Huckleberry Finn Youth Hostel

My brother and I were in SL and needed a cheap place to stay awhile. Our first time ever staying in a hostel and it was pretty much what we expected. There are large rooms with a bunch of bunk beds. There weren’t alot of girls in the girls dorm but I didn’t mind that. The neighborhood is full of places to go and there are great people all over. If you need a cheap place to stay and aren’t high maintenance this place is fine. There’s a kitchen that I didn’t use, so I know nothing about it. But the bathrooms and the rooms where clean and so are the towels and bedding.

It was clean as much as one could get an older place clean. The workers were very nice, but it is the worst hostel I’ve ever stayed at as far as cleanliness and comfort. The beds were terrible. I ended up going to a hotel the next night, but honestly, it wasn’t any better. Cheap hotel or hostel — the hostel was cleaner but the bed was horrible. Who knows. I am not impressed with St. Louis.

To any women looking for a cheap place to stay I would recommend staying at a Motel instead. I stayed here one night and it was horrid. At $ 25 a night I could deal with the run down conditions however the women’s dorm stunk of cat urine. I tried airing the place out but it was overwhelming. I managed three hours sleep before giving up and leaving,
The only reason why I gave this place two stars is the good location and ready parking.

This place is awesome! Was headed to STL to meet up with some friends for a bachelor party. Flights were 200 bucks cheaper if I flew out a day earlier, but meant I needed to find a place to crash. Huckleberry Finn Youth Hostel was perfect. Can’t beat the rate, the beds are spring-​hammock style and very comfortable, you get linens included, and the staff was amazing. Saw no murmur of «Jake» below, but Quinn went out of his way to make sure I got my keys and was all set up, even though flight got me there at a weird time.
Incredibly accessible from Lambert International Airport and the city at large. To get to it, take the Metrolink to Civic Center, and take the 73 bus towards South County mall. Drops you a block from the door! Going back, you can take the 10 bus right back to Civic Center from a block from the hostel. At a rate of $ 7.50 for a whole day pass on the Metrolink, that’s a steal, as it beats both cabs and Über (they only have Über black here.)
The neighborhood, Soulard, is a nice area of Saint Louis, with quaint hip eateries and shops with a surprisingly vibrant nightlife for a historic district. Nice couple of bars within two blocks, and it’s also near a Walgreen’s and a grocery store. Communal area and setup was cleaned impeccably, and not an ant, roach, or mouse was in sight my whole stay. This is a gem that I will be returning to if at all possible, and I highly recommend you check it out if you’re in STL and on a budget.

Pros: Friendly staff. Ample beds.
Cons: Renovation is badly needed. Beware of being blocked in in the private parking lot.

I read the review on here and decided to stay at HB while I came down to STL one night.
The owner Tom met me to sign in and gave me a key to the girls dorm. The other key is for the kitchen (which was unlocked during my stay there anyway).
I parked up front, which didn’t have much space. Diagonal parking on a two way street next to a busy intersection.
You have to walk down a creepy gangway through a white fence to get to the main office.
Once I settled in, I realized I was the only person in the entire hostel. One side of the building is for girls, the other is for boys. I’m pretty sure there’s a co-​ed area, but I never say where.
The place seems to have been a type of apartment building. There are bunk beds in 3 rooms– the back area, a foyer type area, and a living room area with a fire place (I’m sure it hasn’t been used in a long time).
There are lockers inside by the sink and bathroom, and outside in the stair area.
The bathroom has 3 shower stalls with curtains, and 3 toilets with swinging doors. There were cobwebs all over, but nothing that made it overwhelming.
The back room door has one lock (hence the one key) so it didn’t seem as secure as I would be used to. And the front living room area had a fire escape to the street. The curtains are thin, so light and noise from the traffic came in all night.
There are a lot of restaurants and bar and grills within walking distance.
And I think I remember having wi-​fi available.
All in all, it was an okay experience. I was expecting more people to be around, but my visit was in the dead of December on a weekday.

First and foremost: CHEAP. $ 25 a night, free linens. As good as it gets in that regard.
The next cheapest you’ll be paying for a hotel is in north saint louis near the airport for $ 35 – 40 a night for a room at a Super 8-​like joint, if you’re lucky to get that kind of price.
Nonetheless, I knew what I was paying and had an idea as to what to expect. I had pretty low expectations, to be honest.
I asked the host, Tom, about any «house rules.» I didn’t know whether there was a curfew, eating rules, lights out times, etc. This was my first hostel experience.
I was given a key to the women’s dorm (men and women are separate, of course) and told there was no curfew. He requested that I eat only in the kitchen, however, and mentioned how people like to eat in their dorms but sleep in the kitchen. Classy. Must be a lot of alcohol floating around the place, I thought.
He says there’s an ant problem in the women’s dorm because of food. Ok, no biggie.
Looking again at the key, I notice there’s two keys on the ring. The one with a pink cover went to my dorm. I wondered if the other key worked on the guys’ dorm, and then wondered if they were given keys to our room. NOT COOL should that be the case. I have no idea what the other key was for, but i’m just stating my suspicion.
Anyway, I went in to my dorm and picked a bunk, and was rather surprised at the quality of the bed. They have army-​style bunks with no box springs and what I guess I’ll call a stretchy, metal sheath that the mattresses laid on and thus, your bed experience was almost hammock-​like. Not the best. But for $ 25 a night, who cares! My linens smelled perfectly fresh and I saw NO sign of bed bugs. Whew.
Sure, there were some ants, mainly around the sink. They never bothered me any. On that note, consider the bathrooms. They were IMMACULATE, and I absolutely was not expecting that whatsoever. There were updated fixtures and the shower stalls were superbly clean, like brand-​new clean. Yes, the toilets are saloon-​style with the swinging, western-​style doors. There weren’t enough women staying there when I was there for this to be an issue, however. I’d say there was PLENTY of privacy in the bathrooms, far more than I had in my college dorm the year prior.
My one gripe: ROACHES. The kitchen (in an entirely different building, mind you; I swear I did not see ONE in my dorm) was INFESTED with them, like so-infested-that-they-didn’t-scatter-when-you-turned-the-lights-on infested! Yikes! They COVERED the sink. Really. Eww. dishes and utensils, along with a fridge, stove, sink, microwave, and counterspace were provided, and the kitchen was kept clean and tidy EXCEPT for those goddamn bugs.
For $ 25 a night I’m definitely happy. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone who has a serious fear of bugs, however, but I still think the place was more or less clean. Granted, I stayed in the WOMEN’S dorm (kitchen is shared space, regardless, though). I somehow imagine the men’s dorm isn’t quite as tidy, updated, or clean, and that it’s probably covered with drunkards all the time based on the guys I saw go in and out. Just saying.
…on that note, lastly, be aware of a young kid named Brandon (you’ll recognize him by his unique forehead right away, and probably find him in the living space attached to the kitchen) who lives on the premises as Tom’s helper. He lives in an apartment above the kitchen. Ladies, he is going to HIT ON YOU, and persist, and invite you to his apartment. It happened to all three of us women who were staying at HF on our very first night there. And he’ll usually be drunk. So… yeah…be aware.
Edit: scroll down and look at the «unrecommended reviews» section. Seems Brandon ^ wrote a review. Ha…