Young & Happy Latin Quarter by Hiphophostels, Paris

Young & Happy Hostel is a fun and exciting hostel with a great vibe, making it easy to meet other travelers.

The Location

Young & Happy is located in the Latin Quarter of Paris, which is a great neighbourhood full of bars, cafes, and street markets during the weekends. There is a metro stop located close by the hostel (about five minutes' walk), which allows easy access to the rest of the city. It is recommended to buy ten tickets at a time rather than individually. You can walk to the sights as well -- the Eiffel Tower takes about an hour, but Notre Dame only takes around fifteen minutes. The Pantheon is right around the corner, as is St. Michel, which is a great street for shopping and eating. The Latin Quarter itself can be a little tricky to navigate at first, so it can be hard to find the hostel, but once you are on the right street, it's hard to miss as there are flags out front.

Rooms and Bathrooms

The rooms are accessed by key card, so they are very secure; although no lockers are offered in the rooms, there are a few in the lobby. Luggage storage is also offered free of charge. The dorms are reasonably sized, although there are not many outlets. Each room has a sink and mirror, which is very handy as the toilets and showers are located only on the first and second floors. There are private rooms available. The hostel is four flights high and the stairs are very narrow and can be tricky to walk up, and especially tricky taking a big suitcase up as there is no lift available. There are a few pubs outside the hostel, which can get noisy at night, too.

Although very few, the toilets and showers are clean enough. However, with the showers you must press a button for the water, which only stays on for fifteen seconds before you have to press the button again -- this can get annoying! The cubicles aren't very big, and can get quite wet. There are hooks for your things, though. There is also a lockout from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. so that the dorms and showers can be cleaned. You are able to access your things during this time, though.

Common Spaces

The lobby area of the hostel is a great place to meet other travelers, with books, games, foosball table, and computers to use for a charge. The free Wi-Fi only works in the lobby, which can be annoying, but it does mean there is more atmosphere at the hostel! There are chairs and tables all around, and a few outlets, too. There are more chairs and tables downstairs where you can sit and eat, too. The breakfast is set out downstairs and consists of cereal and a croissant/roll with juice, tea, and coffee. There is also a small kitchen where you can cook your meals, although equipment is limited and the fridge is only small.

Summary

Young & Happy is a good hostel with a friendly vibe, where it's easy to meet other friendly travelers. It's in a great area of Paris and has everything you need to enjoy your stay in this exciting city.

Very clean, and fun, social atmosphere!

Guy at desk is super nice, and I met some really fun people -- atmosphere is great for socializing. Very clean except shower stalls are really humid but that's standard! Only complaint is that guests seem to have no respect for people sleeping -- including turning on lights in room at night and talking loudly in the morning while people are still trying to sleep. I would highly recommend this hostel to anyone.

A great hostel in Paris!

Yes! Its true! a good hostel in Paris. Its in the cutest neighborhood with loads of bars and cheap restaurants because of the high student population. A short walk to a metro that can take you anywhere in Paris. Staff was super friendly and rooms were clean. Only negatives were the lack of outlets in the rooms and the showers were on the middle floor and weren't particularly clean.

Great location, nice staff but could do with a bit of a clean

The location is great close to cafes and bars. The notre dame and the Louvre are within walking distance and a quick and cheep cab drive to the Eiffel tower. The staff are very nice and helpful with any questions you may have. The free WiFi is great but only works on the first floor. The only down side is your not aloud in your rooms from 11am to 4pm for cleaning which does not really show for the amount of time they are up there for the floor was always dirty when we returned to our room so not to sure what they are doing up there for so long but other then that a great place to stay for a few nights. Remember its a hostel not a hotel.

Good location, nice people ... but that's about it

Pros: the location is really great, the staff are very nice, free breakfast, free Wi-Fi, luggage storage room, 11am checkout. Cons: No lockers in rooms, no toilets on some floors, not particularly clean, too many beds in the room = no space for everyone's gear, Wi-Fi restricted to the communal areas, press button (timer) showers. All in all I enjoyed my stay here, but I'm not sure I could really recommend it. My 5 bed female dorm 'with en suite', had no toilet and the shower had a giant hole in the wall, so we all used the communal showers. For the price you pay, it could do with being cleaned up a bit; I guess it depends what you consider important in your accommodation.

Pretty gross, but good location

The one good thing about this hostel is the location, its about 20 minutes walk to Notre Dame, and is really close to a metro station. The staff were also very nice. However, this was not a very clean place. The showers had mold on them, and although the water temperature was good, you have to keep pressing a button every 30 seconds for water. I stayed in a 5-bed female en-suite; can't really call it an en-suite because the shower was unusable in the room and there also wasn't a toilet. Really tiny room as well. Also I am not sure if they change the pillow and blanket that are on the beds in between guests. Overall wasn't the worst, but I would have preferred something a bit cleaner for the price I was paying.

Warm, friendly, and nice people

Laying in the heart of Paris, offering suitable clean rooms with a very sufficient offer of breakfast, internet, and everything you need, I would highly recommend this place for a short term stay (three to five days). I got to know new friends there and felt at home during my stay.

Pretty good!

I thought this place was, by youth hostel standards, really good. I was surprised to read that some people found it dirty or the staff a problem. I found it clean and the staff really friendly. I have stayed in many hostels around Europe and this was one of the best. Obviously really valuable items or large amounts of money shouldn't be left in the dorm rooms under any circumstances. As one person thought it was a cool idea to rail surf half naked down the staircase in spite of a previously read warning, you only have to think for a second that a normal person would not attempt such a silly thing and to think the Hostel is in any way to blame for this stupid act is absurd. The hostel was, at least in my experience (July 2007) a friendly, clean place with a fantastic location.