The Hostelz.com Review
Westend City Hostel is big, close to the main train station, and easily reachable by metro and tram, although it's not so close to the city center. The lobby crew is polite and able to answer your questions about the city. Some issues may be quite annoying, like closing the elevator at 10 p.m., but it is still possible to deal with that.
The Location
From the west train station, the biggest in Vienna, it is easy to find the hostel, it's only a three-minute walk. The instructions given by the hostel make it easy to get there. One block away is one of the biggest shopping streets of Vienna, with lots of restaurants.
Rooms and Bathrooms
There are all types of rooms in this hostel, from singles to twelve-bed rooms, distributed among four floors. Each bed has the right for a locker, with enough space for storing your luggage. There are some plugs for charging electronic devices in each room.
Every room has its own toilet and shower, so it's always easy to use these facilities and there is never a big line. The bathrooms are usually clean, and showers and taps have hot and cold water. Drains usually don't flood, and this is definitely a positive point when thinking about hostels. There are hangers for towels and clothes in the bathroom, and although the space is not so big, it is possible to change in the bathrooms. No towels are provided.
Common Spaces
Some interesting points of this hostel are the terrace in which you can rest and take your breakfast (which is also included) and the gaming room, with some computers and games, with also a minibar. Wi-Fi connection is available for free in this room. Don't expect it to be crowded, but it's possible to meet some people there. But with so much to do in Vienna, it's not very likely you'll spend much time at the hostel anyway. There is a luggage room, in which your luggage can be stored for free after you leave the hostel, and it works well.
Summary
The location is not the most central, the hostel is very big, and it has some weird policies, like providing Wi-Fi connection only on the ground floor and closing the elevator from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. Because of that, try not to stay at the fourth floor and enjoy the good qualities of this hostel.
The Location
From the west train station, the biggest in Vienna, it is easy to find the hostel, it's only a three-minute walk. The instructions given by the hostel make it easy to get there. One block away is one of the biggest shopping streets of Vienna, with lots of restaurants.
Rooms and Bathrooms
There are all types of rooms in this hostel, from singles to twelve-bed rooms, distributed among four floors. Each bed has the right for a locker, with enough space for storing your luggage. There are some plugs for charging electronic devices in each room.
Every room has its own toilet and shower, so it's always easy to use these facilities and there is never a big line. The bathrooms are usually clean, and showers and taps have hot and cold water. Drains usually don't flood, and this is definitely a positive point when thinking about hostels. There are hangers for towels and clothes in the bathroom, and although the space is not so big, it is possible to change in the bathrooms. No towels are provided.
Common Spaces
Some interesting points of this hostel are the terrace in which you can rest and take your breakfast (which is also included) and the gaming room, with some computers and games, with also a minibar. Wi-Fi connection is available for free in this room. Don't expect it to be crowded, but it's possible to meet some people there. But with so much to do in Vienna, it's not very likely you'll spend much time at the hostel anyway. There is a luggage room, in which your luggage can be stored for free after you leave the hostel, and it works well.
Summary
The location is not the most central, the hostel is very big, and it has some weird policies, like providing Wi-Fi connection only on the ground floor and closing the elevator from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. Because of that, try not to stay at the fourth floor and enjoy the good qualities of this hostel.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
July 2010
Their Description
Westend City Hostel Details
|
|
(To add or correct information for this listing, please use the Listing Update Form.)
Map Location/ContactHow is Westend City Hostel rated on other websites?
Westend City Hostel Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Pretty good A good enough hostel. A little way out of the centre of town but a bit of walking never did anyone any harm. room we stayed in was big enough, breakfast was standard. Bathrooms had timer light switches on the outside which made for much amusement. common room was ok, restaurant food was a bit sh*t -- my pie was cold. Staff were fine and lockers provided were secure. Good for the price -- I'd stay here again. — Jimmy , England (2008-12-07) Adequate for its price at Euro 21.50 per person per night Our seven-room dorm with en-suite toilet and bathroom was great although we would have welcomed the availability of cooking facilities. It was right in the centre of Vienna and very convenient and the reception was very helpful on what to see and do in Vienna. Only disadvantage is that it gets pretty noisy at night with some drunkards downstairs and the walls are not soundproof. Would definitely stay here if visit Vienna again and recommend to friends. — Chris Beh , Malaysian - Malaysia (2008-09-17) Just needs a little more lovin' our eight bed dorm had an en-suite, which was clean and spacious, but the rooms were a little cramped, like they didn't realize that eight people would have eight backpacks. there are free lockers (bring a lock) in the room the kitchen is tiny but has a microwave and a kettle, which is nice for snacks and tea. the common room is nothing special and breakfast could be better, like having free juice. the distance to the train station is a perk. staff were good looking but not friendly at all. — Kathy , Canada (2008-06-12) You can find better The beds are ok, the breakfast also and the location is good. But no decoration at all in the room, staff not so friendly, shower not so nice. I saw other hostels around that looked better. — Marie-Pier , Canada (2008-01-09) Good I stayed for three nights in August. Location -- great. Staff -- helpful. Food -- plenty. Rooms -- clean, roomy. Overall it was a very good experience. It is worth the money. I will go back when in Vienna again. — S.K. , Hungary (2007-09-13) Not very recommendable Clean and very organised, but staff not very helpful most of the time. Ok breakfast, but no kitchen to cook in, just a microwave. More a youth hostel than backpackers style. Very expensive and slow internet. Good location, though. — Marie (2007-07-09) Good for a night or two If you're only planning on being in Vienna for a night or two, this is a good bet. It's very close to the Westbahnhoff, and the rooms are decently sized (we stayed in a six-bed dorm). However, there aren't kitchen facilities, which was kind of a pain because it meant we had to wait until the morning to buy breakfast foods at the train station since there was nowhere to store them. The lockers are free but kind of small, so you can only really fit a backpack in. They shut the elevator off at 10 p.m., so if you're arriving late, be prepared to walk up the stairs. The staff were pleasant but didn't know where my brother could go to buy towels (they don't provide towels and they failed to mention this on the confirmation email instructions). It was fine for the night we spent there, and I've stayed in worse but I've also stayed in better. — Maya , US/India (2007-06-27) This hostel was a letdown -- my boyfriend and i got stuck in a very small room that was right next to the elevator shaft (very loud) and on top of it, the walls were so thin so every bump in the night sounded like thunder. Breakfast wasn't very good and then everyone got kicked out because the cleaning ladies wanted to clean. The staff weren't very helpful and rude! — Meaghan (2007-03-13) Good hostel, quite close from one of the main train and underground stations and underground. Breakfast were good and the staff were ok.
The room was clean and had lockers. There's one bathroom with shower per dormitory room and also a shower in the corridor outside the room. — Pedro (2006-09-20) There is nothing wrong with this hostel! You get exactly what you pay for, clean sheets (no bedbugs in our experience), fairly modern and clean bathroom, an area to watch TV and use the Internet with a bar and a good breakfast. (Although breakfast is slightly limited to cereal and bread, the bread is really yummy and there is free tea/hot chocolate/coffee.) The staff were not overly friendly but were never rude and generally helpful. A really good chance to meet new people from other cultures and such a convenient location- right by Vienna's longest shopping street! The underground station
is a 5-minute walk down the road, allowing you easy access to anywhere in Vienna. We do suggest you bring a map though as it took us at least an hour trying to find the hostel because it's quite hidden. Most importantly, it's cheap! — Rachel, Joanna and Caitlin (2005-11-20) I was sent here due to a booking problem at Ruthensteiner and I DO NOT AGREE with the bad reviews on this site.
Staff: the old guy was unfriendly (owner?), but the younger male staff were fine. They'll even let you put some food in their fridge if you're eating your own food.
Rooms: My bathroom door wasn't see-through. The bathroom and room were clean, but cramped. There were lockers for your bags, clean sheets (I didn't have any bedbugs nor hear any complaints). No air conditioning and only a small window at the end of a long, narrow room makes for a warm night.
Lounge: the lounge was a nice place to hang out with other guests, as well as the outdoor patio (which unfortunately closes early at night).
Location: great, about a two-minute walk from the Metro station, right on the shopping strip, and a corner around the cheap grocery store, (the Spar). — Katie (2005-11-11) The Westend City Hostel was the worst hostel I have ever stayed in. The staff were really rude. The beds had bloodstains on them, and they also had bedbugs in them. The only thing I liked about the place was that the people staying there were really nice. Other than that, I recommend you stay somewhere else. — Marc from USA (2005-05-01) This was a clean hostel, with a decent location near the station. The breakfast was okay. The staff were okay but not as helpful as they might have been. — Liz (2004-11-07) This is a really clean hostel, with good service. There is a common room with a TV, so it's quite sociable. Security is good with large lockers for each person. It's in a good location for the Metro, and just by the major shopping street. The main problem with this hostel was that two of the bunk beds were pushed together, so that you were effectively sharing a double bed with a stranger. — Claire (2004-09-29) This hostel was a bit of a letdown. The main factor seems to be an attitude problem – the reception staff are fairly unwelcoming and the moody women who serve up the incredibly stingy breakfast find some sort of twisted pleasure in banging knives, forks and plates as loudly as possible. In short, the staff are clearly unhappy and just plain rude. In addition, you have to entertain your roommates with a strip-show whenever you want a shower, due to the glass door. The shower, incidentally, is tiny. To make things worse, my friend received literally hundreds of bedbug bites on the first night — no apology was offered. Disappointing. — Bone (2004-09-29)