The Hostelz.com Review
We drove to Chicago Getaway Hostel (previously called Arlington International House), which may be a poor choice since parking is difficult and expensive. But most backpackers wouldn't be arriving by car, so no problem. But we found the staff rather rude and blunt -- we even cracked some jokes to lighten up the burden on the front desk guy but he hardly cracked.
The wireless internet costs $3 per 24 hours, but if you have problems there is no technical support (or maybe the front desk guy just didn't like us). There is a laundry room downstairs for $1.25 a load, but it's the only laundry place in the hostel so you have to catch it at just the right time, and keep in mind only about half of the machines work.
The rooms are huge, there's lots of people, and no central air. The people seem somewhat friendly but they have their own little cliques, which is understandable.
The bar scene in the area is off the hook -- there are bars all over that place if you don't mind walking. We walked around everywhere and must have stopped in six bars and missed plenty more. The weekend scene is great, and the area is great, city parks a couple of streets down.
The bathrooms are alright as is the kitchen -- they have vending machines there as well as one pool table and one computer if you don't have wireless. Not a bad little place -- wish people would be more open and staff at least friendly. For the price, it's worth it.
The wireless internet costs $3 per 24 hours, but if you have problems there is no technical support (or maybe the front desk guy just didn't like us). There is a laundry room downstairs for $1.25 a load, but it's the only laundry place in the hostel so you have to catch it at just the right time, and keep in mind only about half of the machines work.
The rooms are huge, there's lots of people, and no central air. The people seem somewhat friendly but they have their own little cliques, which is understandable.
The bar scene in the area is off the hook -- there are bars all over that place if you don't mind walking. We walked around everywhere and must have stopped in six bars and missed plenty more. The weekend scene is great, and the area is great, city parks a couple of streets down.
The bathrooms are alright as is the kitchen -- they have vending machines there as well as one pool table and one computer if you don't have wireless. Not a bad little place -- wish people would be more open and staff at least friendly. For the price, it's worth it.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
August 2006
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Chicago Getaway Hostel Reviews from the WebHostelz.com Guest Reviews
The Best in Chicago This place is sensational -- completely redesigned, redecorated in minimalist decor, has a spectacular stainless steel kitchen, a cosy tv room and large common area complete with pool table and a grand piano and some truly great staff who really know their stuff about Chicago and are extremely helpful and fun. Oh yes, it's also in a brilliant location. — Richard Beck , UK (2011-10-29) Great place, I would stay here again This hostel is in a beautiful building, ultra modern interior with a vintage exterior, in a beautiful neighborhood, Lincoln Park. Everything was clean, the staff were awesome and recommended their favorite spots, went out of their way to make sure you knew where the cool stuff was. One complaint would be that this isn't much of a party hostel, which is probably a plus for some people, but they do organize pub crawls, so that is probably the way to go if you are looking to meet people. But anyways, great place, I would definitely stay here again. — Mike , USA (2011-07-17) Truly one of the best hostels I've ever stayed in Clearly this place has changed a lot since 2006. This hostel is run the way they all should be run -- with a great mixture of professionalism, friendliness, and fun. The dorm was in itself pretty standard I guess, but I appreciated only having to share a bathroom with a few others, not the mass bathroom experience. Air conditioning made a few very hot Chicago nights bearable. Bed was comfy, and you get a fresh towel every day -- a luxury for the hosteling experience. The common spaces were well-serviced (when I was there a maintenance guy was taking down the light fittings and cleaning them!), clean and homey. A good combo of tables and chairs and sofa-style seating. WiFi that is free and works well. Outdoor patio/hang-out space with a BBQ. TV in a separate room -- THANK YOU for that. Staff were super: relaxed and friendly but professional. Nice part of town with plenty going on, and everything you need just 'round the corner. I absolutely could not find fault with this hostel; I picked it almost at random from the others in Chicago, and was so glad I did. I would recommend it to everyone, unreservedly. — Mel P , Australian (2011-07-14) Good place, the atmosphere is really really good everyone is friendly, everything is so good, but the only problem is the dorm is small. — Anonymous , taiwan (2011-07-08) Good -- huge improvement Recently underwent serious cleaning. No bedbugs at all, very very clean. I think they have new management. Great location near train and many restaurants. I would definitely go back. — Keith , USA (2009-02-15) Just a normal place to stay for a night This was my first visit to Chicago as well as this was my first hostel in life! I wouldn't say I expected too much from it. When I came to Chicago, I did not know where to stay. The advertising brochure at the Union Station helped me to find it quickly. On arrival to hostel I was surprised how many people were there. On the whole, this place is not too bad. I was not a victim of various bugs mentioned in other comments. I only did not really like the bathroom -- as the bath was full of long black hair. It was sort of clogged. Kitchen is all right. The pool room is quite big. The visitors and stuff are tolerant to smokers. If I ever come to Chicago, I will certainly go to this hostel again. Its location is superb! I met so many interesting and new people there! I was in the ladies' dorm, just in front of the pool room, and there it was always noisy in the nights but I was so tired that I did not care for the noise and loud talks. I only wish if cleaning were more regular. — Elya , Kazakhstan (2008-09-18) Interesting people, no A/C except dorms, bug investation in Room 229 If you use this hostel, stay away from Room 229 and those contiguous to it on all floors. My cousin and I stayed there July 2008. No A/C so we brought our own fans. On our second night we found we were being invaded by some sort of blood sucking bugs similar to ticks but not ticks themselves. When told of the problem at 3 a.m., the front desk clerk was very accommodating but never appeared surprised by the situation. When we asked for a refund we were given what we asked for. My suspicion is that this is a recurrent problem. We even encountered a woman who was pretty well bit up on her arms and complained about bugs in her room. Good luck to all who stay there. — Dusty , American (2008-07-13) It was like summer camp but without arts and crafts. I went to Chicago this summer not knowing where I was going to stay. Luckily they had a room open for me. I ended up in the huge room with about twenty-two other women, and they told that in a couple weeks I would be put in a room with only three other people. I was excited about that, but they gave my room to someone else. I knew that was a possibility though, because preference goes to international customers, so I was ok with that. The room was one of the only rooms with air conditioning, and trust me the other guests took full advantage of that. It was usually freezing! I tried to adjust the temperature, but by they next day someone had made it freezing again. I woke up one morning with my hoodie on, hood up, and my sleeves covering my hands, and I was still shivering. That's not the hostel's fault. I was just really cold. Anyways, other than that the room itself was nice. I wish it had had more electrical outlets, because I needed to charge my phone, and there were only, like, two, and they were usually being used. That was frustrating. Also the big room for twenty-four women was right across from the kitchen and common area, so it would get really noisy at night, drunk people and loud music. As far as bathrooms go, I used the one on my floor (there was only the one the whole floor) for the first couple of nights, but in the middle of the week, the shower was clogged up, so I started going upstairs to take a shower. I didn't mind that though. Those showers were really nice actually. I was kind of glad the shower clogged up, so I would have a reason to go explore the rest of the hostel. The staff is really friendly. I had a lot of trouble with the lock on the door to my room, and I would have to pray that one of the other twenty-three girls was in there to let me in sometimes. I liked the location a lot. It was a very nice quiet neighborhood with cool stores and really close to the train. In fact, the location was perfect. As young girl who was staying in the city, or anywhere for that matter, by herself for the first time, I felt completely safe. I enjoyed my stay here for the most part. There were just a couple little bumps in the road. Oh, and bring your own pillow and blanket, so you won't get cold like me (Or just grow more of a backbone and be like, "Listen, about trying to make it snow in here -- not working for me") and because their pillows were quite flat. I liked staying here. I met some really cool people, one of which I still talk to regularly. I really hope I didn't make it sound like an awful place to stay. I'm just trying to be completely up front about the cons, but I would definitely recommend this place to other travelers. — R.Astley , United States (2007-12-29) This was my first ever hosteling experience. I arrived for a Friday/Saturday night stay and had booked two beds for two people, and somehow when we arrived I was told I only booked two beds for one person. Luckily there was two beds left (in a dorm room with nineteen beds) so we were able to stay there. I heard the front desk employee say to one of the guests that they (referring to the hostel management) had overbooked and were having to turn people away. I only was around enough to interact with two of the hostel employees (the afternoon and the midnight shift) and both seemed no-nonsense types, but this was probably from the frustration of the overbooking. The hostel itself seemed decent. The beds were comfortable enough, but the door was in awful shaped and made a loud noise every time it was shut which I am sure wasn't appreciated by the eighteen other people sleeping in the room (Room L11, by the way). The bathroom was oddly put together with one toilet with no door, a sink which was more private than the toilet, and a shower. I believe (not 100% sure) that this was shared among the entire male population at the hostel. Plus, it was on the opposite side of the hostel from my room so I had to do quite a bit of walking. The kitchen was nice and had a "free" shelf which was great for me. Although, I had trouble finding any bowls (which I probably should have brought), so I couldn't eat the "free" cereal. The social area was great with travelers from all over the world throughout. It was a bit out of the city, about ten minutes from downtown and next time, just for this reason, I think I'll stay somewhere closer. Public transportation is great in Chicago, but it was a bit confusing for someone who had never stayed there before, especially since the Red Line train was down for a bit on Saturday evening. Like I said, this was my first hosteling experience, so I can't compare it to others. Even though I mentioned aspects they can improve on, it was an overall very enjoyable time. Perhaps the staff can just be a little more organized and polite. — John Oberg , United States (Detroit, MI) (2007-05-21) I stayed here a couple of years ago, and I found it fine. It's not in the centre of town, but the area is really nice, with lots of night life, swedish bakeries, hippie cafes, record shops, gay bars. Great spot. The hostel is nothing special, but it really was fine for what we paid. — Kate W , Australian (2007-04-25) I've given this hostel 2 chances when I visited Chicago.
This hostel is in a great neighborhood--unfortunately I have to agree with most of the comments about the place being dirty and the staff impersonal to say the least. They dont even look you in the eye when they talk to you!
And it also seems to house longer term residents, some of them that I've found to be very strange. Ladies be careful who you talk to!
If you MUST stay here do not bunk in the basement rooms. They are the dirtiest and you'll come across some scary looking spiders. There is no air conditioning but they do have cable TV. It would be better to spend the money on improving the place overall. You have to pay for internet & I found the equipment annoyingly difficult to operate. — D'Angela (2007-03-16) I stayed here for a while just a few years ago, and it was a generally ok place. Until one morning, this older, apparently mentally unbalanced person (she liked to use the toilet with the door open) staying in our female dorm room had to use the bathroom while someone was in the shower. She knocked on the door, but the person did not hear. So, she tried to get out the room, but as it was humid the door was stuck. So, before anyone could help her with the door, she peed in the garbage can. Yes, peed in the garbage can. She took the clear plastic bad out of the can and place it in the hallway (for pickup?!). I went down to tell the front desk person about this, and that there was a clear bag of urine sitting in the hallway for anyone to see. Don't you know, this guy told me that he could do nothing until the cleaning staff arrived later that morning. So, of course, you never know who you'll share a room with at a hostel; but my issue was with that front desk guy's reaction. Just, the bag of pee must wait. — stayed for awhile (2007-03-04) Ok, this is the grungy alternative to HI. its not terribly dirty but its not as clean as the HI. it's a very friendly hostel where you can't help but get talking to somone.
It may not be downtown but its not a bad area, you're only two or three blocks from the Metro line to Downtown which takes maybe fifteen minutes.
a block away is Clarke Street which has some nice places to get food which are open quite late as well as cybercafes, comic shops and a bout half a mile from Arlingon, an Art House cinema.
you're also not far from Lincoln Park Zoo [which is free] and Lake Michigan — Faldor (2006-11-28) This hostel did the job and was great for chicago and was in a very good location. I was pretty clean and had a good kitchen/common room. The staff were friendly enough but did the bare minimum, they are still trying to improve this place, and the owner was going around writing notes for improvement meaning this place should get better. It's near a great internet cafe, screenz on N. Clark just near diversy and it's near great restaurants, transport to downtown and the beach. I recommend staying here over the other hostels and hopefully it'll improve. Parking was a pain though for people who had a car but it is in any city. — English Traveller (2006-10-29) I can't understand why this place is getting such a bad rap. I stayed there for a few days last month and found it to be quite good. The neighborhood is top-notch. The room was fine. I have been in a lot worse rooms all over the world. I thought the staff was good, in particular, the manager. He was helpful, friendly, and gave us no problems whatsoever. I would highly recommend the Arlington. — JD (2006-10-04)