Everyone knows New York is an expensive place to visit, especially if you would like a decent room in a good location.

Whilst I was looking into accommodation in the weeks prior to arriving in this amazing city, I kept reading about how much more affordable it is to stay off the island in one of the other burrows such as Brooklyn or Queens. Now that I have spent over a month in New York I can tell you with confidence this is entirely untrue. Accommodation is similarly priced both in and out of Manhattan, so you may as well make the most of your visit and stay in city.

So after deciding staying in Manhattan was the only way to go I stumbled onto Hostelling International. HI are a large worldwide hostel chain that offer quality hostels at reasonable prices.

Membership options are available and beneficial if you’re planning extended travel. Whilst I initially balked at the idea of paying $28USD per year for access to standard per night prices, upon discovering the quantity of HI hostels across the US and the additional price surcharge for non-members, the membership option became more attractive. Membership also includes a free night of accommodation and as the NY hostel is one of the most expensive, I happily redeemed my free night.

HI New York City is a great hostel. Located on Amsterdam at West 103rd, it’s a 2 min walk to the subway station, surrounded by restaurants, cafes and supermarkets and ideal for anyone looking to explore to the city.

Dorms are divided into male and female, with only couples able to stay in the mixed dorm options. I chose to stay in a 12 bed female dorm for the member price of $51.99USD per night. Yes Manhattan is expensive, yes I was paying this much money to sleep with 11 other people, but the rooms are large, clean, comfortable and overall a really good option for the price.

HI NY Kitchen

The hostel kitchen is large, clean and well stocked. Image credit Miolo

With a quality cafe serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, lounge area / dining area open 24 hours, a large kitchen, cinema room, outdoor patio and wifi throughout, I really feel that this is one of the best accommodation options in New York, no matter your budget. The hostel also provides free activities and events for it’s guests. Stand-up comedy nights, pub crawls and walking tours are all offered by the friendly and helpful staff, and the reception desk is available 24 hours.

HI NY Free Events

Plenty of activities, both free and at cost, are available every day and night. Image credit Sherry Ezhuthchan

All rooms are well cleaned, the shared bathrooms are large with plenty of showers and sinks, and the laundry facilities are very good with washers and driers surprisingly available most of the time.

The only downside I found was simply due to size. HI New York City is huge comprising of 5 floors with over 50 rooms on each. I found it to be similar to a hotel with large groups of American and international school students, sporting teams and families occupying entire dorms. And whilst there were certainly many international backpackers, the scale of the building and dominance of school aged groups throughout meant the intimacy found in many hostels was not present here.

But for me, HI New York City was ideal. The location was perfect, I was able to spend a month on my backpacker budget in one of my favourite cities in the world, and I will be sure to stay again when I’m next in Manhattan.

Feature image credit: Daniel