City Hostel

The centrally located City Hostel is that unusual beast, a hostel put together at an aesthetic level that few hotels manage.

The entire hostel is beautiful if austere, like a super glamorous monastery. Sturdy bedframes, gorgeous stencil wallpaper and very little else in the way of ornamentation may not sound like a design coup, but in fact the hostel’s 18 rooms (both privates and dorms) are stunning in their minimalism.

Bathrooms are altogether less glamorous, though the floors feature rows of tiny goldenrod tiles, and shower curtains are bold and colorful. Both touches inject a little flair into otherwise basic facilities. One nice feature is that all rooms have private showers. Some rooms also have en suite toilets, and for others the toilets are located down the hall.

It takes chutzpah, or at least a finely developed sense of dark humor, for a hostel to hang a huge promotional poster hawking Quentin Tarantino's "Hostel" in its lounge. And what a lounge: swank, with black walls, the hostel's signature stencil wallpaper, a massive mobile, and a corner Internet station. City Hostel is linked to Hotel Classic around the corner, and shares certain of Classic's facilities. The hostel's safe deposit box, for example, is located at Hotel Classic.

Breakfast is included. Note that the hostel does not have an elevator.