Berkeley Residence YWCA

The best things about Berkeley Residence YWCA are its excellent location, peace and quiet during the night, and clean bathrooms. It is very easy to get to the hostel from the airport (or any other place) as there are at least two subway stations within a ten-minute walking distance. The downtowns stores, some sights, and parks are also just a fifteen-minute walk away. The neighborhood seems to be fairly safe, and there is conveniently a “Seven Eleven” located across the street, open twenty-four hours.

The reception of the hostel and the dining room has mostly friendly staff. The negative side for summer travelers can be lack of air conditioning throughout the building, which can make sleeping difficult especially during a heat wave (such as the one that hit the U.S. east coast during our stay). Further, even though the large “sitting room” next to the main lobby is in principle nice for napping or reading, its furniture seems a bit dirty -- at least for laying down on a sweltering hot summer day.

Regarding the common areas -- the lobby is spacious with public phones and brochures about Boston available, and staff is able to recommend good sightseeing tours or give other advice. Towels are available for free at the reception -- you just need to give two dollars at the time of checking in, which you will get back when you return the towel. You can exchange your towel for a clean one as often as you like during your stay. It is also great that there are two computers in the lobby with fast-speed internet, Microsoft Word etc. The use of a computer costs ten cents a minute (with twenty minutes minimum).

In turn, the bathrooms on each of the seven floors (there were about three bathrooms on ours) are also reasonably spacious and clean, but they do look a little run-down. Each has about two showers, though the speed at which the water comes through them varies (with some shower heads shooting the water like a cannon, and others releasing just a few drops). There is no soap, so bring your own (they don't even have a soap dispenser to wash your hands after using the toilet! ick!). The hallways have carpets, which are old but are cleaned at least once a week. There is no housekeeping in the rooms.

The rooms themselves don't have carpets. Rooms have one or two beds with beddings, including a nice, light blanket. In the rooms there are also closets, desks, a ceiling fan, and a night table and light.

Finally, it is great that the room rate includes breakfast, which is served at 7 to 9 a.m. on weekdays and 8 to 10 a.m. during weekends. There are eggs, grits/oatmeal, fruit, toast with butter and marmalade, excellent guava juice (and some other juices), coffee, tea, French vanilla coffee, cereal, and milk. During the weekends there is also bacon or sausage, fried potatoes, fish sticks, and/or donuts.

Unfortunately, it isn't a hostel, so it isn't a fun place to hang out and there's little opportunity to meet other people (the other guests aren't necessarily young backpackers anyway). So if you're looking for a social place, look elsewhere, but this is a nice option it you just want an inexpensive place to sleep.

-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review