Central Park Inn

New York can be a very expensive city, especially when it comes to accomodation. Staying at a place like this will give you a few extra bucks to spend having fun. The location is great (really close to the subway.) When I stayed this place was packed with young backpackers from all over. Very good atmosphere. I stayed in a 12 bed mixed dorm. I payed around $ 30 a night, which isn’t bad at all considering New York prices. I will definitely stay here again the next time I visit New York.

I’ll admit it, I was a little skeptical of staying in hostel, but it was nothing like I imagined. It was very clean and the people (both staff and hostel mates) were extremely nice. It’s in a great location and super close to the subway, which was awesome! The price was great too! Only 30/​per night and I only had one roommate. It feel like my belongings were safe and secure. The bathroom situation wasn’t too bad, but you usually didn’t wait too long for one.
If you’re short on money or don’t want to spend all of your money on a hotel and you plan on being out the room for most of the day, I highly recommend this place.
And make sure you bring cash because they don’t accept credit or debit cards.

It sounds like other travelers had a bad time here, but I thought this place was fine. Maybe things have improved?
We booked super last minute (like day before) but were still able to get a spot here. Private room for two, $ 80 ($ 40/​person).
Good location RIGHT by the subway & central park in the upper west side of Manhattan. There was even free parking available to us on the street… in New York City. Shiiiet. Be advised, though, that you can’t park during street cleaning in the afternoons on Mondays & Thursdays. We booked our stay here on Monday & Tuesday night, & took off before cleaning on Thursday ;)
Be advised: CASH ONLY… yeah, weird!
Facilities were OK, not super nice, but not gross or dirty. I’ve been to a ton of hostels and this one was pretty OK in my book.

I stayed here with a friend in December of 2009 for four nights. We paid $ 22 per person per night through an online booking service.
I’d characterize the condition of the hostel as old and clean… enough. It is a cheap hostel in Manhattan, after all. In terms of what I expect from a hostel, this place delivers the minimum (beds, bathrooms, and internets) but not much else.
The people at the front desk were responsive to direct questions, which is a nice way of saying they don’t go out of their way to do anything. They will store bags for you in a locked room on your check-​in and check-​out days. They also gave my friend a key to the girls-​only bathroom. I peeked in and it wasn’t any different from the unisex ones (which like everything else were old and clean enough).
We stayed in a room that had four beds, lockers, and two Germans. The beds were clean enough and warm enough. The lockers were small as another reviewer pointed out, but if you travel sensibly, your stuff will fit (my two cents on packing light). The Germans were pleasant and left after two nights.
There was a creepy old dude in the hall a few times. I don’t think this hostel has an age limit, but he wasn’t creepy because he was old, he was creepy because he wouldn’t stop staring.
Central Park Hostel is conveniently located a stone’s throw from Central Park and the 103^rd St subway station. It was very nice to be just a minute away from trains to downtown. If you are able-​bodied, you can also walk to any of the touristy locations in and around Central Park.
For the price and location, I was satisfied. If you stay in a hostel, you are paying for a place to sleep and should expect to spend most of your time elsewhere. If I were staying at a hostel in New York City again, I’d look for something better, but I wouldn’t mind staying here another time.

I had arranged to stay with someone in New York while I was here but he decided to bail on me last second leaving me with almost no options. I went to the closest HI hostel but they were sold out for the night (typical of New York)… I then spent an hour or two going from place to place until i found this place. Its not the worst hostel I’ve ever stayed at, but by no means is it even close to the best and I have stayed at many dozens of hostels around the world. The price is what really got me, $ 40 a night! come on, I got a place in Tokyo that was better for under that. I would have just slept in the park across the street but i was having a shit time and had a feeling it would just get worse if I decided to do that. Anyway, the staff was far from friendly the people in and around the hostel were just a tad «shifty», and it just didn’t have some basic amenities i feel a good hostel should have (i.e. free lockers, free internet, generally clean restrooms, etc…). If you can stay somewhere else, New York has a plethora of hostels, there is bound to be a better one.

Generally, it was OK. ³⁄₅ is the best this place could get from me. I had to stay here for 5 days, and survived, and so can you.
First of, the location being close to metro is a big advantage (less than a block) and transportation is not a problem if you get used to the metro system. (don’t take express trains, like I did. what a waste of time)
Also, the rooms are generally clean, but blankets are definitely not. I was so disgusted by the hair on the blankets, and couldn’t use them during my stay, however, I could find a use for them. isolation.
My bed was next to the window, and I was constantly cold in bed, since I noticed that they use duck tape for isolation. I used the blankets for isolation, and it worked. WOW.
The hostel is under camera surveillance, so I did not feel much insecure, and they have lockers in the rooms, in which only a wallet and a watch can fit. Nothing else.
This is my list of things to be brought to a hostel, for a much better stay.
–Bathroom cleaner
–Slippers
–Shampoo
–Towel
–Sleeping bag (I am now sure that this is the best idea ever, and clean)
–A sheet, pillowcase and blanket if you don’t have a sleeping bag.
–Padlock for mini-​lockers.
Good Luck.