Hostel Buffalo-Niagara — Hotel in Buffalo

Hostel Buffalo Niagara understands the spirit of hostelling well. Pity the City of Buffalo wants to sell out the building from under the organization. The locals have rallied to save the Main Street institution smack dab in a vital theater district showing everything from Hamilton to off off off Broadway. My room was neat and secure. The kitchen had two stoves, two sinks and two fridges and plenty of counter space. A common room off the kitchen gave me a peaceful place to drink coffee and write. I drank coffee, wrote and gazed upon the passing subway cars. The fun awaits close at hand and the staff can handle night owls and late check outs alike. I wish I had found a Save the Hostel sticker before I checked out. All the cool businesses downtown proudly displayed the message.

As much as I'm a big fan on my own room, bunking with twelve men has brought back memories of my time in the barracks, the former. At the Sigma Nu House, at the corner of Oakhill and Abbott in East Lansing, the men kept their rooms for entertaining. And we all slept in the dormer.

We actually built a bar in our room, with shelves for bottles of spirits and a fridge for beer. When we held a house wide progressive party, each room following an international theme, we found a bear rug and a Soviet flag and served vodka straight and vodka in orange juice. Waldo, no one went by their first names, believed strongly that communism had to be contained. I rather stood for the position, "Well, have we met the Soviets? Are the Soviets really that horrible? Lenin, Stalin, Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Putin, I was happy when MTV began singing songs of Glasnost, like Young Lawyers in Love.

Last night, I was awakened numerous times by visitors from all over arriving, almost making me think of young soldiers with their torches on while making the bed, arriving with backpacks carrying just enough gear, but no guns or ammo. I noted their movements and fell asleep when the torches went dark. These troopers worked quickly to make camp in the bunk house and score some zzzzzzs.

I awoke early, not as early as during the work week, but early enough to put on the coffee in the kitchen. Ready to be poured when a party of men and women from Spain arrived for breakfast. Like many who visit this hostel, they have rented a car to drive up to Niagara Falls, although a two dollar bus ride on the 40 bus runs all day. I usually keep to myself, just enjoying the table talk. Today, though, I asked if they knew about Goat Island. "You can drive your car out to Goat Island and visit the American and the Canadian Falls easily". "G. O. A. T Island"? "That's right. And then walk over to Luna Island, a great big stone perch between Bridal Falls and the American Falls". The group shared this news excitedly and began talking about soccer in Mandrid and Barcelona. I had shares my little bit of tourist knowledge and so could turn back to my private writing without...

What can I say? I haven't stayed in too many hostels in my life, but I'm sure that few are as pleasant as Hostel Buffalo Niagara. The first thing you notice is the welcoming reception area, with cool posters from floor to ceiling, collected over years of Buffalo art and cultural events, intermixed with handy suggestions for things to do and goings on about town. My friend and I didn't need any of that since I used to live in Buffalo, I already know my way around and had a long list of things I wanted to do, but it was nice to see that a guest could find out about a lot of cool, alternative events right there.

The hostel walls are decorated with images taken from Buffalo's past and colorful wall art and the entire place is absolutely spotless. Our room on the third floor, in the back, was very comfortable, had really high ceilings and two huge windows, giving us great light and air circulation. The bunk beds were comfortable as far as bunk beds go and the bathrooms were also clean and spacious.

There is a nice & comfy and funky lounge on the second floor, right next to an equally great and well equipped kitchen, though we didn't do any cooking. The lounge is chock-a-block with well-selected literature, comfy sofas and friendly travelers. Just last week a ping-pong table was installed in the basement and the hostel also offers bike-rentals for getting around what is an extremely bike-able city.

The hostel is located in the heart of Buffalo's theater district and within easy walking distance of downtown Buffalo attractions as well as Allentown, a historic neighborhood and foodie/bar scene destination. With the notable exception of SpOt coffee, a Buffalo institution, avoid the nearby Chippewa St nightlife strip at all costs. If you need to go further afield, the hostel is well situated for access to both the NFTA Metro train that goes up main street and a host of busses going all over. The Greyhound bus station is also about a ten minute walk away, and the Exchange St. Amtrak station is about the same.

Buffalo is a truly special town, with tons of history, art, culture and blue-collar personality. For budget travelers or those that just like hostel culture, the Hostel Buffalo-Niagara is a fantastic home base for exploring everything this underrated city, and region...

I stayed here a few days over a year ago when making my first and probably only visit to Buffalo. One particular experience during my stay at this hostel made me hesitate to write a review until now. Alas, the recent building condemnation that I discovered after accessing the business website further compelled me to write this review.

To start, Michael (the long-haired guy) was really cool and I wish there were more people like him. The other guests ranged, unfortunately, from socially inept Canadians who came from just across the border at Niagara (except for one lovely woman from Vancouver in town for an academic conference) to absolute white trash from Upstate New York. One person who claimed he was an "educator" further reinforced my points.

Renee was the absolute worst, two-faced, and most condescending person I have ever seen work at a hostel or any building that provides lodging accommodations. Bear in mind, this person was LIVING at the hostel ostensibly as part of a work-trade agreement. My experience dealing with her AND her three sons who were apparently allowed to visit for the weekend and allowed to run around the place screaming for about six hours like it was a playground on a Saturday while other guests were in their rooms said EVERYTHING I needed to know about how extremely mismanaged this place was. Because of that experience, I have to say that I am GLAD your building got condemned. Not only did you receive poor and dangerously misleading legal advice, you INTENTIONALLY mismanaged everything and you are paying the price as a result. Somehow, I had suspected that your business ran afoul of something but you decided to pull the victim card instead.

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