The Hostelz.com Review
Aloha Hostel is a good place to stay in a good location in a great city. It's very comfortable and clean. The staff are friendly and so are the other travelers staying there. There is free Wi-Fi, free breakfast, and a free walking tour which are all pluses. The staff also make crepes for you a few nights a week, which is a nice gesture.
The Location
This hostel is in a good location. It is in a residential neighborhood, which means it's quiet at night, safe, and it has restaurants and grocery stores within five minutes, and a laundry center. It's only a ten-minute walk from the metro. The directions they give you when you book are good. Once you walk out of the metro station take a left then take an immediate right (about ten feet in front), walk down that street a few minutes and take the second right, the hostel is on the right at the end of that road (rue Borromée). The metro is the best option to get to all the areas of town but the Eiffel Tower is only a twenty-minute walk. The hostel also offers a free walking tour, which is a great tour.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The rooms are decent, fairly big, and spacious. It doesn't get too hot at night, but we did sleep with the window open. You do have to pay for sheets, which it doesn't state on the website. There is a sink in the room and plenty of hooks. There aren't any lockers but the room is opened/locked by a key card so no one else can get in. The showers are horrible -- if anyone else is in another shower the water hardly flows and it doesn't get hot. Also, the water switches off on you every fifteen seconds and you have to restart it. The bathrooms are decent. There is only one shower and two toilets per four bedrooms. There are three floors and only steep steps to get up to the rooms.
Common Spaces
This hostel has great common spaces. There's an area upstairs where you can sit and get on computers, for free (and free Wi-Fi). There's also another sitting area on the other side where you can hang out or eat whatever you cooked. Then downstairs there is a kitchen and sitting area. There are fridges to keep your food and a decent kitchen to cook in. That is also the area where you eat breakfast, which is free. The Wi-Fi works on the bottom level and the main level, but not on any of the floors with the bedrooms. Everyone seems nice, hangs out, and makes new friends.
Summary
The hostel is a great place to stay while in Paris. It's not cheap, but it is Paris. Most of the staff are very nice and helpful, but the night girl was pretty rude and gave wrong information about tours and museums in the city. The breakfast staff are also very rude. The hostel staff speak English.
The Location
This hostel is in a good location. It is in a residential neighborhood, which means it's quiet at night, safe, and it has restaurants and grocery stores within five minutes, and a laundry center. It's only a ten-minute walk from the metro. The directions they give you when you book are good. Once you walk out of the metro station take a left then take an immediate right (about ten feet in front), walk down that street a few minutes and take the second right, the hostel is on the right at the end of that road (rue Borromée). The metro is the best option to get to all the areas of town but the Eiffel Tower is only a twenty-minute walk. The hostel also offers a free walking tour, which is a great tour.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The rooms are decent, fairly big, and spacious. It doesn't get too hot at night, but we did sleep with the window open. You do have to pay for sheets, which it doesn't state on the website. There is a sink in the room and plenty of hooks. There aren't any lockers but the room is opened/locked by a key card so no one else can get in. The showers are horrible -- if anyone else is in another shower the water hardly flows and it doesn't get hot. Also, the water switches off on you every fifteen seconds and you have to restart it. The bathrooms are decent. There is only one shower and two toilets per four bedrooms. There are three floors and only steep steps to get up to the rooms.
Common Spaces
This hostel has great common spaces. There's an area upstairs where you can sit and get on computers, for free (and free Wi-Fi). There's also another sitting area on the other side where you can hang out or eat whatever you cooked. Then downstairs there is a kitchen and sitting area. There are fridges to keep your food and a decent kitchen to cook in. That is also the area where you eat breakfast, which is free. The Wi-Fi works on the bottom level and the main level, but not on any of the floors with the bedrooms. Everyone seems nice, hangs out, and makes new friends.
Summary
The hostel is a great place to stay while in Paris. It's not cheap, but it is Paris. Most of the staff are very nice and helpful, but the night girl was pretty rude and gave wrong information about tours and museums in the city. The breakfast staff are also very rude. The hostel staff speak English.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
August 2011
Their Description
Aloha Hostel Details
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Aloha Hostel Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Good experience The first time i spent in a hostel was in Aloha in Paris. I had a great time there but it was mainly the people not the accommodation. The hotel has a decent look, nothing extremely special but has a cosy feeling. The rooms are pretty clean but there's not enough space for all the luggage and there are no lockers to keep your stuff safe. The shower is too small, no shelf to place your clothes or other stuff. The toilets were surprisingly clean, i didn't expect it to be like that. The breakfast was simply great, several choices (cereals, bread with butter and/or jam, coffee,hot chocolate, orange juice,milk, tea) and included in the price. However you have to get up really early, it is only available between 7:30 & 9 am. There's free wi-fi and computers to use. However one member of the staff happened to be really rude. I had to go and change when the weather was bad and my friend came in with me who wasn't the member of the hostel. It wasn't more than 5 minutes then we approached the receptionist to ask how long was the metro open, but he refused to answer after realising my friend wasn't the member of the hostel. In addition, the told me they would kick me out if my friend came in again. The last night the very same receptionist made us wait a whole hour on the street for the airport shuttle because my friend wasn't the member of the hostel. I don't understand why he didn't let us wait on the couch. The other member's off the staff were really friendly and nice, had no other problems at all. Except for the cards that open the doors. Sometimes they didn't work, but the receptionists solved the problem in a minute. — Anonymous , Hungary (2011-07-16) Do not even think about staying one night Location is good. However, if you want to preserve your dignity, do not stay there. The staffs are good, except Angela. I asked her to borrow a hair-dryer, but refused and arrogantly told me that she knows that the hostel provides hair-dryer as seen on website, but she does not have one to give me. One minute later, I witnessed that she gave a hair-dryer to another customer. She was rude and unprofessional all the time, she is arrogant and ignorant and she doe not have to be as a staff in this hostel. She needs to take a class in how to talk and behave professionally with international people who want to have a good impression in a beautiful Paris. She needs to treat all the customers fairly despite where they come from. — Danielle , USA (2010-10-20) So unfriendly and unorganized!!! If you have any other possibility, avoid this hotel. The staff is not only very, very rude, but even worse, unorganized. Our group made a reervation for May 2010 in November 2009. After many, many e-mails, where we gave them all the details of our stay, the hostel asked us 2 days before we came, how many we were!!! Though they promised before that checking in at 3 pm would not be a problem we had to wait for 2 hours until we could get the rooms. Though we ordered bedlinen before we came, they had not enough pieces. Some of us had to stay in a room with 10 persons, where the window was screwed, I think even prisons are better. Worst of all was the cold and rude staff. No matter how much we asked for the most normal things, there answer is just: Non. So: please stay away from Aloha. — 1Violin , Germany (2010-05-30) Terrible staff and cold showers Best avoided if staying for more than a couple of nights. The showers were freezing and dirty, the staff at reception cold and rude (and they booked me into a fully booked room). The worst was a guy who serves the free breakfast in the mornings -- he was constantly staring at me (I'm a guy) and then giving me a filthy look whenever I looked up at him. — Gareth Issac Turner , British (2009-12-16) Dirty The showers were disgusting, make sure you bring some flip flops and your own towels as the ones they rent as disgusting. Mattress was not flat and sank in at the middle and they only provide you with a blanket to cover yourself -- ok in summer but i bet it gets pretty cold here in the winter. You can nab an ok breakfast but OJ is lukewarm and bread pretty stale. Internet costs, you get a card for half an hour and computers are slow. Tiny area to sit and watch TV but better than nothing i guess. Pretty out of the way location but i did like the tiny little park nearby -- quintessentially french with a boules area. — George , England (2008-06-22) The rat bait under the bunk was simply disgusting! Aloha hostel is horrible, just horrible. lockout between 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. curfew at 2 a.m. there is only one master key which open all rooms, so anyone can open anyone else's. Had to wait for my roommate to come back before could go out! my bed smelled like fish. The toilets were dirty enough to rather sh*t outside. No toilet paper. The kitchen was gross and the facilities were very poor. The staff are very rude. They take only cash. There are no pillows on the bunk beds (which have no ladder to the top bunk). The rat bait under the bunk was simply disgusting! People, stay away! — Skye , USA (2008-04-05) Not good Staff particularly bitchy. Lockout hours inconvenient and stupid. Location is off-the-beaten-path. Kind of away from everything. Closest attraction is the Eiffel Tower. I'd try others if you can. — Chuckie , American (2007-10-03) Not a bad hostel. Decently clean and good location This hostel was pretty good. We were on the top floor and had some fun roommates which made it that much better. The showers were a bit dirty but the toilets were clean as well as the rooms. We were in a four-person room and there were no bunk beds which was nice and we had our own sink. Good internet access as well. The breakfast kinda sucked though, two rolls and some OJ. The kitchen also was bad since there was no oven and not much space to cook. There was a small supermarket near by as well as a laundry place which was nice. It was close to a metro station and the Eiffel Tower (walking distance). — Kim , Canadian (2007-06-29) Beds and rooms were fine. Breakfast from 7 to 9 a.m. Staff was fine as well. The kitchen is small. Toilets and showers were cleaned during the day lockout. Multiple internet computers, no queues. — Sil , Netherlands (2007-05-23) the hostel was very clean at first glance but once we moved in we noticed things like the bathroom and shower had not been cleaned, with hair and a tampon on the floor of the shower. the amount of strictness varied with the the receptionist on duty. the blond one is particularly bitchy, even refusing to give my room key so i could quickly pop up to my room for something. they also promised us things that weren't there, like separate-sex bathrooms. — Lynad Thike , Zimbabwe (2007-04-29) Overall, pretty good. As a solo traveler, female, first trip, there were some pretty cool people staying there, and the staff were friendly. Paying 10 euro for sheets was a bit of an issue, as were the many thousands of stairs, but overall it's a backpacker environment -- it's not the Hilton and not trying to be! It's only a place to sleep, why is anyone worried about the lockout? Isn't that the exact time you should be out enjoying Paris? Admittedly, the showers at Aloha leave a lot to be desired, though! — ammie (2007-01-28) Six of us stayed at the Aloha; we realize that hostels are not luxury resorts, and we found this one friendly and adequate for our needs. We all thought it had lots of character! — Barbara (2007-01-09) Was all bad. Does not accept credit card even though web site says it does. paid 10 Euro for sheets -- three plus seven deposit. i lost my receipt so they would not give me my deposit back. very rude unfriendly and unhelpful staff. not that close to eiffel tower. paper thin walls. lockout between 11 and 5 very stuipd. showers and toilets were gross. supposed curfew of 2 but they let people check in at 3 a.m. into our room. stay away. — Aussie (2006-08-31) Staff weren't friendly, stairs very narrow and too many of them, no pillowcases provided with sheets, kitchen facilities very poor (only three forks in entire hostel!) and dorms cramped. Disappointing. — Judith (2006-08-22) Some of the good things about the hostel is not because of the hostel itself. I mean, its not so far from Eiffel Tower and in almost center of Paris. You can roam around easily from here. Train stations and metro stations are very near. Then it has a kitchen where you can cook for your dinner, a beer vending machine, internet, TV etc. They serve you breakfast, which good enough. However on the other side, staff is generally not so helpful. there was a young girl at the counter and she was pathetic. at one time, i was so annoyed, that i thought of leaving the hostel. Rooms are generally not well maintained. the room i stayed was below stairs and the wooden covering was stinging. — Virendra Kumar (2006-06-14)