The Hostelz.com Review
The best thing about New Swedish Hostel is the location. There are four quarters in the Old City, and New Swedish hostel is right between the quarters. The only bad thing about the location is that there is no nightlife. You will have to go into the New City for that. So walk around home during the day, and plan a night venture. One note on the location -- don't tell the taxi or other mode of transportation to take you to David Street. (There are three different versions of David Street). Tell them to take you to Jaffa Gate, which is at one end of David Street. Enter the gate and look for the small sign for New Swedish above your head on the left side between a couple of shops.
The hostel is very cheap and the location is even more appreciated when compared to the price. Granted, hostels in Israel are cheaper than in many places including the U.S. and much of Europe, but this is definitely a good price even compared to others in the city.
The hostel also has a good environment. There are about ten beds in the room (not necessarily occupied). Next to the dorm is a TV room and a lounge with seating for about six people. This is a great place to meet people from all over and share your experiences in the Middle East. Enjoy nagila, coffee, tea, and company (including turtles in a cage?). Also has cheap internet upstairs as well as a couple showers. It's generally clean and friendly. The owner even ordered me a taxi and another time let me use his phone.
The hostel is very cheap and the location is even more appreciated when compared to the price. Granted, hostels in Israel are cheaper than in many places including the U.S. and much of Europe, but this is definitely a good price even compared to others in the city.
The hostel also has a good environment. There are about ten beds in the room (not necessarily occupied). Next to the dorm is a TV room and a lounge with seating for about six people. This is a great place to meet people from all over and share your experiences in the Middle East. Enjoy nagila, coffee, tea, and company (including turtles in a cage?). Also has cheap internet upstairs as well as a couple showers. It's generally clean and friendly. The owner even ordered me a taxi and another time let me use his phone.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
January 2007
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New Swedish Hostel Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Good location and price very good location (next to Jaffa Gate in the David Street), conditions are refering well to the price, very clean place and cosy. Hope to be back. — Anonymous , Poland (2012-01-06) My favorite hostel in the Old City The best part is the full service kitchen (with mini stove, microwave, plus dishes and utensils) -- you can save a lot of money if you can make your own food. There's also a common room with a TV. The rooms were clean. The bathroom stalls and showers are pretty small, but no hostel has perfect bathrooms. — Anonymous , United States (2011-08-13) Great Hostel right in the centre of Old City Jerusalem I walked around for almost a day looking at other hostels in the Old city and even some around Damascus Gate and Jaffa Gate. I can easily tell you that this is the hands down favorite. The staff here is very friendly and knowledgeable in regards to the sites of Jerusalem, Dead Sea, and other important sites. Easily navigate your way from well posted bus schedules that are current. You won't need to worry about buses to and from Old City Jerusalem because you'll be right in the centre. 1 minute from the Church of Sepulche, 2 minutes from the Western Wall and Dome of the Rock. Minutes from the major gates of the Old city as well. The rooms, washrooms, and kitchen are cleaned daily which is a pleasant surprise seeing as most places do not even sweep the floor. There is internet available, a TV room to kick back and catch up on the latest football games, a kitchen to cook meals (Even free coffee, tea, and hot chocolate!), and you'll get a good sleep with no cars in the area. In any case, loved the New Swedish Hostel and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for great budget accommodation in the Old City. Have fun. — Gregory J. Bane , Canada (2011-07-10) Helpful Forgot one of our bags, therefore had to find someone to collect it. Friendly as they are, they didn't push us to get it the other day, for we didn't know in the beginning how to organize it because we had left the city already. They said just let us know whenever and whoever will come and get it -- this we found very helpful in our miserable situation of missing one of our big bags. Thanks to Samer! — Fam. Beer , Switzerland (2010-05-19) Excellent budget accommodation Very polite staff, always ready to help. What more one needs when wanting to get up at 6 (either by muezin from nearby mosque, orthodox chants from Patriarchat or bells from Lutheran church tower nearby -- depends on the day and festival) and stroll through Jerusalem streets until midnight. Hotel well located in the heart of city -- all main sightseeings a few minutes away.
I would recommend this accommodation for those who cannot afford a hotel, but want to "be" in Jerusalem. — Tomas , UK (2010-01-20) I do not recommend it! Despite that I don't recommend it, this hostel have two positive things, and these are the low price and the good location. According the name "New Swedish Hostel" one thinks it has something to do with Sweden, but the fact is that it was taken for commercial reasons. The two who work there are muslims (one of them are not very nice) and do not speak any Swedish at all, nor have they any other connection with Sweden. — Glenn , Sweden (2009-09-03) Avoid Unless you have no money and are extremely desperate then make this your last resort. Very old and cramped. The entire hostile is actually a very small area with one room of a lot of bunk beds. So cramped and small. If you are a girl do not go there please. I went and there was a guy and he pretended to be nice and helpful when I had severe cramps, and as I lay there on the couch in pain and could not move he talked to me about vulgar things and grabbed my face to try and kiss me. I left immediately after that. I was appalled and thought about calling the police to report sexual harassment but I had no time. I will get in contact with the owner though and let him know everything that happened. Very uncomfortable space with girls and guys in one room. Very hot! They turn on the AC if you want it but it really doesn't make a difference. Not a place you can hang out during the day. Unless you come in late and leave early and just want a bed to sleep and an alright shower then don't come here. spend a little extra money for somewhere else. One of the guys was nice and the sheets were clean and smelled good, but sorry that's not enough for me to go back. — Texas , USA (2009-08-11) Good Location, Miserable Place From the sound of their description I would think this was a decent place to stay. The hostel has the smallest toilet closets I have ever visited. You cannot sit down without the ceiling touching your head. The whole hostel is miserably cramped. To move around you must expect others to stand aside so you can pass. The "kitchen" can accommodate two people but even that makes it crowded. The location is very good being in the center of the city. I have been in several different hostels in Jerusalem over the years but this is the worst. — Scott , US (2008-09-13) Clean, perfect location, and friendly staff I stayed for a week at New Swedish Hostel and I can only recommend it. The room we had was -- yes -- very small, but it was clean, which is hard to find in Old Town Jerusalem. The same goes for the bathroom. The location is perfect in the middle of the souq and the staff is very friendly and helpful. Also the rooms are very cheap. — Mette , Danish (2008-08-25) Shabby It's in a good location, but it's in the market, so you have to walk down a bunch of slippery stairs to get there, and then, when you arrive, you have to carry your stuff up a huge, steep staircase. Then, when you arrive, the people who work there are really rude. The floor has a slippy, wet spot I nearly killed myself on. Besides, that it is pretty clean, and the mattress in the dorm was comfortable, though the sheets were threadbare. — anonymous , USA (2008-08-07) Can't rely on booking we booked a private room two months earlier, because we traveled with a little kid. unfortunately we arrived a bit too late at night and our room was already sold. They presented us very unkindly another inadequate room where we had no space for our child. so we had to find another hostel at 11 p.m. with a sleeping child carrying. the next day, we went back and didn't even get back our deposit! — little family , Germany (2008-03-29) Unhappy Myself and another Irish friend arrived from Bethlehem to stay for two nights. For some reason the housekeeper and the other guy didn't like us. I don't know why as we were completely friendly and straight. I could see the house keeper being friendly to others but he was pig-ignorant to us. Shame, as every other Palestinian I met on my trip was really friendly and decent. The facilities are very shabby and this -- combined with seemingly boundless rudeness -- made us very glad to leave the place. Don't know what the housekeeper's problem was but there is no excuse for treating guests the way he treated us. I would never go back and would urge others to avoid this place. It's the cheapest bed in Jerusalem but there's a very good reason for that. — Steve , Irish (2007-12-28) Excellent service, nice staff, good rooms and facilities. I lived three months in the New Swedish Hostel. The room was quiet and dark, and had air conditioning. The price is good and the staff is especially kind and helpful. The location is perfect, in a vibrant old city street, just between the Western city center and East Jerusalem. There is access to both showers and kitchen. In sum, I would recommend the New Swedish Hostal for both shorter and longer stays in Jerusalem for those who seek both a good price and good service. — Ingrid Norrman , Sweden (2007-09-10) Nice time pretty small, but cozy and clean enough. beds were comfy. staff were friendly and helpful. wished they had the free breakfasts, but at least there was an open kitchen available, and free coffee and tea. TV room was nice. great location in the old city if you plan to do all the religious stuff, but if you just wanna party in the new city, it's about a fifteen-minute walk, still not too bad. hard to find amidst the chaos on david street, but what an adventure just looking for it on that great street! it was weird how a family lived above the hostel. i've stayed in better hostels, but i'd stay here again. — j , sweden (2007-06-07) Perfect location within the old city -- closed to everything but in a quiet area. Equipped with everything -- good kitchen, bathroom with hot water twenty-four hours a day, TV room with satellite, and optimal cleaning. Really kind and helpful staff. I'm here one month for working reasons and it's always a pleasure to spend some hours together just talking and smoking the hostel's narghila. — Gianfabrizio (2006-12-15)