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Harlem YMCA Reviews

180 West 135th Street, NY 10030, New York, New York, USA

Reviews & Ratings Explained

74%

Rating
812 Total Reviews
  • 74%Value For Money
  • 80%Security
  • 71%Location
  • 85%Staff
  • 68%Atmosphere
  • 68%Cleanliness
  • 71%Facilities

The rating percentage is calculated from customers who booked within the last 12 months.

All ratings and reviews are based on the feedback and opinions of the customers who submitted them and do not express the opinions of Hostelworld.com. This way, you get an up-to-the-minute opinion of just how good a hostel really is.
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71%

Polite and enthusiastic staff. Facilities not great, plastic sheets on beds and toilets were not clean.


63%

The facilities are really old and some of them had problems (flush was not working / the whole bathroom was under water). Rooms are super small. Breakfast was only free for the first night. It is taken in a nearby restaurant and it was actually ok.


63%

Security is too much. Big bro is watching as if you are a prisoner. Horrible. For women there 's only one bathroom with no seperate toilet toilet on floor 11. So you have to wander to other floors looking for a toilet in the middle of the night. Staff is friendly and location is great, when you like Harlem. Good food around and subway is close. At the back theres a great view on Manhattan, which we enjoyed.

  • 08 May 2013
  • Novice Nomad
  • Anonymous
  • Netherlands
  • Couple, 31-40
  • (1 review)


80%

Good to have all the fitness facilties. There was a lavatroy flushing loudly all night on the 11th floor for more than one night. I hope it was fixed.

  • 08 May 2013
  • Novice Nomad
  • Anonymous
  • England
  • Male, 41+
  • (1 review)


80%

We went there just to have a place to sleep. The staff was really nice and friendly. Bedrooms are small, but enough if only to sleep. Very near the metro station.

  • 08 May 2013
  • Novice Nomad
  • Anonymous
  • France
  • Male, 18-24
  • (1 review)


57%

Place was okay, security staff was not too friendly but did their job. High price for just normal room and the windows didn't block any noises coming from the street. Also the door was just about to break and you could hear everything coming from hallway. Place to stay if your flight leaves from La Guardian airport next day it was "cheap" about 30$ from the hostel to airport.


57%

Our bedroom that has no mirror which is difficult when drying our hair and also more awkward when doing our make up on without the mirror, difficult because we only had one shared bathroom with everyone on a whole floor which always being used that has the mirror. Our beds were not so comfortable because we could feel the springs from the mattress and it squeaks when we Moved! The pillow is rather slim/flat and we had to fold it in halves to puff it up. To have a better sleep.

  • 05 May 2013
  • Novice Nomad
  • Anonymous
  • England
  • Female, 31-40
  • (1 review)

Owner Comment (Hide)
Dear J, We sincerely regret that you did not have a more enjoyable stay with us! We appreciate the feedback and are in the process of installing new mirrors in all of the rooms. We hope that you had an opportunity to relay some of this feedback during your stay so that we could address the problems of the uncomfortable pillows and mattresses in your room right away. Sincerely, Thalia Harlem Guest Rooms Management

80%

Our group had a great time in NYC and the YMCA Harlem was a great place for us because of the great location, the rooms were clean, the price was good, and the staff was very kind and helpful. The only negatives were that one of the rooms did not have air conditioning as advertized, but it was not needed because the weather was mild. Also, one of our group members had to leave after the first night due to a death, and none of the money was refunded to them. Overall good and would stay again.

  • 04 May 2013
  • Novice Nomad
  • Anonymous
  • USA
  • Mixed Group, 31-40
  • (1 review)


80%

thanks a lot to harlem staff ! they were very kind and helpfull finding some places to go. the hostel is well situated in the center of harlem, you can reach everything from here 2 mn from the subway. Harlem atmosphere is one of the best atmosphere we met in New York


51%

more facilities and better cleaner bathroom


86%

A nice place. Rooms are very small but O.K. Staff are extreme;y helpful and nice.

  • 30 Apr 2013
  • Novice Nomad
  • Anonymous
  • USA
  • Female, 41+
  • (1 review)


91%

Though the walls are very thin, bathrooms are common and rooms small, I would definitely recommend the hostel. Staff is friendly, great location, safe neighborhood, bathrooms and rooms are clean, the only thing that bothered me is that there was no Internet in the rooms and the hostel does not have a kitchen where you can cook yourself a cup of coffee.

  • 27 Apr 2013
  • Novice Nomad
  • Anonymous
  • Slovenia
  • Female, 25-30
  • (1 review)

Owner Comment (Hide)
Dear Nives, Thank you for your valuable feedback! We are glad that you enjoyed your stay enough to recommend us to others. To address a couple of your concerns we did recently extend our free Wi-Fi up to the guest room floors and guests should already have access in the common room on each floor. We hope to strengthen the signal so that it will be accessible in all of our rooms soon. We are also working with a partner to install countertop coffee vending kiosks in our common areas. We hope you'll have another opportunity to stay with us in the future and experience these changes for yourself! Kind regards, Thalia Harlem YMCA Guest Rooms Management

91%

I was in room 1014, Have stayed previously in Flushing and Greenpoint. Each has it's pros and cons, it is the Y certainly not the Plaza. You get a small room, dresser/fridge and closet. There are 3 private bathrooms on the floor, each with it's own shower/sink/toilet. You just have to time it right, use them early like when the sun comes up, or around 11 at night. The good thing, transportation, not an issue, several bus routes and trains. And since you are in Harlem, go to Sylvias.


57%

Only 1 bathromm with 1 shower and only 1 toilet to share for a whole floor is clearly not enough and under minimum standards. The bathroom had 2 toilets but one was without door and therefore no any privacy to use it. I was 8 days in the hostel and it was not repaired.

  • 26 Apr 2013
  • Novice Nomad
  • Anonymous
  • Spain
  • Male, 41+
  • (1 review)


83%

This is a YMCA which meant it was a lot different from the hostel environment we were used to, but that didn't matter. Th e rooms and bathrooms were very basic, but what we needed. The YMCA was very close to a subway making it very easy to get into the 'touristy' part of New York. The thing that really made this place stand out was the staff that worked there. They were incredibly friendly, polite and helpful. It made staying in New York affordable.

Owner Comment (Hide)
Dear Holly, Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback! We are glad to hear that you enjoyed your stay and that our staff helped make it a pleasant one. If you have any suggestions for how we can improve the atmosphere of our guest rooms to give it more of that hostel environment you're accustomed to please do let us know! You can email us at harlemguestrooms@ymcanyc.org Kind regards, Thalia Harlem YMCA Guest Rooms Management Kind regards

89%

One of the best hostels I've ever stayed at!!!


74%

Sheets were stained.

  • 08 Apr 2013
  • Novice Nomad
  • Anonymous
  • France
  • Female, 31-40
  • (1 review)

Owner Comment (Hide)
Dear Sonia, Thank you for the feedback, and we sincerely apologize that you experienced that. We will redouble our efforts with our housekeeping staff to ensure that they are carefully checking the linens and discarding any that are stained. If you have any other suggestions for how we could have improved your stay, please don't hesitate to reach out to us directly at harlemguestrooms@ymcanyc.org. Thank you! Thalia Harlem YMCA Guest Rooms Management

89%

Great location in historic Harlem. The rooms are small but clean. I love the fact that you can use the gym for free.

  • 07 Apr 2013
  • Novice Nomad
  • Anonymous
  • USA
  • Female, 41+
  • (1 review)


57%

the hostel was ok but i didn't feel at ease with the neighboorhood (location).and we can't have visitors in our room.

Owner Comment (Hide)
Dear Yacouba, Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. We're very sorry to hear that you did not feel comfortable in the neighborhood. In regards to visitors, our guests can in fact have visitors in the room, but for security reason they are not allowed in the rooms past 11pm in the evening unless they have also made a booking to stay in our facility. We hope that you will have an opportunity to stay with us again in the future so that we can improve your experience! Regards, Thalia Harlem YMCA Guest Rooms Management

63%

Perhaps it was due to Easter holidays...but the women's bathrooms remained uncleaned over the weekend...but the staff was always helpful & friendly!!

  • 30 Mar 2013
  • Novice Nomad
  • Anonymous
  • Austria
  • Female, 25-30
  • (1 review)

Owner Comment (Hide)
Dear Julia, Thank you for the feedback! We are very sorry to hear that you experienced uncleaned bathrooms over the duration of your stay. We have brought this to the attention of our housekeeping supervisor and are implementing a new system so that we can better monitor how often our bathrooms and common areas are being attended to. Our staff strive to go through each of them every two hours. We hope that you will have an opportunity to stay with us again in the future so that we can offer you an improved experience! Regards, Thalia Harlem YMCA Guest Rooms Management

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