eKstasis Hostel + Urban Farm — Hotel in Atlanta

AVOID.

I cannot in good faith recommend this hostel. Long, but important, read ahead:

I was staying out of town for a concert and when I arrived at 1:30 AM, there was an old man approximately in his 70's and who looked like Dick Gregory sleeping in one of the beds. When I awoke the next day, the same man walked into the room and asked was I "Arnando" to which I told him I am not. He asked me several more times later in the day whenever I would return to the room (he was laying in bed this time) and I simply ignored him. I informed the owner of the property in person and he laughed and said that this man had been living there for four years straight and has dementia. Keep in mind, in most hostels, the maximum is 14 nights per calendar year. I wanted to stay with other travelers, not a mentally ill senior citizen whom jeopardizes my safety as well as the safety of others. Also, I was staying in a mixed gender dorm, which means female travelers stayed there as well and were even more uncomfortable than I was, although I am a large man with military training. Thankfully, there were no female travelers on my first night. There were on the second night and one of the young ladies whom I spoke with whilst eating dinner said he (the elderly man with dementia) harassed her several times as well. I asked the owner for a refund and, after blowing me off, he said that it would be five days but he didn't even ask my name nor sent me any proof of refund. Also, I told him that, seeing as I (and, admittedly, many other travelers in the hostel) were from out of state and came solely for the Beyonce concert and I found out about the dementia patient on the day of the concert, there would more than likely be no way for me to afford a hotel, particularly since I booked my stay in advance. Thankfully, after disputing the charge with my bank (which I was told by said bank is detrimental to businesses as it "dings" them with both Visa and, if I'm not mistaken, the Better Business Bureau), the owner agreed to refund me. If I had known ahead of time about the elderly dementia patient, I wouldn't have been as startled or uncomfortable. However, this was not the case. The owner(s) also sent me a nasty text message about how I "committed fraud" and "I hope it was worth it to you to steal money from us", although they are the ones practicing bad (and unsafe) business...

I stayed in a Mixed Twin Room. The room was clean and there was plenty of shared space for me to store my personal belongings, although there were no lockers in the room. The pillows and comforter felt clean and the mattress was pretty comfortable to sleep on. In my room there was a PS5, which I saw other guests used.

The host was very friendly and the household felt very cozy. The host's dog (chihuahua) was a little bit aggressive but all it did was bark at me. There was 24-hour coffee available, which is a very nice gesture.

However, the biggest problem I encountered during my stay was the bathroom. There is just one bathroom shared among 12 guests from 3 different rooms. This proved to be a problem especially during shower time. One night, I found myself waiting for the shower after getting back to the hostel at 1:30am. Another night, I had to wait to use the toilet when I got out of bed at 3:30am. If each guest spends 15 minutes in the shower and there are 12 guests staying in the hostel, it would take 3 hours for everyone to finish using the bathroom. This can potentially be a big issue, especially if you have an urgent need to use the toilet. For this reason, I would not really call this place a hostel but more like a shared household. Fortunately, the hostel wasn't fully occupied when I was there and I didn't have to wait for a ridiculous amount of time to use the bathroom. I think an easy solution would be to install an additional sink inside the house – things like brushing teeth and putting on contact lenses don't require the use of the shower and guests can free up the bathroom for other people.

The hostel is located in a pretty convenient location – the closest metro station is a 7-minute walk. Ubering from tourist attractions back to the hostel isn't too expensive, so this can be an option, especially if you are to return to the hostel after midnight. The neighborhood where the hostel is in is really quiet, so it can feel scary to walk alone at night.

Given that this is the only "hostel" option that is closest to downtown Atlanta, I would recommend it to solo travelers who want an affordable and cozy stay in Atlanta and don't mind having to wait to use...

This is a very laid back environment, with very little interaction from the owner/host. There is also a (hostel exchange program) host on site. They both live behind the house in the garage and trailer. If you do not know the PIN, simply walk around to the back and knock on their door to get their attention. As this is a self service hostel, do not expect too much from the host, aside from the daily room cleaning and setup.

The host will assign bunks, with your name written on the bedroom door. The bedding was clean and towels fresh, ear plugs are provided.

The house is setup with WiFi controls for lighting, HVAC, which are controlled from the Google home table in the kitchen. The living room has a smart TV though remotes may be difficult to find. There is an outdoor porch which may be enjoyable if you wear long sleeves as a barrier against mosquitoes.

As this is a very large property, there are many possibilities in the back, fire pit, enclosed yurt for yoga, music or whatever, trampoline. However as there is no structure or events planned, while I was there, I feel it's up to the guests to be proactive with the hostel, to get full experience.

This Hostel has no internal security, so do not leave your items lying around as one never knows who's going to check in.

There were no services to speak of, the "urban farm" doesn't seem to be the correct term for this hostel as it is not urban nor a farm. Heh.

I stopped by for one night while passing through Atlanta, but encountered two international travelers (Italian and Korean), along with other domestic travelers, who were in town for...