One could hardly call House L.A. a hostel -- more like a bed and breakfast with dorm rooms.
The Location
To get to the hostel from the train station you walk down Bahnhofstrasse to the TI and turn left onto Augusburgerstrasse. Then when you get to the first crosswalk you turn right onto Robert-Schmid-Strasse, walk down the street a little ways until you get to the first intersection and turn left onto Wachsbleiche and the hostel is right there on your right. When you get there you have to go around the left side of the building and there's a free phone by the door to call the owner and the number's listed on the phone. The owner will come and let you in and give you your keys within like five minutes. The hostel really isn't that far of a walk from the train station and there is parking available. Also to note, this hostel has two locations.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The rooms at the hostel are nice if basic, but they're clean. There are different sized rooms with different numbers of beds, depending on the room you book. In the room are wooden bunk beds, a table, chairs, and a trash can. A note about the bunk beds -- the mattress is supported by wooden slats that are not secured in any way, therefore when you sleep, the slats will shift and fall out (hopefully not on the person sleeping on the bunk under you) and your mattress will sag in places. You might want to get under the bed and position the slats in some way to support your weight on the mattress before you sleep on it. Linens and a very small towel are provided in the price of the room (so bring another towel).
There is generally one key per party staying in the room -- this means one key between you and your friends. There are three outlets in the room we stayed in and enough hooks on the bed to hang whatever you might need. There are no lockers in the room or anywhere on the premises that we saw. The bathrooms are one to a floor. That is one shower cubicle, toilet, and sink, all in the same room -- shared between approximately sixteen people. Although the bathrooms are scarce, they are rather large. There is a shelf above the sink to put toiletries on, but no place to hang clothing or a towel. Also, the bathrooms are quite chilly.
Common Spaces
The only real common space in this hostel is the breakfast room, which as you may assume, is only used during breakfast. Breakfast is included in the price of the room and includes a hot drink (coffee, tea, hot chocolate), a glass of juice, rolls, an egg, and some cheese and what appear to be sausage slices. There is also a small balcony on the uppermost floor which has a nice view of some on the nearby mountains. Other than that there is a computer in the hallway outside of the breakfast room which you can use provided it's powered on. The atmosphere in this hostel, besides being somewhat spooky, is dull. People don't really spend much time in the hostel itself and when they do, they don't socialize much besides a quick hello.
Summary
House L.A. - City Hostel is quiet, maybe even spooky. You wouldn't want to stay here if you're traveling alone. This hostel is spooky mostly because it's empty until rather late at night, people don't check in until well into the evening hours, no one is there manning a reception desk, and it's quiet. This is besides being located not far from the center of town, but still in a rather residential neighborhood that makes it seem somewhat isolated.
A note about the man who runs the hostel/lets you into your room the first time. We're not sure if this happens regularly, but he had to send some people who arrived by car to the other branch of the hostel because this one was overbooked/had a large group coming to stay. When he showed us to our room, he then proceeded to play musical chairs with the people he placed in the room after us and then sent their things to another room while they were out at dinner and left us to notify them that they had been moved and new people were put in their place. He also came around rather late at night (after 10 p.m. but before midnight) and knocked on doors to get the occupants to open up so he could see if there were empty beds in the room where he could place people who were just arriving. We arrived at 9 p.m. maybe, and were amongst the first ones there. He keeps no track of what room he places someone in and therefore has no idea what rooms still have empty beds for new arrivals.
— Exklusive Hostelz.com Übersicht
December 2008
Ort/Kontakt
