Despite being right beside the Red Light District in Amsterdam, Shelter City is a Christian hostel. It's located quite close to some monuments, many shops, Chinatown, and the central train station. Because of its curfew (2 a.m.) and disdain of drugs and alcohol, Shelter City is definitely not the ideal hostel for travelers wanting to party. It is much more suitable for those who go to Amsterdam to see the sights and visit museums.
Some of their facilities are quite good while others can certainly be improved. The bathrooms and showers are good, as they are cleaned everyday. In addition, each dorm also has a small sink and mirror. However, the conditions of some of the beds are not so fine -- some bunks shake or creak and the blankets they provide travelers during the winter are much too thin.
Free facilities include breakfast, lockers, fridge, microwave, TV (in the lounge), board games, and bibles. Breakfast is included with board and the breakfast options are four pieces of bread with various combinations of jams and butter plus a drink, or a daily special hot breakfast option (i.e. French toast, cereal). Despite that the menu says four pieces of bread some workers will only give two. Also, after dinner everyone is invited to participate in a bible discussion. Keeping in mind that this is the cheapest hostel in the city, it's not that bad.
The dining room is quite large and becomes scarcely populated after breakfast. It also has a door which leads to the inner courtyard of Shelter City, a place frequented only by employees. On the other hand, the lounge is actually a large hallway space joining the washrooms, dorms, entrance, and dining room. It consists of a few small round tables and chairs, a TV, a broken down couch, a bookshelf, and such. The fridge located in the lounge and is available for everyone to store food in. However, the hostel is not responsible for anything that may happen to the food. Also in the lounge, are a free microwave and a place where hostelers can prepare lunch or dinner. The purpose of the lounge is just to give hostelers a place to relax and prepare or eat food that is bought from outside the hostel. But perhaps the most prominent feature of the lounge is the archway with the words "God Loves You" painted in green.
There are three ways of getting to the hostel -- taxi, metro, and walking. There are instructions for getting to the hostel on the Shelter City website. The directions for walking there are a little confusing and it definitely takes longer to walk there than seven minutes as the website claims. Also, if walking, your options are either to go through Chinatown or go through the Red Light District. By metro, it's one stop and there's approximately a block between the station and the hostel. Note that street names are on plates nailed to the wall of the first house/building after an intersection.
Overall, Shelter City is a great hostel. Its receptionists are extremely friendly and helpful. Because it is a Christian hostel, most of the people there are quite nice as well. However, some of their workers are somewhat strange. For the price and the free breakfast, Shelter City is a great place to stay if the purpose of your trip to Amsterdam isn't to get high and party.
— Exklusive Hostelz.com Übersicht
February 2007
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