HI - Pontarlier Hostel has a great central location and is newly renovated with all you need for a budget-conscious, comfortable, and clean place to stay. The dorms are spacious, bathrooms new and clean, the showers tiny but hot, and the guest kitchen adequate. Breakfast is included in the price and other meals can be purchased from the dining room, which apparently has a great chef and plenty of local produce.
The Location
The hostel is located right in the pleasant centre of Pontarlier, three hundred meters from the train station, with a supermarket across the street and a lot of free parking just opposite the hostel. Pontarlier is within short driving distance to a number of walking/cross country skiing tracks and ski slopes, though you need a car, and just ten kilometers from the Swiss border. The hostel is well marked once you get into town -- follow signs to the centre of Pontarlier and then to the Youth Hostel.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The large hostel has a variety of dorms and double rooms. Dorms are spacious enough, with storage lockers and easy access to bathrooms in the corridor. The rooms are very clean and it is a treat to stay in such a newly renovated hostel. Entry to rooms and the hostel outside of reception hours is via swipe card and the place feels very secure and the surrounding town centre of Pontarlier safe and friendly.
The showers are tiny with a lack of space to put anything except yourself (barely) and it is a challenge to adjust the temperature and start the shower without getting showered with water of unknown temperature to start with.
Common Areas
A large dining room serves breakfast (included in the price) and other meals. Breakfast is a typical Italian fare -- bread, jam, with a hot drinks machine, and a carton of orange juice and milk on each table. Jam seems to be in short supply but there is enough of everything else. There is a guest kitchenette (small kitchen) with fairly slow electric hot plates and a microwave. There's a dining table in the kitchenette or the large dining room next door. The kitchen is open twenty-four hours and like the rest of the hostel is very clean though the hostel was quiet at the time. The hostel advertises internet access but we didn't manage to find it and weren't told much at all during our check in.
There is also a TV/lounge room with some nice seating and antique looking cross country skis with the surrounding Jura region being world-renowned for skiing "de fond" or cross country. Although the hostel seems to get a lot of group bookings, there is plenty of opportunity to meet fellow travelers too.
Summary
A very pleasant place to stay in a beautiful part of France, HI Pontarlier is newly renovated and well equipped with most of what you'd expect from a hostel and a touch more atmosphere than you'd expect from most HI hostels.
Review by S. Topf-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
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