The Hostelz.com Review
The Hilltop Hostel is loacated in the Takoma quarter in the nothern part of Washington close to Spring Hill. But the infrastructure is perfect because the metro station is just fifty meters away -- you can get downtown via the Red Line Metro in just thirteen minutes. The metro operates from 5 a.m. until 3 a.m. so you can even have fun downtown and get back to the hostel very late. There is also a bus station in front of the hostel where you can take many local buses.
The hostel itself is located on a little hill twenty meters away from the street, which is not very frequented. It is very calm in every part of the hostel. You don't hear any metro or traffic noise from the street.
The hostel itself has two floors. On the ground floor, you'll find the registration room, a TV room, a "chill zone," the dining room with a computer with free internet access for everyone, and a small kitchen with free use of the refrigerator, cooking plates, and all the dishes. You just have to clean up after yourself.
There are also plenty of maps of Washington, D.C. and a lot of menu cards of restaurants in the vicinity of the hostel.
On the first floor you'll find the dormitories. Each of the six has six beds. There is also a cupboard in each one you can use. The basement of this marvelous building is a kind of fun room. You'll find there a pool table in good condition, a foosball table, two flipper machines, among other things. Everything is for free, so if you don't want to go out you also could have a nice time there.
On each floor (there is a second floor reachable via the fire escape) you have a bathroom with a shower in it. Altogether you have three bathrooms with working warm and cold water. Overall every room is in good condition. You have wireless LAN all over the hostel and it is very, very clean. Even the bathrooms are cleaned every day. And when it is snowing, the stairs down to the street are already cleared early in the morning.
One man hosts you from 9 a.m. to midnight and is very friendly. When you arrive you'll get introduced to every rule of this hostel. You'll get the number code for the main door and the bed sheets which are also for free and then you're on your own.
You'll meet a lot of people from all over the world and will have a lot of fun during your stay in Washington, D.C.
The hostel itself is located on a little hill twenty meters away from the street, which is not very frequented. It is very calm in every part of the hostel. You don't hear any metro or traffic noise from the street.
The hostel itself has two floors. On the ground floor, you'll find the registration room, a TV room, a "chill zone," the dining room with a computer with free internet access for everyone, and a small kitchen with free use of the refrigerator, cooking plates, and all the dishes. You just have to clean up after yourself.
There are also plenty of maps of Washington, D.C. and a lot of menu cards of restaurants in the vicinity of the hostel.
On the first floor you'll find the dormitories. Each of the six has six beds. There is also a cupboard in each one you can use. The basement of this marvelous building is a kind of fun room. You'll find there a pool table in good condition, a foosball table, two flipper machines, among other things. Everything is for free, so if you don't want to go out you also could have a nice time there.
On each floor (there is a second floor reachable via the fire escape) you have a bathroom with a shower in it. Altogether you have three bathrooms with working warm and cold water. Overall every room is in good condition. You have wireless LAN all over the hostel and it is very, very clean. Even the bathrooms are cleaned every day. And when it is snowing, the stairs down to the street are already cleared early in the morning.
One man hosts you from 9 a.m. to midnight and is very friendly. When you arrive you'll get introduced to every rule of this hostel. You'll get the number code for the main door and the bed sheets which are also for free and then you're on your own.
You'll meet a lot of people from all over the world and will have a lot of fun during your stay in Washington, D.C.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
April 2006
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Hilltop Hostel Details
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Hilltop Hostel Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
A Very Old, Dirty Place Every room in this facility was stinking of tobacco. Pillows were dirty with stains. [Had to get creative and use my pants and a towel as pillow.] Rooms were filthy with no air condition. Mattresses were old, disfigured, and some even had tapes on them. Dead roaches in living room, probably because people are allowed to eat anywhere. Booked for a week, but didn't stay longer than one night. Owner (or owner's wife) is very unprofessional and disgusting. Definitely would never stay there again, or recommend that anyone stay at this place. The only good thing about this place is the location -- right across from the train station (Red Line), but everything else is terrible. Did I mention security -- There isn't any security to this place. Anyone can walk off the street and directly into your room. Windows are left open and rear doors are always unlocked. — John , USA (2010-10-27) Needs work This place has gone downhill since I stayed here three years ago. The same people are running it, and they are visibly tired of it, and I don't think they've repaired anything in that time. The building is deteriorating and the heat is kept on to balance the drafts from the leaky single-pane windows, so on cold days there's a draft of like 30 degrees between the radiator and the window. Smoking is allowed in the public areas, which thanks to the drafts means that there's smoke in the bedrooms. Other people have commented on the lack of security, but let me add that there is no bike rack, and the back yard gate is only openable from the outside. That's right, if you put your bike in the backyard, you can't get it out, but anybody can get in. That said, it's still a great location and a great price, and the guests are very nice and interesting. But I found myself envying the people who were staying at another hostel downtown, which was not the case five years ago. All this place needs is a little love and it could be great again. — Ben , USA (2009-03-08) Very, very good The Victorian House is very impressive! Clean rooms, very kind staff, free barbecue, good facilities, very nice people. I would really recommend this hostel. — Raffaella , Italy (2008-09-09) Fun and Quirky Crowd I have to admit I had a good time the four nights I stayed here. A Halloween Party, Friendly staff and owners, a great group of visitors. I loved the area the hostel is located in, quick Metro ride to everything and I always felt completely safe. My only problems -- the smoking and the bathrooms. First I didn't realize that You could smoke and as someone who doesn't I really hated the smell it left on everything. The Bathrooms are very clean but for a place that sleeps forty -- three toilets and two showers made for very long waits and uncomfortable first thing in the morning! I will recommended it to some of my friends but maybe not to others. — KarenP , USA (2007-10-31) Party all night long This place is fantastic! Although not exactly being the cleanest place I've stayed in I would recommend this place for all who are traveling on their own and want to meet a bunch of great people and have a good party. I stayed on Labor Day and was -- first thing -- invited to a BBQ in the hostel's garden, which is really nice. All of Washington's attractions are about a fifteen-minute train ride away, but the train station is just outside the hostel. By the way, the liquor store -- which you will surely have to visit when staying -- is just as close. — Claire , Germany (2007-09-17) Let me be honest about this hostel -- it rocks! If you're looking for a five-star hotel, with white gloves, room service, and VIPs everywhere, dont you dare go to Hilltop and wreck it for us all! This place is awesome, there is free internet for those of us who don't have a laptop, and for the lucky ones, free wifi. It's clean, warm, and friendly. The only con would be the lack of lockers in the room, but eh, if you truly are a backpacker, you wouldn't even think about traveling without one, would you now? Special thanks to the staff. fair enough, the owner is a drunk, but it's really the other guys who run this hostel, and make it so awesome! Don't change a thing! — Jay (2007-03-20) I chant along with others -- this places rocks! but with an earthly warmth that one craves so when traveling, especially on business. As a peoples lobbyist, I loved leaving the pressure of policy wonks behind at the end of the day and chill out, watch TV, and listen to good music. Having easy access to the Internet beats all the fancy hotels hands down! The house is charmingly decorated in a slightly updated version of mid-'70s hippie style. Very clean, comfortable, and secure. Staff is responsive but not intrusive. Cordial and cooperative relationships amongst the guests make the place hum -- even when you end up waiting a bit for the bathroom. Caution -- lots of stairs, so pack light and keep in good shape in order to enjoy this hostel to the max! I have hesitated to post such accolades for fear that they'll be completely book next time I call. — Donna Conroy (2007-01-09) I stayed here in October 2006, It had quite a friendly atmosphere/ its right next to the metro station which have trains downtown every ten minutes or so which only take about a quarter of an hour at most to get you to the monuments. Takoma is a quiet suburb with a few restaurants and take aways which are handy as well. the sofas on the balcony are also a unique experience. — Faldor (2006-11-28) this place was great. the rooms have deadbolts, as well as hooks in the doors -- obviously, because you're sharing the rooms, it's not always such a great idea to use them, but they do exist. there's a passcode lock for the front door, so people can't just simply wander in. the owner lives right next door, and one of the staff lives in the hostel itself. it's very clean, safe, and absurdly close to the metro station and a 7-11. the surrounding area is great, there's a park across the street as well. the atmosphere is very chill, and everyone was really friendly. had a great time. — lyla (2006-11-01) I stayed here three nights, it'd out of the way, but close to metro transport making it fifteen minutes to the union station. The place had great common areas, pool table, table football, kitchen balconies, and gardens. The only problems were it had a bizarre permanent resident who woke me up at 1 in the morning to ask "will you kiss me goodnight?" I replied no and he said "oh. spoilsport." and went to sleep. But I believe he has moved on now. It also had few bathrooms making it busy in the mornings. I did like this hostel and it was very sociable due to its layout, the staff were helpful and I recommend staying here. It has it's problems but none of them ruin the experience. It also has 7/11 convenience store across the street, and a nearby pizza shop. — English Traveller (2006-10-29) The reality is this hostel is dirty, the rooms are tiny, and there is very little room to store your bags in the rooms. There are no lockers in the rooms either -- this is a major inconvenience. You need to go all the way to the basement to use the very small locker provided there. When you are on the third floor, you will quickly see how crap this is. The heating in the room was turned up to one hundred degrees -- not sure why they have it so hot in the rooms. Very uncomfortable. I checked in late (about eleven-thirty p.m.) and the person on reception was drunk (not tipsy -- I mean drunk). Hardly professional. Security is nonexistent. There are no locks to the doors to the rooms -- anyone can go through your things (of course unless you use the tiny locker in the basement) -- but you can't fit everything in that locker. Free wi-fi is probably the only thing that was good about this hostel. I would never stay here again. — M (2006-04-27) I stayed here about a week in Oct 05. Overall, it was good-
pros are nice ambience, friendly people, cozy atmosphere, very laid back staff, awesome patio and of course, proximity of metro and safe neighbourhood.
Cons are horrible security (anyone can open the front door, and the friend of the hostel owner could come in and sleep in the couch whenever he wanted), and horrible safety (I saw like 10 plugs in one outlet, and lots of flammables around).
All in all, it was great. If you stay on the third floor, good luck getting anything heavy up there! =) — Jason from Toronto (2006-02-22) It is a perfect hostel. I had a lot of fun there, met some cool people and the location was great. Clean everywhere, friendly staff and close to the Metro which operates until 3am!
Highly recommended and I will visit it once again! — Kay (2006-02-13) Truly a wonderful hostel. I only booked there at the last minute, basically just because HI was full. The atmosphere here is much better than at the institutional HI's I visited across the US. I made more friends in two nights here than in the rest of my month's vacation!
Yes it's a little far from downtown, but it's RIGHT by a metro station which will take you wherever you want to go. — Guto (2006-02-07) I stayed here four nights in October and the place was awesome in all its Halloween glory. The rooms were clean and they just added another brand new bathroom upstairs. They were super friendly and very helpful. It was like visiting friends. I will definitely stay again! — Erin (2006-01-29)