youth hostile NY city
 

My 19 yr old daughter and 2 girlfriends are going to NYC in March to see plays. They are looking at staying at the Columbus Square Youth Hostile. Does anyone know if this is safe? Thank you!!

I really hope you mean youth hostel, not youth hostile!

Do you mean Columbus Circle Youth Hostel? (There is no Columbus Square in NYC.) Either way, I'm not familiar with these hostels. There are a lot of shady, not so nice hostels in NYC, but I couldn't begin to say if this is one of them or not.

However, there are some places I could recommend. A room with shared bath at the Pod Hotel would be a decent choice, but those rooms can only hold 2 people, not 3.

There is only one Hostelling International Hostel in NYC and it's on the Upper West Side. They could also try sharing a hotel room, but that would no doubt be twice as expensive per night. The Vanderbilt YMCA also rents rooms with shared baths. The Gershwin Hotel also has a couple of shared hostel-style rooms, and that's a decent hotel in an OK neighborhood; definitely not my style, but it's a possibility.

If I were them, I'd try booking a boom on Priceline. You can often get rooms for $99, and these are at legitimate 3-star hotels. But I'm just too old that the hostel experience simply doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. With a couple of months advance notice, I think they can do better than a hostel if they can afford a little more money and be a little mor secure.

The Hostelling International hostel is a very safe and good place for young people to stay.

I stayed there one December when one of my family members gave me last minute tickets to the opera and hotel rooms (if they could be found) were in the $300-$400 range.

It's one block from the Metro station and convenient to everything because of this proximity to the metro.

Highly recommend for young people on a budget.

Would not recommend just any hostel anywhere, just the Hostelling International ones.

By the way, many of these so-called hostels are not legal in that they do not have the appropriate certificate of occupancy; some of them were former single-room-occupany hotels and have been switched to a more lucrative format. So they may not meet any of the city's safety or security guidelines. I don't know if this hostel your daughter has booked into falls in to that category, but many of them do.

I know that the various YMCAs and the HI Hostel are legal and meet the current city fire and building codes. That would be my major concern, apart from the matter of personal security you give up by staying in a hostel.

Priceline won;t work since there are 3 girls.

The Hosteling International is enormous - hundreds of people I believe - they even run their own tours sometimes. I encounter kids from there in the summer - often european - and they all seem perfectly happy with it. It's about $40 per night per bed/locker in a dorm room.

They might want to check if there are any smaller private rooms that might not be much more than the $120. The area is mixed but perfectly safe and has a ton of good, inexpensive restaurants - and isn;t far from Columbia and some college hangouts.

Doug and others--FYI, there now is a "Columbus Square"--it's what they're calling the new complex of apt buildings and stores on Columbus Avenue 97th-100th st. http://www.columbussq.com
As far As I can tell, there is no associated youth hostel with that name.

Travelzoo has some really good deals for NYC hotels January-March. Most are for double occupancy, but may be worth calling some of the hotels and seeing if bigger rooms are available. There's an all suites hotel, Candlewood Suites for $99 plus tax--maybe that would work?
http://hotels.travelzoo.com/new-york-hotels/723592
One issue might be if all the girls are under 21, as some hotels will not allow them to check in .

Whatever you decide, I would also call the hotel directly to confirm if 19 year olds are allowed to rent rooms with out an adult.

here's a link to the Chelsea Hostel which is in my neighborhood. It seems a very safe place, always see happy young travelers going in and out - and more importantly, it's across the street from the neighborhood police precinct station house!
http://www.chelseahostel.com/aboutus.html

Thanks for all the information for the idiot that I am! Everyone has great ideas that I will start investigating.

Some NYC Hotel Info.
Here are 2 or 3 other options for you:

The Jane Hotel: www.thejanenyc.com (212) 924-6700 Ask about their $99.00 special (113 Jane st, West Village)

Ace Hotel {NEW} (Near Madison Park) 20 W. 29th st. (212) 679-2222 www.acehotel.com Ask about their $119.00 rates.

Also try: www.quikbook.com for hundreds of hotels/deals in NYC
Cheers!

Two more

Jazz on the Town (Yes it is a hotel with a large young European following)

Second Home on Second-another popular spot with young Europeans

I would also suggest The Ace as a good choice, the rates are very reasonable and the location is good, very close to Herald Square and lots of shopping. There are restaurants close by, and lots of pizza and fastish food options. The Ace has alot of musicians in their upper quality rooms, and in some rooms there are even guitars for guests to use.

Second Home on Second is CLOSED. For a theater trip, the best located hostels would be bigapplehostel.com and the Westside YMCA. But for 3 girls, they might do just as well staying in a budget hotel in the Times Square area like the Hotel at Times Square (one of the applecorehotels.com) which has rooms with 2 queen beds and a free cont. b/f.

Be very careful about hostels. Some of the lesser known ones are just flophouses.

These girls are 19. There is no way that a hotel is going to let them check-in. Perhaps the HI will though - you absolutely *must* call first.

Hostels will take legal adults - 18 and older - although many hotels won;t take under 21's -esp in a group. If they want to try a hotel a parent might be able to guarantee their room cost - but they wold have to be sure the kids credit card hs a significant amount above the room rate - since rooms for young people often have a high hold - as much as $1000 - in reserve for potential damage.

There are hotels that will take under 21's. The Belvedere is one of the nicer options. The Wellington will but not as nice.

Thank you for all the options. Everyone is so helpful it is amazing!
There are so many hotel rooms (especially the ones they can afford)that only allow two people. The girls would like to book a room for two and have the third sleep on the floor or air mattress. Does anyone have an opinion on this?
Thanks again for all your help! The places they were choosing on their own were very questionable!

"The girls would like to book a room for two and have the third sleep on the floor or air mattress. Does anyone have an opinion on this?"

I don't know what kind of opinion you are looking for, but if the hotel doesn't allow it, it shouldn't be done

"The girls would like to book a room for two and have the third sleep on the floor or air mattress."

What they suggest is illegal and one of the precise reasons hotels are reluctant t allow those under 21 to rent their rooms. NYC has strict fire regulations plus the hotel rooms can be very small. If three want to share a room, they must all have beds provided by the hotel.

Some hotel rooms might have room for a hotel-provided rollaway bed, and there are also hotel that have two doubles or three singles. I know the Park South Hotel has less expensive rooms with two doubles. Years ago friends stayed inexpensively at the Wolcott hotel, which had some rooms with three twin beds--can't vouch for the quality of this hotel now since it's been 10 years.