Bowery's Whitehouse Hostel, New York

The staff were very rude. The rooms are disgusting and dirty and we were attacked by bed bugs. The bathrooms were horrific, dirty, showers didnt work properly and neither did the lights. Also uncomfortably hot and the 'air con' was incredibly loud for what good it did. I'm yet to get a response from the manager about my complaint.

Disgusting. Do not go here. The staff were awful, creepy infact, and as a young girl i felt extremely unsafe in this dirty, dank and unaccommodating hostel. my friend tristan has just called me to say that this hostel has been syphoning money from his credit card details under false names and has spent the last three hours on the phone to our australian bank. they are criminal, and their showers flood, and they made my skin crawl. don't do it to yourself, stay in harlem. i'm about to call my bank, or the police.

If you stay here for any length of time, you will be itching like crazy with huge welts all over you!! the housing authority has been notified of the epidemic....be careful

I called a few weeks before going into the city on a short trip. The person on the phone refused to answer even basic questions, like how safe would it be for me to leave my belongings in the room while I was out during the day. After a few questions, he finally said, "I don't think our place is for you," then hung up. I checked again the day before my arrival, using the website this time so I wouldn't have to deal with this rude person and it said rooms were available for the next day. When I arrived at the White House around 5 p.m., I found the old man behind the counter (I recognized his voice). He was even ruder in person than over the phone. Apparently, he just wants foreign tourists rather than just Americans and especially not Americans who didn't look like tourists. (I was traveling fairly light with just a courier bag filled with a laptop, change of clothes and sundries.) I asked for a room and he claimed they had none. I told him their own website said they had rooms available but he insisted there weren't any and this place wasn't for New Yorkers. No smile, no pleasantries, just nearly took my head off. I went up to the hostel uptown instead. It cost more, but they didn't give me any attitude. If you want a taste of the legendary New York rudeness, the Whitehouse is the place to get it. If you want a room, go elsewhere.

The chap at the front desk is pretty helpful however the service was pretty slow. In a nut shell I found this place to be too small, noisy and they have bed bugs! There must be better for that price, in the so called "Best City in the World?"