After traveling Europe and staying in various pleasant Hostels, ending our 34 days of traveling in Friends Hostel, Paris completely ruined our experience. Firstly the surrounding area is terribly run-down and dangerous. We were initially confronted by various men harassing us as we walked down the street. However the most traumatic part of our stay was our room experience. The walls were damp and the room shook violently as trains passed through the near by Metro. The beds, floor and bathroom were filthy and mouldy. Unable to sleep we woke up and turned on the lights, revealing a horde of bugs including COCKROACHES! We informed the receptionist instantly and demanded a refund. He refused and said we must wait till the morning for the manager to arrive. We had taken pictures of the roaches as proof, but he did not believe us. Eventually we took him to the room and showed him the roaches. In an attempt to solve this issue the receptionist armed himself with a broom and attempted to kill the cockroaches. When the job was done he left the room and began to vomit violently. This was a surreal moment for me and my friends and we decided to huddle together on the top bunks and see the rest of the night through. As if things could not get any worse we woke up to a room completely flooded. We packed up our soggy belongings and left. DO NOT STAY IN THIS HOSTEL.

Not for fussy travellers! + very friendly staff + cheap + you can come and go anytime + good location + clean Some aspects you should consider : - very little rooms, I stayed in a 3 bed room (1 3 storey bunk bad) - shower and toilet outside the room, one sink inside. Many reviews were about hot water, well I had hot water (but took a shower at 5pm) - there is Wi-Fi, which is free between 9-19 or so, after you have to pay -there were no bedbugs, but I also didn't invite them (didn't eat in the room and kept it clean) - very noisy in the night I didn't have problems with stealing, but also didn't have a feeling of security (the luggage room is not really reliable, although my stuff was not bothered there) -on the street yes there are men who try to sell you something but they are not dangerous and don't bother you So, if you are on low budget and are not fussy, it is OK to stay one or two nights. Speak with the staff they are nice and interesting people :)

I didn't show and my booking should be cancelled but some days later they took money from my bill. Just stole it. Be aware of giving your card information to this hotel

I stayed at friends hostel 6 years ago and even remember it because it was so bad! The stuff was rude, the kitchen dirty and full of animals, the rooms were very small with lousy 3-bed-bunks and dirty sheets and no hot water. The neighbourhood is full o crime and they stole my bag when I was outside for a cigarette just 5 minutes. I believe, the manager was part of the gang... Don`t go there!!!

Probably the worst place i've ever seen. I don't even know where to start.. First of all the location is horrible, with drunk people everywhere and every time. Staff is unfriendly (what an irony) and was able to lose a post that I was waiting here. Bedrooms are dirty and small, they even added a 7th person to our 6 beds room. WiFi is free only between 9 and 18, then you have to pay it. Bathroom was dirty and had a bad smell. But the most horrible thing was beds: we all (5 people) got bitten by bed bugs and now we have red annoying things on the whole body. DO NOT COME HERE, TRUST US

If I could give it a -5 star, I would do it. If you are on planning on staying here, don't do it, even if it's only for sleeping, because you won't be able to do so. As soon as I arrived I knew something was wrong. I had to fight with the staff because they didn't want to change the sheets of my bed on my first night... My sister was bitten by bedbugs, we were 6 in a little, dark, humid room. The ridiculously tiny shower in the room was all dirty. Event though we reserved for five nights, we only stayed one. It's very noisy outside, there was always a bunch of "weird" guys outside selling illegal stuff. It's not a safe place at all... And one last thing, there was only a wall plug for the six of us, so pretty much impossible to charge your electronic devices. WiFi sucked. Everything in this place sucked. The old, ugly lady that runs this place is a thief and she knows it. She doesn't care about her costumers...

I stayed in this hostel in the summer of 2010 for about a week and I have to say it was the worst hostel I visited among the 10 or so I used through Europe. First off, the area is absolutely dangerous if you aren't used to the bad parts of cities. As soon as I stepped off the metro I was greeted by around 15 to 20 Algerian gentleman offering me "cigarettes, cocaine, heroine?" To some travelers, this can be an absolutely terrifying experience on its own. In addition to that, the place is the absolute bare bones for a hostel. Crowded and substandard rooms, hot as hell in the summer (I'm from the south and am very used to the heat), cots masquerading as beds. Plus they are absolutely awful with paperwork. One night a group of travelers came in to sleep in our room at around 3am. The problem was that one of them was supposed to be in the bed I was in. I was woken up by the desk attendant and had to show him my receipt for my stay. Don't stay here, it's the cheapest for a reason.

I stayed here in February of 2011, and all of the negative reviews on this site are correct. DO NOT STAY HERE. It is in an extremely unsafe area of town with people constantly harassing you the second you step off the metro. The management double billed me for the room (I found this out after I left) and the beds (cots) are not comfortable at all. And there are no bars or night life anywhere close by. Easily the worst hostel I stayed in over the 3 weeks I traveled in Europe.

The biggest problem is BEDBUGS!!! me and my friend have been bitten hole body. My recommendation better don't save the money on nice hotel because it will coast much more to disinfect your house since is very easy to bring them home in your luggage.

great value for money. great place to meet people. beds and bathroom not good. But being next to the tube, a great place to just crash

Dear Team from Friends-Hostel, last weekend in April 2014 I stayed in your hhostel for 5 nights. The teams was nice and friendly, but beds were terrible and the shower as well. But as I am a student, I had no problems so far. My last 2 nights, I stayed in room 6 (?) with 3 other girls. No shower but a sink. And a lot of bedbugs as it seems. Two days later, I discovered bits all over my body itching terribly. I pray I did not take them home - I don't know jet. But I would strongly ask you to do something against it, as hostel guests take them all over the planet. Hopefully not to germany... Best Regards and successful cleaning ;) Christine.

Hello! saw your ad in google maps, but I have a question, how much will a room for 3 people, Ukrainians, cost?

I have to admit that it's not Ritz, but the rooms and the toilets were CLEAN thanks to every day cleaning service, receptionists were UNBELIEVABLY nice and helpful. As we only came there to sleep it was perfect - location is great, metro station in a minute walk. The only thing - you should buy an electric kettle!

It was bad very

I stayed here last summer -- yes it's cheap - but it's just not worth it. There are bedbugs in the beds and I got bitten horribly all over my body; my friend actually brought the bedbugs back with him unknowingly and had to have his house fumigated. The rooms are packed, the kitchen is absolutely filthy and there are cockroaches and ants all over it. The location is scary and dangerous and I was afraid the whole time I was there -- only stayed two nights and after the first we seriously considered leaving. It is honestly worth paying an extra €10 or so for somewhere decent.

The archetypal 'hostel-from-hell' deserves a full review... Negatives first: -Rats in the kitchen (ate my eggs- keep EVERYTHING in the fridge, which is safe from them) -Bedbugs (Got one on my bag- keep your bag in the storage room to minimize chance of infestation) -Toilet paper in the bathroom bin (cannot flush it away here) -Street is PACKED with scary, desperate looking immigrants/homeless. Expect a hard sell from 'souvenir sellers' / con men. -Storage is 'we throw your stuff in this open room here'. I could have stolen anything I pleased. Despite all this, the place did have some upsides, in fact I much enjoyed my stay here! Positives: -Good atmosphere! Perhaps it is the disaster vibe that brings people together, but I found it a very friendly place. -Much cheaper than other extortionate Paris hostels I could recommend this place if you're short on cash and looking to meet people, and have no fear of rats, bugs or muggings.

Friends Hostel, More like Friendless Hostel! After spending almost 3 weeks travelling around Europe with a couple of good friends, we decided to book Friends Hostel in Paris before we headed back to London. Considering that the hostel was less than a kilometre from the Gare du Nord we thought that it would be a good purchase. Oh, how wrong we were! Arriving at the hostel tired from a night spent on the overnight train from Madrid, we went up to the check in and found out that we had to wait 5 hours (until 12:00); this is pretty standard so there weren't any issues there. When we finally got to our room we discovered the horrors that we would be exposed to for 24 hours. The first horror that we discover was the stench of sewage, mould and the extremely foul smell of body odour. After that we discovered the deplorable quality of the interior, mould, really disturbing stains on the sheets and the loo; I don't even want to mention the shower. After exploring the city, we got back and then discovered even more. I discovered that the triple bunk bed was heavily damaged to the point of it being very unsafe. After we realised that we had to spend a night here, we "settled down" and got by using the wifi. Until a certain time that is! After 18:00 the wifi turned off and the hostel had the audacity to charge for a service that was fairly unremarkable to begin with. After a heavily disturbed sleep we had to get up at 8:00 for the check out! After check out we promptly left and went to the local saviour know as McDonald's where I am currently writing this review. Overall I had never been to such a dump in all of my life. The staff were rude and the quality was just embarrassing to say the least. This is my first review on Google and the reason being is because that I have never in all of my life been to a place that is so vile and I just want to warn "potential costumers" of this. Take it from me, there are North Korean prison camps better than this place. Please don't go to this place and make the same mistake that I made. Book another hostel or even sleep on the streets. Whatever you do, don't get a room at Friends Hostel! AVOID LIKE IT'S THE PLAGUE!