HI - Paris - Cité des Sciences Hostel

If you are expecting a five-star hotel then you might be disapointed, but if you are looking for a hostel this is an awesome bet. Out of the last thirty or so hostels ive stayed at, I guarantee this is in the top five. It is clean, new, located five to ten minutes from Paris center by metro and very friendly. The bunks are well seperated, there are showers in the rooms (most bunk rooms have five people in them). There is a fully equipped kitchen, the free breakfast is better than any other included hostel breakfast ive had (cereal, bread rolls, tea, coffee, jam, hot chocolate, etc), and for about twenty Euros a night, i highly recommend it. I cant comment on the private rooms, but as for the dorms i would highly recomend this hostel to any traveller. It is a poorer area of town, but everyone is friendly, it is well lit into the early hours of the morning, and there is a massive selection of cheap food within five minutes walk in any direction.

All in all a decent enough hostel. The beds were clean and so were the rooms, though small. The staff are pleasant enough and help out. Breakfast (included in the price) is not so great, and consists mainly of French bread and butter. Coffee, hot chocolate and orange juice (with pulp) are available as drinks. Standard fare, I presume. ;) The crowning features of this hostel are the amazing showers. They are VERY relaxing after a long hard day of sightseeing. The location, as stated earlier, is horrible. Out of the way, Hoche is a place even taxi drivers think twice about. We were warned by the lady driver that the location is quite unsafe, and we should get back relatively early (it was 02:30 a.m. at the time). Sure enough the loud noises of the drunkards in the street keep one awake at night. Walls are paper-thin, and even the sound of the faucet opening in the next room is amplified. Beds are clean, though quite uncomfortable. My $0.02? Try the other places, and keep this as your backup!

First and foremost, this place is cheaper than most hostels in Paris. Its location is definitely one reason why, the other reason is due to the building's age. I have spent LOTS of time at this hostel as it was my main "hub" for travelling throughout Europe two years ago, and I don't have any bad memories of it at all. In fact, I just returned from another two-week stay at the hostel and I'm glad to report that it now has a new Director and they are trying their best to make the hostel a much cleaner and welcoming place! Many of the sinks are being replaced with new ones. They're working on making the hallways brighter (if you've been there you know that you have to press a button on the wall to get full lighting — this is in order to save money and electricity). And they will also be renovating the old section (this is the part of the hostel that has had many problems). As far as the staff are concerned, I have had no problems with them whatsoever, and trust me, I'm picky about "customer service" and the like. They need more people working reception here, but they really do their best to make your stay comfortable. I can't count the number of times I've approached the staff with regards to directions or tourist attractions and they've been happy to help! Apparently, they're also looking into sprucing up their breakfasts in order to provide you with more of a selection to start off your day. The lockers are located in the basement, as is the laundry room, but I can't see a problem with their location. Finally, the bathrooms need help, but if you're staying in a Youth Hostel without flip-flops then I question how you travel. For me, I don't trust any sort of "communal" bathing quarters and *always* wear my flip-flops while showering. And on the bright side, at least they have hot water. :) I hope this has somewhat set the record straight for this cute little hostel located VERY close to the Metro, Cite des Sciences and the best damn boulangeries around! I also beg of you to give it a chance, as I've found a little piece of heaven within it's front gates and only hope that you can find it too! :) All the best, -The Canadian

We stayed at this hostel a total of four nights, two coming to France and two going. The hostel is well worn but not bad. It was clean, and the kitchen was used by lots of the guests, who seemed to be having fun. It had the most interactions between guests of any hostel that we have ever stayed at, and we met lots of interesting kids (ages 18-25). It has outside seating for picnicking and eating and just hanging out, as well as a TV room and a dining room. It has coin-op Internet access and a working laundry. The bathrooms on our floor were worn but everything functioned. There were no bedbugs on our floor. It's in a Turkish area of town, and although there were a lot of guys standing around on the corners, none were threatening. In the four days we were here, we began to be recognized and were greeted with big smiles by the locals. The kabob diner guy a half block away is really friendly and can speak some English. He gave us free drinks and was excited that we ate there. A Metro station is two blocks away, as well as a major street with restaurants, and a post office is four blocks away. We had a four-bed room and because it was so crowded, we had to share the room with one other guest. (There were three of us). There are some large lockers down in the basement as well as a room to be used for things like putting bikes together or taking apart. We were allowed to store our luggage there for a month while we were touring France on our bikes. The young guy at the counter was really helpful and spoke excellent English. If we had the choice of better accommodations I would take them, but if I needed a place to stay for a night and was nearby, I wouldn't cross this place off.