Songpa Hostel

The only thing this place has going for it is the price, around $7 to $13 a night. I picked it for that reason and, because my new job was delayed by COVID and other circumstances, ended up stuck there for 21 days. I never had COVID. If you have to stay, I’d keep it to two nights at most and use the room just to sleep. Most rooms are basically closets, with space for a child-sized bed and a shelf. Room 409 seems to have been two rooms combined, so it’s medium-sized. The hostel is on the fourth floor with no elevator. The building entrance is often left wide open, and most room doors don’t come with keys unless you ask, so your belongings don’t feel secure. The windows mostly don’t work, which would be especially rough in winter. The bathrooms were awful. There’s barely a shower, and the women’s bathroom seemed even worse than the men’s. The men’s had long hair and dusty cobwebs everywhere. Bathrooms sit right beside the kitchen, which had bugs and open food bags lying around. The Wi-Fi kept dropping after about five minutes, then came back after unpredictable stretches. I wouldn’t recommend this to women. It felt like a very rough shelter, even less pleasant than that, and I can’t understand how the building meets zoning rules. I’d only suggest it to someone desperate or nearly homeless, or someone prepared to put up with conditions just above that.