Excellent place to stay for my trip into Boston. I was planning on staying two nights, but ended up only staying one night when my original flight got cancelled. I called the hostel late that night to tell them I wouldn't be coming in until the next day and they changed my reservation so I only had to pay for one night instead of two. The room, bed, lockers, etc. were all acceptable. I checked out in the morning before breakfast so I can't comment on that.

Perhaps the best part was its location. It was extremely easy to find from the Hynes Convention Center subway stop, and it was about a 5 minute walk to Fenway Park from the hostel. Not once did I feel unsafe or uncomfortable. There is a Wendy's, McDonald's,and Dunkin Donuts not too far away as well.

Overall, I couldn't beat this location and price. I would definitely stay there again!

This hostel does have some amenities that are nicer than other hostels (i.e. flip flops, bedding with 2 blankets, lockers in the rooms... just bring your own lock). As a single woman, I just wouldn't wander around the hostel after 9pm, as a few shady people were outside then. There is a share of alcohol consumption that goes on by fellow hostellers, so more than one of my roommates came back intoxicated. It's a few blocks from the Metro (subway) stop. The group activities in the evenings are a nice way to meet people.

I stayed at the HI-Boston Downtown Hostel for two nights in March 2008, in a female room with 3 friends. The booking was very easy through their Internet Reservations page, I received a detailed confirmation email only a couple of hours later. We went to the hostel by subway and got off of the Green Line at Hynes International Convention Center. The hostel was very close and easy to reach: when we got out of the subway station, we turned to the left, crossed Massachusetts Av. at the intersection with Boylston Str., walked only a block, and turned left to Helmenway St. The hostel was almost directly at the corner, on the left. The staff were extremely friendly and gave us lots of information. Our room was quite spacious, the beds were very clean, the mattresses very comfortable, the lockers large enough for backpacks or medium-sized suitcases. If you forget to bring your own locker, you can get one at the reception for 4,50$. We had a nice view to a very quiet street with typical Bostonian brick houses. The restrooms were quite clean, there were also some private restrooms, the showers were good. Breakfast was definitely OK: you can choose between coffee or tea, bagels or pastry, with butter or jam, and apples. You can have as much coffee or tea as you want, throughout the whole day. There is also a large kitchen where you can prepare yourself some food. And there's also a laundry in the basement. If you have your own laptop, you can use the wireless lan- what most people do since their Internet access is quite expensive: I think 2,50$ for only 20 minutes. The atmosphere in the Hostel was great, there were many international guests, it was very easy to get in touch with other travellers and exchange experiences. The location of the Hostel was very convenient: it was like 20 minutes to the city centre (Boston Commons) by foot and very close to many restaurants, shopping malls, museums, etc. So all in all it was a great experience, I would definitely recommend this hostel and would stay there again!

it is a very high level hostel: rooms and services are confortable and clean; many activities are daily organised by the staff; kitchen and dining room are big and full of nice people; coffee and tee are served all day long for free and breakfast is ok!

I would definetively reccomend it, even if the location is not central (but close to a metro station)!!!