Central Park West Hostel

The listing gave the wrong impression: the bathrooms are shared, Wi-Fi only reaches reception, and the “kitchen” is a fridge and microwave. The hostel itself was unsanitary, with cockroaches on the walls, floor and even in my bed, a window broken and patched with cardboard, and very dirty shared bathrooms. Both the room and common areas were dirty. They first said I would get a refund, then refused it. Neither the hostel nor Stayforlong offered any help. After paying for another place to stay, I eventually got my money back through a bank chargeback two months later. RUN from this hostel !!!

I hated coming back here, even just to sleep, and I'd rather die than stay again. The place smells dirty, the rooms never get cleaned, and the sheets don't seem to have been washed. There was dust and allergens everywhere, and I got sick during my stay. At least the hot water was always available, I guess. A really bad experience, and I wouldn't waste money on it.

Bugs, dust, sticky stuff, mold, grime and hair everywhere. It's disgusting, and I've seen prisons cleaner. Other NYC hostels with the same star rating and price range are much cleaner and have fewer bugs. I know we pay less than a hotel and have shared bathrooms, bunk beds and no luxury, but that doesn't explain this level of dirt. Are the cleaning staff grossly underpaid and unable to care about the job? If that's what's happening, the bosses need to pay them fairly. As things are, the cleaning is seriously neglected, and who can blame the staff if they're not paid properly?

At 11pm, one week before Christmas, three of us women were left on the streets of NYC with no room and no refund. They'd resold our reservation to whoever arrived before us and kept our money, while other places were already booked. There's a police station three blocks south of the property, so go there if you run into trouble here. The atmosphere felt dangerous, with sketchy men staying long term and backing up the place's illegal business practices. A male guest told us to run because it was dangerous.