Central Park Studios at Lexington Ave.

Great hostel, close to everything NYC shopping, bars, clubs, restaurants. Fun friendly location, lots to do in the upper upper east side.

I second Shaina’s review (location, friendly owners, condition of the building, amenities). We stayed in a «private twin suite,» which included a bunk bed with linens and 2 towels. It has a kitchen, which was nice. The temperature in the room was fairly good too (considering it was pretty chilly during night time). Paid $ 35 a person so the price is fairly reasonable.
The particular «problems» we had were the following:
* the chain to turn on the ceiling fan light (the only light) was broken so had to climb up to turn light on and off.
* incredibly modest furnishings (one beaten-​up-​looking chair, tiny TV and table)
* no soap (or pretty much anything) in the common bathroom
* our room in particular had pipes against the wall and occasionally we’d hear the water drain go
To sum it up, we can’t expect much considering the price we’ve paid for the private room. However, I would consider this place as a last resort if all the other hostels/​hotels were booked as the commute from hostel to majority of the things in the city is a bit of a hassle as well (average +30 minutes travel time).

Central Park Studios is located 3 blocks from Central Park near the upper east side. It is just a few blocks from the 103^rd 6-​line Metro stop. It’s a family-​run business and the family is very nice and they make you feel comfortable. The rooms are all private, but there are shared showers/​bathrooms on each floor. Some rooms are very small, others are larger. They keep the facilities clean, but the building itself appears run down. The prices are reasonable.
It is difficult to pick up a cab in this part of town and I wouldn’t recommend returning to the hostel/​studios extremely late at night. There were some moments that I wasn’t 100% comfortable being there which to me might make it worth forking over the money for a more expensive hostel closer to town. Of course, you really need to book early.
Amenities:
— room fridge and tv
— towels and sheets, no change of linens
— shared bathroom/​showers, but not soaps, etc.
— power outlets are limited
— luggage storage
— checkout at noon
— office hours: 8 AM to 12 AM