schedule during the day so it is literally deserted during daylight hours. It's a quiet, homelike hostel populated by young traveling people, and sometimes it's maybe too quiet. There's no music during the day, so unless the TV is on, it's silent.

Summary

This hostel is nice. Since it's a converted apartment on the first floor of a small house/building, there is a main door that is sometimes left unlocked to let you up to the hostel. The hostel's door is usually unlocked as well. It's a quiet, homelike place -- a place to come back to for a bit of peace maybe. The female staff are great, but the male staff always seem annoyed, and sometimes unfriendly. But in all, we'd recommend the place -- it is very well rated and a good choice.