CVJM/YMCA Muenchen

Looking for a hostel without any trace of a party? Munich’s CVJM/YMCA could do the trick, as the church-run hostel offers low-cost bunk-filled rooms in a friendly, school group-friendly environment between the train station and the Ring.

Rooms here are very, very simple but recently updated. They include single private rooms with bathrooms, family rooms with bunk beds, and shared dorms with three or four bunk beds, all of which are equipped with a sink. Rooms share two toilets and two showers on each floor. Given that about 30 people per floor share these facilities, we found this ratio a bit tight.

Note that there are no double beds here, only twins. Furthermore, if reserving for two people, be sure to note that you’d like to restrict yourselves to a private room, otherwise you might wind up being placed in a triple, with a stranger occupying the third bed. (Unless, of course, you enjoy sleeping with strangers.)

The lobby has a breakfast nook, a small library, vending machines (coffee and tea is available), and a wide array of tourist brochures. A small chapel and a game room—complete with a ping pong table—are downstairs.

Some will find the church-run hostel's enforced morality a bit much: if you are an unmarried couple, you will have to sleep in separate rooms, for example (although they don’t officially monitor this). If these rules don't bother you, however, the CVJM could be a good choice for a cheap city stay.