The Hostelz.com Review
Located just fifty meters from the nearest Metro station, Friends Hostel really is easy to find. However, the area it's in isn't the best, so be prepared to be hassled by street vendors selling everything from food to jewelry on your way.
The hostel is quite large, with rooms of different sizes on the ground and first floor. Initially your room may be a little difficult to find, as the halls seem to twist and turn, but you will soon find your way.
This hostel could be so much better than it actually is. The positive aspects include a fairly well-stocked kitchen, a courtyard, internet, and relatively clean bathrooms (mainly en-suites). Unfortunately, the kitchen is only open from 7 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. and the courtyard closes at 10 p.m. (in summer it is still daylight at this time and it would be nice to sit around here with a few drinks and chat). The internet is hideously expensive, but there is an internet cafe down the street that is cheaper.
We had booked a four-bed room and upon check in were informed our room had five beds. Upon entering the room we could see only four beds as the fifth was a fold-out bed in the closet. As the room is quite small, it has to be put back in the closet every day and when folded out, it literally blocks off the path to the door and the bathroom for three of the other beds. There is no other place to put it. This fold-out bed trick isn't an emergency feature used only when the hostel is accidentally overbooked, but a commonly used solution, so be warned. Additionally, the bunk beds in the room are similar to hammocks with very sagging springs, which don't make for a comfortable night's sleep. If none of this bothers you, or if location is your prime consideration, then Friends Hostel is for you.
The hostel is quite large, with rooms of different sizes on the ground and first floor. Initially your room may be a little difficult to find, as the halls seem to twist and turn, but you will soon find your way.
This hostel could be so much better than it actually is. The positive aspects include a fairly well-stocked kitchen, a courtyard, internet, and relatively clean bathrooms (mainly en-suites). Unfortunately, the kitchen is only open from 7 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. and the courtyard closes at 10 p.m. (in summer it is still daylight at this time and it would be nice to sit around here with a few drinks and chat). The internet is hideously expensive, but there is an internet cafe down the street that is cheaper.
We had booked a four-bed room and upon check in were informed our room had five beds. Upon entering the room we could see only four beds as the fifth was a fold-out bed in the closet. As the room is quite small, it has to be put back in the closet every day and when folded out, it literally blocks off the path to the door and the bathroom for three of the other beds. There is no other place to put it. This fold-out bed trick isn't an emergency feature used only when the hostel is accidentally overbooked, but a commonly used solution, so be warned. Additionally, the bunk beds in the room are similar to hammocks with very sagging springs, which don't make for a comfortable night's sleep. If none of this bothers you, or if location is your prime consideration, then Friends Hostel is for you.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
July 2006
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Friends Hostel Details
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Friends Hostel Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Avoid this place!! I really don't know how someone can rate this more than 1 star! We booked well in advance (3 weeks) for 5 days at this place, but had to shift rooms (we were allocated room with more people than what we booked for) and we resisted shifting again which was a bit of argument and there were also others who had the same issue! The owner treats the staff like slaves!! You can't have any discussion with this person. Not sure how it got the license!! There were rats in the kitchen area! A trip ruiner!! Avoid or experience what the majority has described here!!! — Anonymous , Netherlands (2011-06-07) Rudest, most hostile, most confrontational staff that money can buy I had to stay in this hostel for weeks while looking for a permanent apartment in Paris. If you approach the welcome desk for any reason other than payment of your booking fees, they respond very rudely by saying, no, they can't help you in any way. And if, like me, you're a little incredulous when staff refuse to even pretend to give a hell about paying guests, they become outright confrontational. On the day of my check-in, my flight was delayed and I arrived two hours late. The man at the front desk had given my bed away, and refused to put me in a room, even though I had already paid part of the booking fee online. When I explained that I was stuck at the airport due to a delayed layover, he actually said, "it's not my problem" and it took 5 minutes of heated arguing before I was finally able to convince him to look for a free bed for me, which he was easily able to do. Towards the end of my stay, the cleaning staff (who are actually quite pleasant) put my laptop into one of my suitcases without telling me. Worried, I went to the front desk to ask if they any laptops had been entrusted to them, and a different man at the front desk very testily threw up his hands and berated me for daring to ask him for help. Oh, and the lady who owns the place has some weird OCD need to scramble the sleeping arrangements every single morning, and guests who stay more than a few days will be forced to switch rooms multiple times. Every single one of the bathrooms in this hostel is the size of a 3-by-3 box so you can barely even stand to brush your teeth, and not one has a hanger for you to keep your towels or clothes from dangling on the wet floor. The hostel website says that the internet is free, but it's actually only free between 9am and 6pm, when most guests are out enjoying Paris. If you need to go online during your evening downtime to plan your course of action, you will need to pay a hefty wi-fi fee. — Anonymous , American (2011-03-06) Best choice! Good service in a clean hostel, with nice interior and all facilities needed! And very friendly and helpful staff, especially the night host, very funny. We recommend it! — Reine & Maria , Sweden (2010-06-27) Challenging Accomodation in Paris Yes, if you want to taste REAL Paris, stay here. It will show you both sides of a coin. — Dahal (2010-05-12) Total Crap... but not as bad as everyone in saying:) This place is a wee bit sketchy...My friend and I met up in Paris for the week recently (we're both girls) and the genius decided that Friend's Hostel was a good idea. We checked in at about 7:30pm and as soon as we got off the train we were verbally harassed and grabbed at by several men( BIG RED FLAG)... 7:30 seems a little bit early for that kind of thing to be going on! We then were greeted by the quasi-friendly fellow at the front desk. we ended up getting a room with 6 people. It was pretty cramped but not terrible. The worst part was when I came back later that evening some German chick had taken all my crap off my bed and replaced it with hers. So I was banished to the mattress on the floor. Not a HUGE deal but still mildly inconvenient. I was awoken the next morning by one of our roommates clearing his nose in the showers... wore my shoes after that. And the guy that cleans the rooms makes a habit of leaving his telephone number under your pillow, so watch out... I gotta give 'em credit though, the hostel is in a great location, right in front of the train station, close to sacre coeur, moulin rouge, chat noir. But if you don't like being propositioned incessently, this place isn't for you. — LAUREL! , USA (2009-11-02) Not too bad, don't forget it's just around 10 bucks per night I was sharing a room with four to six people, bed is ok. a regular double decker, never sleep well but at least it's clean. Super tiny bathroom, not comfortable at all, anyway it gave me a hot water shower, so it's ok too. Pretty noisy because of the thin wall so don't expect you can get sleep before twelve. Definitely scary neighborhood, a crowd of hawker stays around the metro station day and night. Guys out there on your way selling ticket, cigarette, piss around, such a messy place. Night club round the street heads to moulin rouge. Not recommended for the people just want to enjoy a safe and romantic Paris holiday. Anyway I stayed there for a week alone and I was safe, lost nothing. The host is so far friendly in honest business and likely to help. It's alright for the backpacker looking for a cheap sleeping place and don't mind a bit adventure. — Austin , Hong Kong (2009-09-09) Worst Hostel ever! The neighbourhood is very dangerous. We booked a mixed room for sixteen and we were outside the hostel in some garage. It was so cold, the heater was not working, there were no windows. There were triple beds, with no space. Someone stole a girl's laptop from the luggage room. Everybody can take everything he likes from this room. The bookings are a mess, you are supposed to change room every day! The staff was friendly, but few of them doesnt know any English. I dont recommend this hostel. I will never go back! — Atina , Bulgaria (2009-04-02) Great, authentic, and stylish This hostel is just so great. You can meet a lot of people from everywhere there. The shower is en-suite. The beds are alright. It's just in front of the metro station, although it's not noisy. The staff is very nice and friendly, they don't mess around if you drink a bit too much. Nice neighborhood, you can buy cigarettes for less than in the tobacco shops in the street. The common room is glamour and the courtyard is gorgeous. I hope to get back there. — Daniel , Belgian (2008-10-21) Only giving it a one because there's no zero rating! Can't describe how awful this place is. Creepy, leering, rude staff. Horrible surroundings. Dangerous area. They also lost our booking. We were staying for three nights, and on our second morning at 9:30 a.m. the man from reception walked into our room without knocking and announced that we had to be out of the room in ten minutes to move to another one. We told him no, and that we'd pack our things and move in our own time -- I was just out of the shower and standing there in a towel at the time! Disgusting, dirty place. You have to hand in your key at reception when you go out, and when you come back in and ask for it they just hand it over without looking for I.D. -- they could give it to anyone! Just do yourself a favour and don't even consider this place. — Aileen , Ireland (2008-02-19) The hostel itself was all right, nothing spectacular, but the neighborhood was terrible. — Allise, US (2007-03-08) I felt like killing my friend who decided to book me at this awful place! I was horrified the minute I walked into the overcrowded and dangerous neighborhood. Keep in mind, that I was a young single woman traveling alone. I wouldn't recommend anyone stay here, especially women. Trust me. I was molested, harassed, and threatened by the locals every time i left the hostel, whether i was alone or not. The hostel was awful too! My door didn't lock and the ceiling caved in on my bed my second night staying there. I also seen mice. I was constantly hit on by the creepy aggressive bar man who worked there -- he even entered my room one night. Thank God, they're men in the room to chase him out. Naturally i wanted out of this place a lot sooner than my scheduled departure time. Despite these very serious and legitimate complaints, the workers were still rude with me and refused to give me a refund. they didn't even so much as apologize! After so much time i just couldn't take it anymore and left early. It was so bad that i didn't even care about losing the money. I just felt fortunate that i got out of there without anything serious happening to me. The only bright side was that i met some great fellow travelers there and I am still in touch with some of them. Hopefully things changed since i stayed there because this place was not only the worst hostel i ever stayed in, but it was downright dangerous. 100% true. — Elle (2007-01-31) This place is the crappiest I've ever been.The staff is so rude, and really mean!
Guys don't blow your money with this kind of whore house -- it really sucks, good thing I'm back home Spain. I gotta say that the hostel is pretty close to places like the Red Light district "Moulin Rouge" and the Sacre Cour, though, but besides that it's not worth! Seriously browse for something better than this. there are better places for sure! — Pedro José (2007-01-21) The place is clean but smelly. I rented a four-bed room. The room is a bit cramp. There's no table or cupboard or anything for u to hang your clothes. And it is in a neighbourhood with a lot of weird looking characters around. I've seen police patrol the area quite a few times so presumably this is not a safe area.
I've read from the other reviews that there's been quite a number of mess up booking and so am mentally prepared for it. Luckily there's no problem with my booking. There's two other group of people that's not so lucky. I heard one group complain on the first day and another group on the second day about mess up booking and wrong rooms. And the hostel has a policy of no refund. So beware! — Long (2006-10-30) This place was alright. There were trannies in the room, very disgusting but provided for some good belly laughs. I was offended by the bellhop because he was not a bellhop but a criminal that made off with my luggage. During the night i was molested by a humpbacked kid named rafiki but besides that it was nice and the food was delicious -- fit for kings. — Napoleon (2006-10-05) This is a warning. do not book this "hostel." it is far far away from the nice pictures you see on this page. it is in fact in the worst ghetto i've ever seen! I've stayed only one night from the nights that where booked, booked a three-bed room where was four beds in but no cupboard. Very unfriendly and non-cooperative in any cases. Spend more money for a two-star hotel and save your health. This is no joke. They give no refunds in any cases. — Kane (2006-08-27)