Captain International Youth Hostel

The service and friendliness of all staff was poor
The one star I have given, is for the spacious room, bed, and location of this hostel (it is a short walk to many attractions and the metro). I have traveled a lot and both my friend and I agree that the staff here are the worst we have seen. They are not helpful, dismissive, unfriendly, and generally poor in their customer service. On several occasions I have witnessed them being rude to their clients as well as myself. Their knowledge and proactiveness of the local area and sights is abysmal. I expect a bit more from an internationally rated hostel than just a bed to sleep in. It doesn't take much more to make travelers feel welcome, but in this instance I didn't.

Ok
I stayed in this hostel in January 2007. The location of the hostel is great -- Pu Dong and The Bund areas are in a walking distance and there are also many restaurants and shops near by. The city is easy to explore from here! The six bedded dorm room I stayed in was alright and I have nothing bad to say about it. (Ok, maybe it's better not to look under the mattress -- there you can find some dirt and dust.) Anyway Captain Hostel is a pretty nice place to stay though it's quite expensive (70 RMB equals about 7 Euros per bed). Staff isn't rude but a bit cold. I think they might be not talkative because of their bad English. Terrace bar in upstairs is ok and you can see the Oriental Pearl Tower from the window or from the terrace while having a cocktail or a cup of coffee or tea. If I'm going back to Shanghai one day I will stay here again.

I left the youth hostel at around 5:50 a.m. on 9/25/06, trying to take the 6:20 bus at the nearby Peace Hotel. A staff member of the hostel and another guy, who later turned out to be a taxi driver, tried to talk me into taking a cab, costing about Y150 to the Pudong International Airport by telling me out right lies. First the taxi driver told me there was no airporter leaving the Peace Hotel, which is only five minute walk away at Nanjing Road. But in fact there are numerous bus runs to the airport. Second, the taxi driver also told me that the magnetic railway to the airport does not have its first scheduled run until 7:30 and it leaves from the Pudong Airport. But in fact I saw from the freeway two trains running from both directions at 7:05 a.m. and services could be earlier than that. All along the hostel staff echoed what the taxi driver had said. He is totally dishonest as well. While the hostel is in good location and the facilities are fine, the staff is rude. The internet service is Y20 an hour, the most expensive one among all the youth hostels I had stayed at while travelling in China in the last three months.

Awful. Do not stay here! Our reservation was "lost" (this seemed to be the case for many others who were trying to check in as well). The front desk staff are also completely unhelpful and rude (bitching in Chinese right in front of us that "this isn't America -- if you want such things go back to America." neither of us are American by the way). The rooms are dirty and the shower was filthy. The only good point is that the hostel was in a great location (very close to the bund and subway line). But, for the hassle you can find a much nicer (and cleaner) hostel and take a subway to town.

I met some of the coolest people ever here at this hostel on the fourth floor. We had many many many sleepless nights just sitting and chatting about everything. A group of us even took some strange adventure to the ocean and came back the next morning. Isn't that what a youth hostel is about? Meeting other travellers. I'm going back again in July to meet up with some of the kids that were there and I can't wait.

Good points- Rooms were clean. Cool Bar on the top floor. Decent food and location Bad points-Nasty staff, in particular a woman named Helen who actually tossed my passport back at me. Bathrooms are a hike, I stayed on the first floor and had to go to the fourth floor everytime I needed to use the restroom. Did I mention the staff was rude?

I loved the dorm rooms here, they were very big, with tables and chairs and so forth. They were clean and the other travelers were friendly. I didn't have any problems with the reception staff, and it was no problem when we stumbled in at 6 a.m. The showers weren't the cleanest, nor were the bathrooms. Overall though, I enjoyed my stay and would recommend the place.

A pretty average hostel. Cute theme, although underneath the sailor suits the staff were a bit unhelpful. Not purposefully rude, just no idea of how a good hostel works or of certain elements of western culture. One girl was told not to look at the picture of a naked baby that her friend (happy parent) sent her because it was offensive! The rooms were nice and clean but the showers and toilets were dingy and a bit of a hike. The other guests were pretty nice and there was a big space on the fourth floor where everybody congregated.

This place was the pits in terms of the staff, who were unfriendly. And it was very hard to get any information, etc. from them — they were downright unhelpful! The rooms were clean, the toilets were fine, the showers were just about average, and Internet access is very, very expensive. Shanghai is great, though!!

Well, I have to say that the good location, and clean and beautiful room were worth my money but the attitudes of the staff are TERRIBLE! Don't expect too much as you've only paid 55 yuan for it. By the way, the hostel is so busy in summer that you've got to make a booking at least 1 week in advance.

I could say that people working in a hostel should have a ready smile for everybody!!! But in this hostel, I didn't see any staff who knows how to smile!!! In this line of business, workers must be ready to help because most of the customers are strangers to this land. Another thing is that workers, especially at the reception desk, must know how to speak English.

This place has a good location but the staff, like Chinese people often seem to be, were grotesque in terms of what matters most — customer service.

I loved the comfy beds, clean toilets, hot showers and the friendly travelers I met here during my stay. But I can't stand the attitude of the front line staff. They were rude and unhelpful. I would rather walk a couple of minutes to the nearby Hotel Metropole for information.

This was the first hostel I have ever stayed at. I had heard about the dorm style living and was thinking about the worst I had seen in college. But I was pleasantly surprised at how nice and clean the place was. I was surprised that I couldn't find anywhere to eat nearby at 2 a.m. in downtown Shanghai. I think we ended up buying some dumplings at a convenience store.

This place is close to center of Shanghai. It is the best choice for low-budget travelers. No worries about the last train or bus; you can reach most sights by walking. Next to the hostel there is a small supermarket and a cheap Chinese restaurant! The rooms are clean and air-conditioned; sometimes you run into a cockroach, but that is really rare. I stayed ten days in a six-bed room, meeting backpackers from all over the world, and also some guys who made this hostel their home. The toilets are western-style, the rooms are clean, and so are the washrooms and showers (for Chinese standards!). You can wash your things, go online (if you get along with the Chinese application surfaces, which I didn't), have nice views from the bar on the top floor, and have long discussions on the floor and the entrance hall until early in the morning (if you like). If you've already been for a while in "Service Desert China," you're used to communication problems and having staff personnel cleaning between your feet while you're getting your clothes on, grabbing away the plate under your meal, or taking the ashtray when you're about light your cigarette. They don't know any privacy, but so what? All in all, it's a good place, but don't forget your earplugs!