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| Contemporary artwork on the Hostelle room wall |
I opted for
an all-female hostel (yes, they actually did say “girls only”) called
“Hostelle”, clinging to the southeast edge of Amsterdam. One reason I chose it
was the direct train stop from the airport that landed me five minutes from the
facility. On the plus side, it's clean, safe, inexpensive (around $35/night) in a very
expensive city, and non-party oriented. Most of the
clientele were women in their 20s and 30s, but all ages are welcome. Visitors
can choose the amount of interaction they feel comfortable with.
A kitchen was
available, and the bathrooms and shower rooms were shared by many, though all
were kept very clean. Ear plugs and a sleep mask came in handy when two women in
our four-bed room opted for the local nightlife and usually came in after my
Taiwanese roommate (on holiday from studying in Innsbruck, Austria) and I had
already bedded down.
On the minus side, it's a considerable distance from the
attractions of town (you will have to take the Metro into Amsterdam)—and a new,
wrapped wooden comb I accidently left on the kitchen counter “disappeared”. The
Hostelle is in an odd place--surrounded by two-to-five-story 1970s-era business
buildings and their workers by day, and a gentrifying Dutch-African
neighborhood nights and weekends. Amsterdam has a massively mixed population, no surprise
considering the once-great sea power and colonization. Where the heck is
Suriname anyway? A supermarket and several cafes and restaurants were close by.
For a cheap stay, it was hard to beat.
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| The Plaza near the Hostelle featured some interesting architecture |
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