Grafitti Hostel

We had our own bathroom, everything worked, and the shower had nice hot water. The bed wasn’t a temperpedic, but it was what we expected at this rate. The hotel is central, with subways about three blocks in either direction. The neighborhood was quiet, with a church next door. The loudest moment was the Sunday night service letting out. Staff were friendly and always greeted us. We arrived late, and Patrick at the desk set the tone for a great stay. We’re already planning a spring trip back and will use this hotel again. We stayed three nights and didn’t see anything in our room that didn’t belong there, despite the reviews about bugs and rodents.

This was the cheapest option, and it showed. In the second room, the TV hung at a strange angle, there was no bathroom mirror, and stains covered everything. The faucet didn’t leak, which was a small plus, but that didn’t make up for the rest. After a day out, I found that someone had replaced the bathroom door without telling me, despite the “do not disturb” sign. Sawdust covered the entire floor. The first room was barely big enough for a bed and looked nothing like the website photos. Its bathroom faucet wasn’t dripping, it was streaming. I told the front desk employee, but nobody cared. On day two, I broke the key, though I’m really not that strong, and asked for a replacement. They said they didn’t have one and would leave one for me by the time I returned. They hadn’t. Instead, they taped the broken key back together, of course it didn’t work. There was no spare or master key, so I asked how I could get in. The employee said he knew how the maids did it, then used a credit card to open the door. I felt almost like a criminal getting into my own room. Eventually they gave me a different room, which was pretty much the same.

The location was alright, but the hotel was miserable for the poor quality and high price. The rooms were hot, with a joke of an aircon that was super noisy, and everything was old and smelly. The staff always looked annoyed whenever we asked for help. After a long trip, we arrived exhausted and found they hadn’t booked the bedroom we paid for. After about half an hour, they gave us the only room available, the “deluxe.” It was very dark, on the ground floor, with broken lamps and a very dirty bathroom. One day we got back at 4.30 pm and the room still hadn’t been completely changed. There were no bed sheets, so we couldn’t use the bed. We had to find the cleaner and beg her to finish after she’d left the room like that and gone away.

The location was the only good part. The receptionist was rude and no help at all, and the room was old and dirty. The bed was awful and really uncomfortable, and the pillows were even worse. The bathroom was okay, but the door lock didn’t work and my boyfriend got locked inside. When I called the receptionist, she said it always happened and told us not to lock it anymore. That was her solution, they don’t want to fix the lock, so we couldn’t lock the door. After that rude response, we didn’t bother reporting the cockroach we saw in the room. I wouldn’t go back, and it’s not even that cheap.