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Hostels Guide > North America > USA > Florida > Miami Beach Hostels > South Beach Hostel

South Beach Hostel

Miami Beach (South Beach)
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Address
235 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach (South Beach), Florida, USA   Map
Price
Dorm beds from US$35.00. Price may vary by season - Check Current Prices by Date Here
Location/Contact
Details
South Beach Hostel Online Booking
Arrival Date:   Nights:  People: 
Their Description

Features

  • Free Breakfast
  • Kitchen
  • Lockers
  • Bar
  • Gameroom
  • Lounge / Common space
  • Pool Table
  • BBQ
  • Food/Restaurant
  • Washing Machine (laundry)
  • Travel information provided
  • 24 Hour Free Hot Showers
  • Phones (public or in room)
  • Air Conditioning
 
The Hostelz.com Review
The South Beach Hostel is a hip youth hostel located in the quiet SoFi area of South Beach. It's the perfect place to meet travelers from around the world and have a good time while on vacation

The Location

Found on Second street and Washington Avenue, this hostel is in the heart of the residential area of lower South Beach. The bus passes directly in front of the hostel, so it is easy to get around, even though everything you could need -- food, entertainment, beach, and nightlife -- are all in walking distance. Street parking is available in front of the hostel.

Rooms and Bathrooms

The rooms are perhaps the only disappointing feature -- the eight-bed dorms are tiny. The bed is not the most comfortable. There are no ladders for the top bunkers to use and the mattresses are so thin you can feel the bed frame. Private rooms are also available. All rooms are accessed by key cards as are all other areas, including bathrooms and the kitchen. Lockers are available in the rooms, as well as at the reception area.

The bathrooms are all shared, located down the hall on each floor. Showers are a bit high, and the pressure is also high, making it difficult to shower without getting your hair soaked. The girls bathroom is quite small. Towels are not provided.

Common Spaces

The small kitchen is very practical and functional, and fully equipped with utensils and crockery. And the coolest thing is, there is a small movie theatre/TV area in the same room. Make a meal, sit in front the big screen, and relax. On-site laundry is available. There is an internet area equipped with half a dozen computers for guest use in the lounge. Right at the entrance of the hostel is a pool table and a bar, which has two daily happy hours and some of the cheapest beer on the beach. ATM is also in lobby. Breakfast is available in the bar area each morning -- juice, coffee and tea, bagels, and fruit, which are a welcome change from toast and pancakes. There are always guests hanging around, everyone is friendly and happy, great place for socialising with fellow travelers as well as locals who come to patronise the bar.

Summary

The place is immaculately clean in the common areas. It has a great atmosphere, everyone seems happy, the euphoria is contagious. This place is good value for money, if you dont mind the beds. They have very good security as well, with clearly marked emergency exits.

— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
August 2009


Ratings & Comments

3 Average from 33 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 mizz B, USA
July 2009
2 Party Hostel
Party Hostel. Bar on site so noisy partying. If that's your thing you'll love it. If you like some quiet try someplace else.
Comment by Yukon Dave Skagway, Alaska, USA
August 2008
4 Location, location, and this hostel has its own bar!
you have to give this place some credit, considering that it's mostly long term and that some "Guests" have lived there for months. So you're dealing with twenty or so individuals from all over the world that live with each other day in and day out and that are also coming and going. (What a place to write a book about!) Along with all that it has to offer, there were also free spanish lessons, I believe twice a week! Though I'm sure one could pick up a little bit of every language staying here. The rooms are a bit small and the bathrooms were being renovated, great TV room and kitchen, and I was so impressed with the ethnic diversity, I felt as if I were on another planet. This is the hostel to stay at for at least a week. Just remember that hostel owners and employees deal with a whole diversity of individuals. This hostel was my home for a week, back in January 2008, before I sat sail for the caribbean. I highly recommend this hostel for the individual that has a taste for variety, the night life and all that South Beach has to offer.
Comment by corrado, italy
August 2007
4 Very good hostel
Friendly staff and (the most important part of an hostel) great common room, who cares if rooms are not the best ever (they're just a bit old but not dirty) and when i was there bathrooms were being restructured. also it's really near the beach and to south beach's night life, i really recommend this hostel.
Comment by Tarek Salem, u.s.a.
June 2007
1 Worst Staff and Toilets
Well The Staff screwed up my shuttle reservation to the airport. It cost me $2 to get there from the airport and $75 to get back, because I had to take a last minute taxi cab to make my flight. It sucked! Try to avoid this place if you can.
Comment by Jonas Persson, Sweden
April 2007
1 The worst place i have stayed on ever! I would rather sleep on the street and give $25 plus tax to a homeless than stay in that sh*thole again. We booked a four-bed dorm with free internet access on their computers and free long distance calls. We got nothing. Fourteen-bed dorm, twenty-cent-per-minute internet and not even a pay phone. When we told the staff that we got the wrong room they just blew us off. Do I need to add that the toilets didn't work or that they only had cold water in the showers? I've been traveling for six months now and nothing hasn't been even close to this. We checked out the fastest we could and got a hotel for almost the same price. Do not go here!
Comment by Rupert
February 2007
1 This was an altogether unpleasant experience that I never want to repeat. We were there on Superbowl weekend 2007 and the hostel was absolutely foul. The showers were disgusting, the beds were uncomfortable and we returned to the U.K. with a healthy dose of scabies. Yes scabies. After three days of constant itching we finally clicked and went to the doctors. Not before we'd passed it on to our girlfriends though. Very cheap and a perfect location but do yourself a favour and pay that little bit more for a hotel, I wish we had. I've stayed in some nasty places in my life but this beat them all by a good stretch. I don't care how little you charge, it's pretty simple to keep things relatively clean and at the very least tidy. This place was neither. No security, the cockroach stories are true (we saw them), the stories about homeless people staying there are also true (we had the joy of living with one for a night). All in all, avoid this place like the plague. Otherwise you run the risk of actually getting the plague.
Comment by Me
August 2006
1 So, this is the absolute worst place I have ever stayed. One star is giving it far too much credit. I felt like I was walking into a crack house. The first room we were in had a bad air conditioner and shook from the bar (btw, the Hostel's policy is no loud music at night). Then, they moved us to a new room (after considerable complaining). The new room had faulty wiring -- no overhead light. They had to get a light from one of the people who works there (who, to confirm the rumors from earlier was a bum) and give it to us. The bunk beds were so badly put together that you could touch one and the top would move almost a foot. The tile on the floor was cracked horribly and the hostel smelled like someone was cooking rotten meat and there was also the smell of illegal drugs. The staff barley spoke any language, and refused a refund. Basically, whatever you do, where ever you stay, avoid this hostel at all costs. Stay at a hotel and just be a little more conservative of your money -- it's not worth it!
Comment by Andy Birmingham
July 2006
1 Basically a sh*thole. We walked in and couldnt beleive the state of the place. It has been decorated either by a blind man or someone with no mental capabilities if they think lime green goes with purple.The woman on reception is your stereotypical prostitute type with additional attitude thrown in for good measure and as helpful as sunglasses on a man with one ear. The room was about one meter squared with four beds in. The window was removed and filled with an air con unit and to make secure cardboard was placed around to keep any criminals out. Nowhere to keep your valuables except a cupboard with the door missing! The place was filled with assholes, homeless people, and general scumbags. You didnt feel safe. No fridge in room. One available in main area where everyone puts their food so would get raided by the sneaky bastards. Unless your name is on the goods which will stop the thief in their tracks. So in conclusion avoid this place if you have any standard of living. Anyone who believes this place is ok needs cannot be trusted as they either own the place or are on heroin.
Comment by Diana
April 2006
1 This hostel doesn't deserve even half a star. I am from Brasil and even being used to poor hotels and lack of cleaning I was disgusted when I walked in. The floor is made of ply wood, the guy in the front could not speak English or Spanish properly (he claimed Spanish was his first language). While trying to get there he got us lost for over an hour and then when we finally came they had messed up my reservation, which I had called to confirm the day before. I do not recommend you stay here. If you have a bunch of people with you, rent a four-person room, throw a air mattress down, and stay elsewhere. This place is ridiculous and the staff didn't try and help us at all, he was a complete a-hole. The place doesn't look safe location wise or structurally -- it looks like a whore house.
Comment by Nelson and Johnson
April 2006
4 We will start by saying it was not like the pictures showed. One shoe could fit in the lockers, there were no windows, the bathroom from upstairs leaked into the one downstairs -- but other than that, it was a great place to stay. We met lots of great people, and had an absolute blast -- amazing location. Had quite a few crazy nights in the A bar. The staff were great -- very helpful, and they were always there. For the price and the location, it is a very wonderful place to stay. As a matter of fact, we're headed back, so it can't be that bad.
Comment by imps
February 2006
1 To call this place a hostel is an insult to other hostels in Miami, first of all there are homeless people who beg the streets staying there, and the facility itself looks more like a jail no that would be an insult to the jail, this place is filthy.
Comment by kay
December 2005
4 Well during my stay i learnt to stay up at night and sleep in the day as it is indeed noisy a night. but the bar is great! Staff are generally friendly. rooms are tiny and i had no locker and when i locked my key in my room they handed me another not asking any questions as to whom i was...alil dodgy. Its what you make of your experience, i had a great one.
Comment by Jem
November 2005
2 Not too bad, but not great either. To start with, the showers were freezing cold! There were a few people actually moving to other hostels just for a hot shower. The staff were ok. It's really noisy at night too, because of the bar. Also, the rooms are quite small and cramped, not great if your roommates are weird. On the plus side, you do get the Internet and the phone, and it does have a kitchen. It's also clean enough. All in all, it's an ok place, but if I went back to Miami I'd probably investigate the other ones.
Comment by Ben (Australia)
July 2005
1 A very poor hostel and absolutely grubby. The rooms are tiny and pretty much the whole place should be avoided. That's including South Beach, which is the weirdest place on earth. Seriously though, I've been travelling for nine months now and this is the worst hostel I've stayed in.
Comment by Anita
June 2005
4 I enjoyed my time at this hostel — nice location — it's close to beach and easy to get to from the airport (take the bus, it's 75 cents!). The only thing I would advise is to bring your own cutlery, though; the kitchen doesn't have a very good supply of either cooking or eating utensils. It has free Internet and breakfast, and helpful staff that are at the desk 24/7. Showers downstairs are nicer and not so stuffy. The bar is being renovated; however, you can still get cheap alcohol from the store and sit outside. A great place to stay!
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