The Hostelz.com Review
Hostel Room Rotterdam is a very worthy choice to stay when you visit Rotterdam. The staff are great and they know a lot about the city. You can ask them about attractions, shopping recommendations, and clubs/bars/restaurants -- they will efficiently help you. Rotterdam is an interesting city -- not very traditional Dutch (since it was heavily destroyed during WWII) but with some very interesting architectural attractions, quite crazy nightlife, great shopping, and tourist activities like boat tours that are worth experiencing.
The Location
The hostel is in the Scheepvaartkwartier district, which is quite ok. If you want to walk from the train station (as we did) it is about twenty minutes' walking distance. You can however use Tram 7 (Westerstraat stop) and Tram 8 (Vasteland stop), subway (Erasmuslijn line, Leuvehaven station). Keep in mind that public transportation is not that cheap though.
Next to the hostel there is a small harbor on the banks of the Maas river, from where you can get the highly recommended boat trip to Kinderdijk, if you have time. The old city is also quite close (twenty minutes' on foot or by tram) and within walking distance (ten minutes max) is the watching tower from where you can have a view of the whole city. The Witte De Withstraat street, which has plenty of nice restaurants and cafes, can be reached within ten minutes' walking (the hostel has some recommendations for restaurants but they aren’t so cheap). Albert Heijn is also right to the corner if you want to buy some groceries or whatever else.
The city centre with the cubic houses and other sightseeing attractions as well as the main shopping areas, great cafes, and restaurants is close to the train station, which means about twenty minutes' walking.
Rooms and Bathrooms
There are many different types of rooms and dorms to choose from. All the rooms are differently themed, which is a pretty attractive idea and gives a distinct character to the hostel. We stayed in an eight-bedded room -- it's very nice (you have to pay a deposit for the key). The linen is included in the room price. Under the beds there are big lockers -- remember to bring a padlock with you or you can ask the reception to help you with that. There are also big windows for fresh air in the room. In terms of cleanliness we do not have any complaints at all.
There is a sufficient number of separate male and female bathrooms (toilets and showers are in the same areas). They are decently clean, though the showers have nothing to keep the water within -- so when someone takes a shower the whole area gets kind of flooded.
Common Spaces
The hostel has one big common room, which serves as a bar during the night and it is where the breakfast is served in the morning. It is very warm and cozy with some old-time furniture and a piano. There is also a computer with internet (free for the first five minutes). During the night the bar serves a variety of beers in good prices. The breakfast, included in the room price, is quite good for a hostel. They serve bread (which you can toast), coffee/milk/juice/tea, cereals, jam/honey, the Dutch hagelslag, cheese, and ham. There is also a guest kitchen that lies on the basement. It is relatively small but very clean, with a big fridge, a freezer, and utensils in very good condition.
The hostel organizes several activities like free bike tours, Dutch culture nights, and movie nights. Pay laundry facilities are also provided as well as free luggage storage (just in case).
Summary
Overall, Hostel Room is a very much recommended place to stay if you visit Rotterdam. The staff are great (and you are going to love the dog!) and they can help you with what you need. It is clean and safe, they organize several interesting activities, and the location quite ok (except if twenty minutes' walking from the center is too much for you). A small pitfall -- it's not a very social or party place, though this always depends on the travelers residing there during your stay.
The Location
The hostel is in the Scheepvaartkwartier district, which is quite ok. If you want to walk from the train station (as we did) it is about twenty minutes' walking distance. You can however use Tram 7 (Westerstraat stop) and Tram 8 (Vasteland stop), subway (Erasmuslijn line, Leuvehaven station). Keep in mind that public transportation is not that cheap though.
Next to the hostel there is a small harbor on the banks of the Maas river, from where you can get the highly recommended boat trip to Kinderdijk, if you have time. The old city is also quite close (twenty minutes' on foot or by tram) and within walking distance (ten minutes max) is the watching tower from where you can have a view of the whole city. The Witte De Withstraat street, which has plenty of nice restaurants and cafes, can be reached within ten minutes' walking (the hostel has some recommendations for restaurants but they aren’t so cheap). Albert Heijn is also right to the corner if you want to buy some groceries or whatever else.
The city centre with the cubic houses and other sightseeing attractions as well as the main shopping areas, great cafes, and restaurants is close to the train station, which means about twenty minutes' walking.
Rooms and Bathrooms
There are many different types of rooms and dorms to choose from. All the rooms are differently themed, which is a pretty attractive idea and gives a distinct character to the hostel. We stayed in an eight-bedded room -- it's very nice (you have to pay a deposit for the key). The linen is included in the room price. Under the beds there are big lockers -- remember to bring a padlock with you or you can ask the reception to help you with that. There are also big windows for fresh air in the room. In terms of cleanliness we do not have any complaints at all.
There is a sufficient number of separate male and female bathrooms (toilets and showers are in the same areas). They are decently clean, though the showers have nothing to keep the water within -- so when someone takes a shower the whole area gets kind of flooded.
Common Spaces
The hostel has one big common room, which serves as a bar during the night and it is where the breakfast is served in the morning. It is very warm and cozy with some old-time furniture and a piano. There is also a computer with internet (free for the first five minutes). During the night the bar serves a variety of beers in good prices. The breakfast, included in the room price, is quite good for a hostel. They serve bread (which you can toast), coffee/milk/juice/tea, cereals, jam/honey, the Dutch hagelslag, cheese, and ham. There is also a guest kitchen that lies on the basement. It is relatively small but very clean, with a big fridge, a freezer, and utensils in very good condition.
The hostel organizes several activities like free bike tours, Dutch culture nights, and movie nights. Pay laundry facilities are also provided as well as free luggage storage (just in case).
Summary
Overall, Hostel Room is a very much recommended place to stay if you visit Rotterdam. The staff are great (and you are going to love the dog!) and they can help you with what you need. It is clean and safe, they organize several interesting activities, and the location quite ok (except if twenty minutes' walking from the center is too much for you). A small pitfall -- it's not a very social or party place, though this always depends on the travelers residing there during your stay.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
December 2009
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Hostel Room Rotterdam Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Excellent. Probably one of the best hostel's i've ever been in. The staff are very warm and friendly and always try to help as much as possible. The bar downstairs and theme nights etc. made sure there was a good vibe at night for meeting other people if you weren't heading out. The location couldn't be better, no more than 20 minutes walk from most major tourist attractions in Rotterdam. The rooms are great, very spacious, as are shower cubicles. Recommend this hostel. — o'd , Ireland (2011-06-21) Amazing! Clean rooms, friendly staff. Right after check-in they told us the cool places to go, where to eat and shop. The bar was cheap for a quick drink before you go out or meet tons of other people at the hostel. — Kelvin , Canadian (2007-05-21) Hostel Room is a wonderful new hostel staffed by very friendly and welcoming people. Each room is themed and decorated accordingly so check the book at reception if you get a choice! Breakfast is good and food is available all the time. There is a large communal area and bar where it is easy to meet people if that is what you want. The two women who started this hostel are travellers themselves and have given a lot of thought to the facilities based on their own experience. Rotterdam is great city to visit with numerous museums and attractions. The coffeshop scene is very gentle compared to Amsterdam but it is here. Make sure you take the boat trip to Kinderdijk, it's magical! — Andy (2006-08-21)