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International UTE Hostel

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

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Address
21 Kelsey Avenue, Salt Lake City   Map
Price
$20/night for dorm; $30 - $35/night for private room Check Current Prices by Date Here
Location/Contact
Details
Their Description

Features

  • Free Breakfast
  • Kitchen
  • Lockers
  • Lounge / Common space
  • Travel information provided
  • BBQ
 
The Hostelz.com Review
A tiny little hostel located about a mile south of the temple (in the center of downtown). It's located in a mostly residential area close to the ballpark and several blocks from a light rail stop for easy access to downtown and other parts of the city.

It has two small TV/sitting areas with cable TV. There's a full kitchen (but with no oven) and a small dining table. There are just three dorm rooms and two private rooms, with up to four people in each dorm room. The bunks are sturdy wooden bunkbeds. There are nice bathroom facilities and a nice hot shower with a shower head that gives you plenty of water.

The place is sort of nice and homey in some ways, but also a little run down. It's easy to see that some people would be turned off by the old carpet, water stains on the ceiling, etc.

Depending on your luck and the time of year, there may be other young backpackers and some international travelers around. But unfortunately the place also accommodates long term guests, many of them older people who aren't exactly the young backpackers you would expect to see in a hostel. So that tends to give the place a bit of a odd vibe.

The owner and staff are kind and very welcoming, and that goes a long way towards making up for the hostel's shortcomings. Overall, if you can look past the rough spots, International UTE Hostel is a comfortable place to stay for a night or two.

-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review


Your Comments
This is an open forum, and unlike other hostel guide websites, we don't censor out the negative comments.
We do not validate the legitimacy of comments posted on this site—so take what you read here with a grain of salt.
Comment by Jackie, U.S.
December 2007
Very good.
Patty picked me up and returned me to the airport. She went out of her way to make me feel comfortable and had the patience of a saint, despite getting a parking ticket at the airport. I would stay there again. Downtown and a good veggie restaurant are both within walking distance (about a forty-five-minute walk to the center of SLC).
Comment by robbie, us
November 2007
Do not stay here -- robbed!
Do not stay here! i was robbed in my sleep! i was one of maybe three people there who wasn't homeless. the description needs to be changed from cozy to depressing and from hostel to homeless shelter. it completely brought down my mood for the rest of my trip. i would've grabbed a choice item from my trunk and gotten my money back but instead i just bolted away from this miserable hole as soon as the sun rose, going non-stop to bend, oregon. i read in a review book that it was in a working class section of town but the herds of tweakers i saw wandering the streets the next morning suggest that there's little working going on and no class whatsoever.
Comment by Josh, USA
April 2007
I thought that since this place is ok, it deserves a current review. It is under new ownership. Patty, the current owner, is an old hippie and very friendly. The place could use a cleaning and a case of febreeze. Again, I opted for a private room and was charged only $30 vs $20 for a cluttered dorm. They have two lounges, one larger with digital cable. The block and area are very safe -- walking distance to the light rail and shopping. This hostel has always attracted long-termers and they're still there. The back door is left open twenty-four/seven, which can be a good or bad thing. The fridge and kitchen are both tiny. There's no set checkout, which really helps if you're catching the train or bus out of town.
Comment by Anonymous
May 2006
This place is a hole. The photos actually make it look quite nice but currently, it looks nothing like that. When I was there the place stank of BO, the floor probably hadn't been hoovered in about a year and it was full of weirdos -- including long term residents. I decided to stay one night, and only because I had nowhere else to go.
Comment by Susan Worrell
April 2006
I was a female travelling alone in winter and walking everywhere, often at night and I felt it was quite a safe area. The hostel has been taken over by new management and the manager (Patty) was super friendly and very helpful, especially when it came to advice on logistics for skiing in the area without a car (quite difficult/expensive, unless you ski Alta/Snowbird all the time). This hostel is a really cheap option for a skier/traveller and I was almost not going to stay there and I'm glad I did.
Comment by Anonymous
September 2005
I have serious doubts about the reviews at this site now that I have stayed at this hostel. It was very dirty, in a bad part of town, and was populated by strange guys. I was only there a few minutes before being hit up for a ride to the liquor store. It felt a bit like a half-way house (or maybe a quarter-way house).
Comment by Lisa Bradway
August 2005
This was a great hostel. I spent the night in Salt Lake City because I missed my standby flight and I called this hostel at 9 p.m. They had plenty of beds left. It was in a nice, quiet, safe location. Patty was very helpful and offered me a ride back to the airport in the morning.
Comment by David
June 2005
Great hoste: very clean and cozy with fantastic staff in a convenient location.
Comment by Anonymous
May 2005
Very small, and also some very strange people there. It is a ways out of town, although there is a great train system. The kitchen was always dirty, too.
Comment by Bill
February 2005
Cool hostel. It has a super friendly staff who go out of their way to help and a great, relaxed atmosphere. It's very clean, probably the cleanest hostel I have ever stayed in. It's very easy to get to the ski fields and I'd definitely go back.
Comment by Glen
January 2005
What... no hot tub?? The only bad thing I've got to say is that the literature claims there's a hot tub, but one is not to be found. Despite the mysterously missing tub, the Ute hostel is a great place, with a friendly staff, a resident cat to keep you company, clean and well kempt facilities, and within a few minutes walk to to the trax. The beds have changed since the pics were taken, replaced by metal bunks. All in all, a great place to stay. I would definitely recommend it when you are in Salt Lake!
Comment by Anonymous
January 2005
Fabulous place! The place is actually a house, so it's small and you feel right at home! The staff also make you feel very welcome and may even invite you out for a drink. It's a very friendly place, clean, quiet and very safe.
Comment by Jeff and Mark both ski on a budget
December 2004
A very home-like hostel. It's close to the light rail to take to the bus to get to the Alta ski resort. It's also close to downtown. Salt Lake City has great public transportation, but it's limited on Sundays. I strongly recommend getting familiar with the bus/TRAX system (http://www.rideuta.com/), if you are going without a car. It will get you from the airport to the slopes, and everything in between. The manager is extremely helpful and kind. There is no hot tub. A convenience store and a Wal-Mart Supercenter are both close. Also, there are cheap restaurants nearby. This is the best hostel I've ever stayed in.
Comment by Jigger
November 2004
We had a nice stay in this warm and friendly place. The kitchen is kind of small, but it's a cozy place to eat and visit with fellow travelers. This place is the cat's meow.
Comment by Howard Lee
October 2004
It's your average run of the mill hostel with everything that you would expect from such a place. It's smaller than most other ones I've stayed at but still a good place to spend a few nights. I like the advantage of two TV rooms, along with a fairly good selection of VHS tapes to watch.
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