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Aivengo Youth Hostel

Amsterdam

30 of 57
Address
Spuistraat 6, Amsterdam North-Holland, Netherlands   Map
Price
Location/Contact
Details
Aivengo Youth Hostel Online Booking
Arrival Date:   Nights:  People: 
Their Description
 
The Hostelz.com Review
Aivengo Youth Hostel is a very basic, centrally located, reasonably priced hostel. You get what you pay for and is adequate for a couple of nights' stay.

Location

The Hostel is a less-than-two-minute walk from central station. The street runs parallel with the main shopping street running down to Dam Square, which is less than a ten-minute walk away. It is very central with plenty of restaurants and coffee shops nearby. Across the road from the hostel you can jump on a tram and go anywhere within the city.

Rooms and Bathrooms

The hostel consists of two big dorm rooms with about twelve bunk beds in each. A blanket is provided however the mattresses are quite thin. The rooms are locked and a six-digit code is needed to get in each time. In between the two rooms, opposite the lobby area lies the toilets, sinks, and showers. There are four isolated toilets and showers in which people from both rooms are able to access. The showers are surprisingly impressive!

Within each of the rooms are small lockers in which to lock away valuables. There is a deposit requested for a locker. There isn't a great space to get changed or hooks for clothes apart form the showers. No toiletries such as soap or towels are supplied, which is usual for a hostel.

Common Spaces

There is no kitchen, TV room, outside seating, or the like. There are two computers in the entrance lobby offering free internet access and a waiting area with a sofa. Luggage storage is in the form of a small locked toilet. Given the layout of the hostel, there is very little opportunity to socialise with any other backpackers. The hostel primarily just offers a bed for the night, nothing more.

Summary

Overall, we'd give the hostel a seven out of ten and we would have given it a six if not for the very helpful and friendly female staff member and the showers! The other staff were not particularly friendly and it isn't a place you can spend a lot of time in -- that is, unless you're sleeping. However, our stay there was satisfactory and we would recommend it.

— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
November 2008

How is Aivengo Youth Hostel rated on other websites? (NEW)
Hostelworld
 Overall: 73% 
 Cleanliness: 70% 
 Staff: 77% 
 Location: 91% 
 Fun: 57% 
 Atmosphere: 69% 
 Security: 74% 
Hostels.com
 Overall: 78% 
 Cleanliness: 74% 
 Staff: 84% 
 Location: 91% 
 Fun: 65% 
 Atmosphere: 74% 
 Security: 76% 
HostelBookers
Not listed on HostelBookers.
Hostelsclub
Not listed on Hostelsclub.

Ratings & Comments

3.3 Average from 11 Ratings

This is an open forum, and unlike other hostel guide websites we don't censor out the negative comments.
We can't validate the legitimacy of comments posted on this site — so take what you read here with a grain of salt.
Comment by ZARA, WALES
January 2010
1 BAD, BAD, BAD
my friend wanted to stay here and when we got there i could of been sick on the floor. it made me physically sick! the rooms were smelling and i would NEVER recommend this again. i told my friend before we went that we shouldnt stay there so dont give in like i did and go there!! it is not worth 10p!!
Comment by David, American
July 2009
1 Can be very bad.
Rooms are clean and the place is functional and well-located, but the main rooms are very very poorly ventilated. I have stayed in stuffy, hot rooms before, but this hostel was the worst. The second night was worse than the first and I woke up with a panic attack from the room (something that has never happened before at a hostel, and no, I used no drugs when I was in Amsterdam). I even wonder if the ventilation violates city building codes.
Comment by Sam, dougal and jiiiiiiiiiiiiilian, Scotland
October 2007
4 Good
I thought this was a very nice hostel, the staff were really friendly apart from the bold guy, the woman was really nice. The toilets were clean and the showers were hot. The location is the best you can get as there are great attractions just a few minutes away, including the red light district.
Comment by Ted, Denmark
July 2007
5 Cool place
It was a good place to stay in Amsterdam. Clean and friendly hostel. No smoking inside and free internet. I'll try to stay there next time again.
Comment by Becky, USA
July 2007
4 Yeah, it was good, but there are better!
I stayed at Aivengo with my sister for three nights in June 2007. To sum up in a sentence, I recommend Stayokay Stadsdoelen instead. I'll start with the good and end with the bad. The Good: Nice room! Well decorated! The bed, though not exactly comfortable, was definitely clean and private. The en-suite bathroom was also clean, and equally spacious and well-lit. There was even a kitchen! I wish I'd had the time to use it! There's free internet in the lobby, though I didn't get the chance to use it because there was always a line. The staff was helpful and understanding. The location is pretty great-- outside of the supertouristed areas, yet still central (and on a very bike-friendly street). The Bad: Oh my god. FIVE flights of stairs? And I thought four was awful! Even though the room and bathroom were nice, sharing it with ELEVEN other girls was not! Every morning was a race! The room didn't have very good ventilation, so especially after climbing those stairs, it could feel very stuffy. Overall it was a decent hostel, but considering the PRICE (too high!) and the other options in Amsterdam, I'd say go for someplace else.
Comment by j.d., United States
June 2007
4 Good Place, Awesome Staff
visited may, 2007. Great location, Awesome staff (the most helpful out of all hostels I visited on my vacation), clean. Can be noisy, due to people coming and going at all hours of the day/night. Toilets are a bit awkward (small), but they're clean. seems that there were more people in my mixed dorm than I remember seeing advertised. The Lights on/off thing is controlled by the people in the room. I simply asked everyone around if they cared if I turned the lights off, and then did so. Bingo, dark. Overall I would stay again at this hostel. I think it's best to visit amsterdam on days other than Friday/Saturday! I arrived Friday night, and luckily had reservations. It is just too loud and crazy on those two days -- which maybe you are into that, so it would be a good thing. I prefer a mixture of partying and chill, but don't like large crowds.
Comment by Rachel, USA
June 2007
1 No heat!
I stayed at this hostel last week. The blankets weren't clean. They don't use heat. The showers are the super old kind that will literally burn your skin, and if the guy thinks you've been in them too long, he will yell at you. The bathrooms are so small that you have to back into them. I bent over to pull my pants up and smashed my head against the door, while i was sitting down. There is no living space. It's one big room with no heat. They don't turn the lights off at night, but they do during the day. They open the room door at 9 a.m. and let the cold from outside come in. Do not stay here! The staff seemed to be nice, but that does not save this place. They also charged us different prices even though we all had the exact same beds. Avoid this place!
Comment by Vicki, British
April 2007
4 The hostel is in fantastic location, five minutes from central station and easy walking distance to bars, restaurants, shops. We spent seven nights in the female dorm with en-suite bathroom which was fantastic, very clean, and quiet, even if there were four flights of steep stairs to walk up to get there! Our last night we stayed in the mixed dorm downstairs which was a lot noisier and cold. The lights were also all turned on at 8 a.m. which was a bit of a shock. The mixed bathrooms were ok, clean and functional but just off the reception area which didn't provide a huge amount of privacy! Another issue was that although it was advertised as no curfew, if you arrive home after 4 a.m. you cant get in so you have to wake up one of the staff which is not very popular! Overall the staff were fantastic and were incredibly helpful with everything, definitely stay here again.
Comment by taia
June 2006
3 I stayed here for 5 nights. It's ok. The good thing is that it is close to everything....Centraal Station is 5mins, and all the touisty things are walkable or short tram ride. The staff are pretty helpful, and even though there are 2 rooms with 1 beds in each, it doesn't get loud. The place desn't have a common room, so there is nowhere to hang out and it only has a microwave and fridge. There was also a mouse in our room and the toilets smelled bad of urine. The room I was in gets quite noisy outside. But I met some nice people there....
Comment by SChicagoGirl
June 2006
5 This is the nicest, cleanest hostel I've ever stayed in! Great location, friendly staff, and a fair price.
Comment by Jason from Toronto
January 2006
4 This used to be called "Anna Youth Hostel", then they changed it as I was staying there. It's good, there's just two huge rooms that each house like, 30 beds. It's feels like a higher class refugee camp. Close to everything, though- great location, friendly staff. And the wall colours are trippppy man....
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The Hostelz.com
Total Combined Rating
for Aivengo Youth Hostel
74%
This score is a weighted average calculated from reviews on Hostelz.com combined with ratings on the other major hostel websites (see rating details below).
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