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Hilltop Hostel

Washington, DC, Washington, DC, USA

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Address
300 Carroll Street NW, Washington, DC   Map
Price
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Details
Their Description

Features

  • Kitchen
  • Lockers
  • Gameroom
  • Lounge / Common space
  • Pool Table
  • BBQ
  • TV
  • Book Collection/Exchange
  • Washing Machine (laundry)
  • Clothes Dryer
  • Bike Rental
  • 24 Hour Free Hot Showers
  • Phones (public or in room)
 
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.

-- 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 KarenP, USA
October 2007
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.
Comment by Claire, Germany
September 2007
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.
Comment by Jay
March 2007
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!
Comment by Donna Conroy
January 2007
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.
Comment by Faldor
November 2006
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.
Comment by lyla
November 2006
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.
Comment by English Traveller
October 2006
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.
Comment by M
April 2006
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.
Comment by Jason from Toronto
February 2006
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! =)
Comment by Kay
February 2006
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!
Comment by Guto
February 2006
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.
Comment by Erin
January 2006
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!
Comment by Moi
March 2005
My friends and I were there for a couple of nights. It has a really nice ambience, the owners are very nice and helpful, and so is everyone. Everything is extremely clean, especially the bathroom. I highly recommend this hostel to everyone.
Comment by Eric
February 2005
Having always stayed at the Hostelling International when I visit DC, I found it booked around Inauguration Day, so I tried the Hilltop Hostel and for the most part was very pleased. It is virtually across the street from the Takoma Metro station, 11 minutes from Union Station. The neighborhood is a whole lot more attractive, too. The old house is cozy and colorfully decorated. (It kind of reminds me of my grandparent's somewhat rundown old house, which dated from the 1880s.) It could be described as a tad bit rundown, which adds to its charm, and it is certainly clean enough — not grungy at all. The only two negatives I had were that the furnace could not cope with the freezing cold and howling wind the first night of three that I stayed there. Also, smoking is permitted anywhere on the first floor. While this may be appealing to some, the days are pretty much over in this country where this is acceptable and I truly wish that the management would restrict smoking further. All in all, I was pleased with my stay and would certainly stay there again. (Note: I saw no evidence of air conditioning. Unless fans are available in the summer, the place could be stifling.)
Comment by Norikazu Kitamura
December 2004
Very clean and nice hostel, and it's very cheap. It is in the best location, near the Metro station. I will visit again. Nice hostel!
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