Glenwood Hostel

Straight out of a horror movie.
This place doesn't even deserve one star. Ok, seriously. You'd probably rather sleep in a buried coffin than this homeless shelter. And that's exactly what it is -- A homeless shelter. The people inside all looked like they had been living there for years (one guy had cats). Most of them had TVs in their room, in which they don't believe in turning them off or lowering the volume at night. The beds were infested with bedbugs, the rooms are the size of a regular bathroom, and the people there are just creepy. There was this one dude who had his own convenience store in his room, he sold smokes, candies, and toiletries. So don't expect to get any sleep. My friends and I stayed a total of three hours with no refund.

Horrible
We arrived at this "hostel" in broad daylight and were unsettled by the number of crackheads and people panhandling right outside. However, upon arriving there at dark, the entrance seemed more welcoming. We soon realized that this was because all the crackheads had moved inside to spend the night. I'm a woman, and I felt uncomfortable walking to the bathroom alone. On top of that, the bathroom was filthy, and mould infested. Rats, bedbugs, and a chicken-wire "ceiling" are some of the highlights to look forward to during your stay. My friend staying in another room left in the middle of the night and slept on a bench in Central Park. gross, gross, gross.

Stay away from this place!
Worst place I stayed on my whole round the world trip. Woke up in the middle of the night with my body covered with bedbugs and other disgusting things. Place is filled up with bums, junkies, and lost souls, stinks like smoke and cat piss (my neighbour had three cats in her room). There are only shared bathrooms, but who the f*** wanna take a shower together with street bums and junkies? So by any chance stay away from this place!

Great value for NY. helpful staff. had fun. Will definitely stay again.

This is the worst place i have ever had to stay in! First of all it is not in the most safe location. Secondly the hostel itself was an absolute nightmare. The website actually makes this place look half respectable -- do not be fooled! The rooms are tiny, they have a bed sheet and wire as a roof, the bed linen is dirty, the place stank of smoke, and the bathrooms had not seen bleach in a long time. It appeared that many of the residents were permanent and had TVs blaring throughout the night. At one point there was people screaming at each other! Thankfully i was only here for six hours. The list goes on -- please do not go here under any circumstances!

Eveything said about this place is true. When I walked in, I was greeted by pop art on walls and stairs but after having reserved a room I found the same smell mentioned by others lingering in my hair and clothes. It is a health hazard. Everyone I saw was a failure in life and at least thirty-five. The staff is polite (somewhat) but the rooms (or cells) are infested by poor homeless beings. On my way to the hotel a panhandler was singing a song on the train and collecting money. After checking in the room, I saw the same guy in the building, and passed by his room. While I do not have anything against the poor and homeless, it was not my kind of place to live in. I stepped into the bathroom and stepped out immediately because of the smell. I had intended to brush my teeth but I didn't even dare open my mouth there. Eventually I walked away and spent the night in the subway (subways of new york are a hundred times cleaner than this place).

i concur that the glenwood really is that bad. it is definitely more of an SRO than a traveler's hostel. most of the residents were american and looked like they were on skidrow or junkies. the fifty or so plywood cubicles with chicken mesh roofs were claustrophobically small. many residents who believe it or not lived here fulltime and stayed in their six foot by four foot cubicles the entire day had their tv sets and radios blasting out at you from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily and often arguments broke out so you would be woken up to swearing and angry voices. there were two bathrooms for fifty-plus residents so this was often a source of dispute. residents smoked indoors too as did the 'hostel' staff so it was really stifling and toxic. i lasted one night and had to leave. found a nice new place for only twice the price on the upper west side which is a thousand times better than that s***hotel! do yourselves a favor and don't go here! it was such a disturbing experience.

this place is beyond a joke. it's a health hazard. if you're not a junkie, do yourself a favor and stay elsewhere.

Do not go here under any circumstances. This is one small step up from a homeless shelter. My traveling companion and I were the only youths in the place (didnt see anyone under thirty). Not rooms but small spaces in bizarre plywood cubicle thing w/ a chicken wire ceiling -- for forty-five dollars. Other customers ranged from polite homeless people doing chores for the owners in order for housing to the crazy people you tried to break into our "room" (i.e. freakish cubicle) during the night. We were lulled to sleep by noises of people vomiting. Worst travelling experience ever. Scared out of my mind! We were supposed to stay for two days but refused to stay the second night even thought the entire city of NYC was booked and we had to drive to Jersey for a hotel room. The facilities were somewhat disgusting, the smell lingered in our clothes and sleeping bags, we ended up having to get them dry cleaned because they reeked even two weeks later. Although the staff was very nice, this place is a joke, I can't believe this is even on this website.