Homeless people, New York Hall of Science, quality places to eat and the Q4 Hotel, what do all of these have in common? Theyâre all based in Queens, New York, one of the five boroughs of the spectacular New York City, the concrete jungle where dreams are apparently made of. Well, dreams are certainly had inside the Q4 Hotel at night time.
The Q4 Hotel (more a hostel than a hotel) is one of many hostels across all of NYC and one of the cheaper ones, by that we mean cheap for New York price as hostels in New York are not cheap at all, which is a huge appeal to the place. The Q4 is pretty easy to find within NYC being close to two subway stops that have easy and very regular direct links to Manhattan without having to change multiple times to get to Times Square and Port Authority. Obviously being in Manhattan is preferred for a NYC stay but to get a cheaper hostel, that isnât as nasty as eating a mouldy bacon sandwich covered in your creepy uncleâs toenail clippings, is hard to get unless you go out-with Manhattan. You canât complain about the Q4âs location at all.
Within the hostel, itâs a reasonable stay. In the common room down in the basement holds a decent sized kitchen, a tv with a good old Netflix subscription, comfy couches, table tennis and vending machines. Itâs generally a nice vibe and atmosphere down there that sometimes is host to some entertainment such as stand up comedy. To top off the common area there is a part in it that is basically a vault that is dimly lit at all times filled with comfy couches and cushions which is perfect to nap on and make those stand up comedians feel awkward by hearing your snoring during their gig.
Q4 has offers and advertises many events but they arenât for the most part hosted by the hostel. Despite these offerings, the hostel has a bit of anti-social vibe with not much community aspect of people interacting with each other. This usually isnât that welcoming for some but just remember youâre in New York City which isnât the most overtly social and letâs talk to everyone type of vibe unless youâre one of the cities mental homeless population and will talk to any human.
The rooms in Q4 can be quite hit or miss, some rooms are alright and your standard hostel room but quite a few are rather meh at best. Most rooms have lockers which are handy especially in NYC but if you donât have a huge ass padlock that is borderline a dangerous weapon, you wonât be able to lock it up which is a pain in the arse. Rooms are all en-suite with a basic toilet and shower. The toilets are well toilets, nothing spectacular like the Japanese toilets but the showers, on the other hand, arenât that great at all and arenât the cleanest.
Room size depends on the room again, some are rather packed and some have a good amount of space, all depends on how lucky you are and if youâre Scottish then well hiya bad luck. The beds are rather comfortable but again you get the sympathy of loud creaking noises from all beds upon movement, however, playing âguess whoâs movingâ is a fun game to play as youâre trying to sleep. For some people they may complain about the noise from outside but we would like to remind you that youâre in New York City and the city sleeps as much as someone on a 5-day meth binge, so suck it up human.
Overall, the Q4 Hotel is decent for a New York City hostel and is a get what you pay for sort of hostel. If you want a hostel filled with sheer class in all departments youâre going to have to fork out a lot more for one and remember a lot more in New York isnât just $5 and a subway ride, youâre talking $15 a night extra and above. We would have to give the Q4 hostel a No Bad Pal grade. It can work on a few things such as the showers, itâs locker use and room space but also really hits with the common room and the bonus features, plus the WiFi isnât terrible. A terrific hostel for a one night stay but for multiple nights itâs not too bad, just gotta take the bad with the good.
OVERALL GRADE: Meh
PROS:
⢠Common room
⢠Spectacular kitchen
⢠Reasonable location
⢠Does great on the bonus features standpoint
CONS:
⢠Room space is hit or miss
⢠Bathrooms and showers arenât that great
⢠Creaking beds
Loser Travels 