Vanderbilt YMCA

Not so good.

A bit of a shock, the YMCA is fairly exstensive and we had to wonder if we were in the right place. Very basic room, too hot, missing facilities ie. no air-con, no remote control, no space.

I took this "hotel" as it was the only affordable option. It ruined my trip

I stayed dorm rooms in other hostels, and they were much cheaper and had a better service (free internet and local phone). At this YMCA, you need to pay for everything. Plus one staff was very rude. I left my luggage ($1 charge) to enjoy last minutes in NY. When I tried to pick it up, the staff told me I needed to wait because he was texting to someone. I told him I needed to leave now to catch my flight. The other staff sitting next to him told me, " Then you can go". The staff eventually let me pick my luggage up, but their rude attitudes annoyed me... If you are fine with staying dorms and need to save money, I recommend to stay other hostels.

Went on a trip with my mom. Both of our skin felt itchy in the room and couldn't fall asleep at all. We don't have allergy and I cant imagine what the rooms would do to people do have allergy.

Shared bathrooms, unfriendly staff, unclean sheets, extremely small room!

Worse experience of my life. I didnt feel safe there. Please never go there.

The room is pretty small. You could probably touch both sides of the walls if you spread out your arms. The heating is controlled by the staff downstairs. If you are cold, you have to go down to the lobby and ask them to turn the heat up for you. This turns up the heat for everyone. Most likely, you'll have to ask for extra blankets because the ones they provide are pretty thin. The room comes with a 14" TV, fridge and a small desk. Nothing to spectacular, but you get what you pay for. You also get free access to their gym which is pretty nice. The bed was uncomfortable. Imagine the bed you slept on when you were in the dorms in college, but smaller, thinner, and much more uncomfortable. Probably the biggest downfall about this place is the staff. They're just rude. There were a number of snide remarks when other guests and myself asked to heat to be turned on or off. There were several other incidents as well that I don't remember off the top of my head. I would recommend people stay here if they have no other options.

[...] (Oh, the noise from upset mothers about not being able to swim with their 1-3 year-old toddlers because of an uninformed staff member!!!)[...] Did I want the room? Well, yes, I did, as I had a concert to get to and really hadn't time to spare for such silliness although I did have to alter my departure plans. The toilets were out of order on the 4th Floor where my room was located. The signage indicated they had not been functioning for a while. During my 2-day stay, the shower drains had a constant accumulation of hair and etc.As it is the stuff of legend, I had always wanted to stay at the Vanderbilt Y. Now, unfortunately, it is simply a fairly clean, adequate hostel. There is a security guard at the entrance to ensure safety and that patrons only take one towel when exercising in the modest gym. The rooms are spartan, but there was a TV and the floor was clean. The Wi-Fi had limited bandwidth when the server was not down. The drawers were filthy so I did not unpack. The room came with two towels; no soap, of course. Disappointingly there exists no lounge, "community" or outreach ministry of hospitality for travellers. My useful takeaway is that while I enjoyed my local YMCA programs as a teenager, this YMCA lacks management and I would be very reluctant to entrust my own children to its care. Given the poor treatment I received, I will be staying in a university club on my next solo trip to NYC. This Y is fairly priced; no bargain for the "amenities" you enjoy.

Simple, lacking any ammenities, but a basic place to stay for a short while. Location good.