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Guía de Albergues > Western Europe > Netherlands > North-Holland > Amsterdam Albergues > Shelter City Hostel

Shelter City Hostel

Amsterdam, North-Holland, Netherlands
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Albergues in Amsterdam
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Dirección
Barndesteeg 21, Amsterdam   Mapa
Precio
€ 16,50 (low) - € 19,50 (high season)
Localización/Contacto
Detalles
No se aceptan reservas en línea en este albergue, póngase en contacto con el gerente para informarse sobre disponibilidad y reservas.
Descripción elaborada por el propietario

Prestaciones

  • Desayuno gratis
  • Casilleros
  • Salón / Espacios comunes
  • Barbacoa
  • Alimentos/Restaurante
  • Información turística
  • Teléfonos (públicos o en la habitación)
  • Casa de cambio
  • Bar
  • Alquiler de bicicletas
 
Informe de Hostelz.com
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.

-- Informe exclusivo de Hostelz.com


Sus comentarios
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Comment by Tennille, USA
August 2008
Decent place to stay
I was a bit concerned about staying so close to the Red Light District, but I didn't find that to be a problem. The hostel was safe, was fairly clean, and the staff was very nice and quite helpful. I am twenty-eight and was traveling alone so I stayed in a four-bunk room which had four small lockers and a sink. The bunks were quite sturdy so I didn't feel the woman below me move but they were a little hard and the pillow was lumpy. Fortunately I sleep with earplugs because I wouldn't have gotten any sleep without them! There area can be quite noisy late at night but then again it's Amsterdam and the Red Light District -- I partially expected that. There was a nice outdoor area and three computers available for use. I used them a couple different times and didn't really have to wait at all. The free breakfast was so much better than most. They had a couple of options -- boiled eggs, bread and butter/jam/cheese, or the choice of a different hot breakfast each day. The luggage storage area was right next to the front desk, where you could lock your belongings to a chain. I found that to be more secure than at some of the other hostels I've stayed. The down side was there was no lift and I had to hike up to the third floor (through one of the most narrow staircases I've ever seen!) carrying my heavy suitcase. Also, there was no water pressure in the first floor women's showers. Overall I'd say it was a nice place to stay and I'd recommend it to any single traveler wanting a safe, fairly quiet place to stay close to everything.
Comment by Kelvin Pan, USA
July 2007
Christian hostel near Red Light district
This hostel is very Christian-centric. I got in late and was trying to get food and had to wait until they were finished with their group prayer before the staff was available to cook me up something. The people are decent. My room was a bit narrow. I like lockers inside my room, and instead they are outside the room. The janitor guy is a bit weird. I left my shirt outside the shower door while I was showering, and I found him holding it up looking as if he were gonna take it. It was on top of my pack, so it was obviously not left behind. I'm going to describe the things I feel are most important when considering a place to stay: 1. Location: Ok. This was very close to Red Light District, so that can be good for some and bad for others. Near a few restaurant/pubs. 2. Price: Ok. I booked this place for $33USD per night thru hostelz.com in shoulder season 3. Food: Good. Free breakfast..had some meat. Bar/dining room has food you can order at a reasonable price. 4. Curfew: Bad. 2am. I heard people had to stay outside for the night when they came back too late. 5. Internet: Bad only one computer at a reasonable rate
Comment by Kim, australia
April 2007
Despite being a religious hostel, it was fine, staff were helpful. Fairly quiet with a little street noise from the red light district, breakfast was good.
Comment by Lydia
January 2007
Shelter City should receive a four-plus rating. I stayed in a sixteen-person dormitory, all the beds were occupied. The beds were close together, but even with that many people it did not feel uncomfortable. There were good size lockers, which the hostel provides you a key for. It was a pleasant place to come back to after walking around the city. I found the breakfast to give more of a variety from what one can find in France. The individual showers are contained in a large enough space so that you can have your things at one end and they won't get wet.
Comment by Anonymous
May 2006
I found Shelter-city quite a nice place to stay at. I would give it a good "4". It is located close to the red light district, but still I found the location good, because it is in the very center of the city. And it is quite safe, I felt it safe to walk there even late in the evening, alone. I stayed at 4-beds female dormitory. These dormitories are located on the attic and are small, but clean and cosy. Showers and toilets were also clean. This floor (attic) seemed to be new or renovated recently, so everything (furniture, bathroom equipement) was very nice up there. The lockers are inside the room next to the bed, so I found it quite safe. They are not very large though (my bag didn't fit in there, so I had to take my stuff out of the bag to put it into the locker, and to leave the empty bag under the bed), A padlock - you can rent one at the reception. If you stay in a large dormitory, the lockers are outside the rooms. The large dormitories are on the first and second floors and are not as new and less comfortable I suppose, so if you have a choice, I would recommend the attic. Breakfast was OK, too. It is limited and you don't get a big variety of food, but it was fine with me. The staff at Shelter-city is really great! They are all very nice, helpful and try to do everything they can to make your stay enjoyable! So if anything goes wrong, this would most probably be not their fault. They also have free and safe luggage storage, which you can use after check-out time. I'm not very religious, so at first I thought it a bit uncomfortable to stay at a Christian hostel. A couple of times I was invited to join evening discussion about God, but no one insisted too much on that. The only thing that I didn't like is that it was cold in the room (the heating didn't seem to work properly), but I guess in summer time this will not be a problem at all.
Comment by Andreas Kraft, Sweden
April 2006
This hostel Is for the money you pay very good 17euro/night. Kind of poor breakfast, It was acceptable. Shower and toilets are ok. Clean. Those who clean live there for free. So I would not trust them too much. I would go there next time I'm in Amsterdam.
Comment by Kate
February 2006
This hostel is a very strange place, on things such as cleanliness and security its is very good however the general vibe of the place is seriously off. For one, if you are not a christian the giant banners like "JESUS IS LORD" can be a little off putting, as is having to vacate the cafe at 7.30pm when they have their daily bible discussions. People here dont approach you unless they are asking you to join in their discussion about the evils of prostitution. HELLO??? Its AMSTERDAM!!! Its not a lively hostel at all, I was travelling by myself and hoping to get to know other pople in the hostel and no one would talk to me or even look at me, they would just huddle in little groups and talk about god. I've got nothing against pople who take their faith seriously but really this place is giving christians a bad name. The hostel lets all and sundry stay there as well and I have to say I do find it a litte disconcerting going down to breakfast and there are wierd men in the 50s there, I'm just used to hostels where the ages limit is under 35. Furthermore when ever I would walk through the corridor where the male dorms are (it is unavoidable if you are coming from the female dorms) the males who were at the lockers in the corridor would stop and just stare at me which was creepy and I'm not even especially good looking. My room which was a four bed female dorm was very nice looking except there was always this pervasive smell of raw sewrage which seemed to get worse when we turned the heater on, so its was either freeze or hold your nose. The location of the hostel is great, however if you are offended by prostitution in which case if you are christian no doubt you will be, dont stay here, there are the famous windows in this very street/alley. Plus one night as I was leaving the hostel a very drunk or stoned guy who had been bashed or fallen from a gret height almost fell on me and I missed being covered all over in his blood by mere millimeters.
Comment by Serhat
August 2005
This is a very clean good hostel. They are trying to be the best in Amsterdam. It's right in the center of the red light district. It's a really good hostel but I give it four stars because it has a curfew and they give you limited breakfast. ;-j
Comment by Anonymous
June 2005
I was here in June and I found the place to be pretty nice. The people were friendly and there was free breakfast. And you can use the fridge and microwave, too. I felt really safe here and it is definitely a haven for those who are seeking shelter. I had a great time and met lots of friends, too.
Comment by Vicky
June 2005
The hostel itself is ok — not too noisy, nice staff and fellow travelers, fun games (Mastermind), a decent breakfast, and a pretty courtyard area. However, the surrounding neighborhood is crazy and VERY, VERY noisy until all hours of the night and early morning. We only stayed there for one Saturday night, so it may not be bad every night. Still, I wouldn't recommend Shelter City, if you are needing a good night's sleep. (Or at least ask for a room with windows NOT facing toward Barndesteeg street!)
Comment by Virginie
April 2005
The staff were really great and everything was clean. The café is nice and they have affordable food there. On the other hand, even if they advertise a smoke-free environment, they don't really mean it and won't say anything to people smoking. They even provide ashtrays!!! Plus (but isn't it like that in every hostel!!?? maybe here it's worse) there is absolutely no pressure in the showers. You'll have a hard time getting the soap off your skin, and if you have long thick hair, forget it! You'll never get the shampoo out of there!! I had to rinse mine in the sink. I know it's for environmental purposes, and I totally agree with that. But I would still have preferred those "push button" showers, where at least one has pressure!! But the general, the atmosphere is very enjoyable.
Comment by Anonymous
April 2005
I stayed at Shelter City, a rather boring hostel but it was clean and the bathrooms were clean as well. I awoke in the morning unlocked my locker to find that someone had gotten into all of my baggage and stolen about $400 worth of my stuff, including all of my Euro money and my credit card. The weird thing is that they give you a key to unlock and lock your lockers and my locker was locked in the morning when I woke up. The only way to lock the lockers is with a key, which I had on me all night while I was sleeping. This leads me to be very suspicious of the safety and also of the staff. Thanks Shelter City and to whoever got into my locker and stole my stuff. That made for a great European experience.
Comment by Anonymous
February 2005
I really like this hostel. The place is clean, quiet and safe. The staff are really helpful and friendly. I really like this hostel and I highly recommend it to all. Two thumbs up.
Comment by Anonymous
December 2004
This was not a terrible place to stay but it was not my favorite. The rules are a bit restrictive and unlike what it says above, there is a lockout from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It's definitely not a party hostel as there's nothing that's ever going on at the place, but you do get some sleep. Watch out for the 32-bed dorms as they can get a bit loud, though.
Comment by Anonymouse
December 2004
Wow, I didn't realize the men had a 50-person dorm until reading this page. I thought us girls had it bad with sixteen to a room! Overall, I liked this place. The courtyard is noisy all day long because of some bar or something next door, but you learn to tune it out after a while. The neighborhood is seedy, but in a fascinating sort of way — not frightening or really unsafe. The dorms and bathrooms are pretty clean. The staff and the general environment of the hostel are super friendly and not pretentious or too-cool-for-school/trendy at all.
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