Five Elements Hostel

The heating worked very well and the Wi-Fi was stable. The beds in the eight-person dorm each had a lamp and two power outlets, and a large locker that fully enclosed your things. Bring your own lock or rent one from the receptionist. Sheets, pillowcases and duvet covers cost €3 apiece. Shared toilets and showers are divided by gender on each floor, and there's one Hair dryer in the communal washrooms. The common areas have free hot coffee and self-service tea bags in different flavors, with sugar, maple syrup and milk available. Downstairs in the basement, the communal kitchen has a toaster, kettle, fridge, induction cooker and cooking utensils for guests to use free of charge. You can leave luggage without charge at check-in or checkout, or pay to use a locker. It's a three to five minute walk from Frankfurt train station. The hostel is in one of Germany's most notorious drug-addicted and red-light districts, but once inside I felt safe. You ring the doorbell for the receptionist to let you into reception and the common area. To reach the rooms by elevator, show your check-in information card, then the receptionist opens a second door. Use your room key for the final door into your room.

The hostel has a pleasant common area with tables, outlets and coffee, tea and water, and the front desk staff let me spend time there before check-in and after checkout. Service was good. The street outside is in the red light district and feels pretty seedy, with drunk people and drug users around. The facade is easy to miss, and looking for it among bars, strip clubs and a sex shop was a little scary. Once you find it, security seems good: press the outside button to be buzzed in, and the rooms are behind another locked door that a front desk attendant opens manually. They often ask to see your hostel card, so people coming straight from the street almost certainly can't get into the room section. The public areas, at least upstairs on floor 5 where I stayed, got hot, stuffy and a bit stinky. If you can afford it, I'd suggest a room with its own bathroom.

The hostel itself was great for friendliness, cleanliness, facilities, activities, accessibility and free food nights. The location was the exception. Streets were full of druggies and pickpocketers, with police often visible handcuffing people. At night it could feel really scary.

The hostel has clean rooms and toilets, kind staff, reception open h24 and a very good breakfast. I didn't feel scared or threatened, but the location is really bad, with junkies all around the block and a terrible smell as a result. It's a shame those people don't get help from the municipality.