Review: Flying Pig Downtown Hostel
I decided to write a short review about each hostel that I visit. So far I have had relatively good experiences so I hope this will help others traveling find a good place to stay.
I’ve found all of my hostels using Hostel World. I usually look at location first, and then pick one that is reasonably priced and has good ratings. Pretty simple.
I stayed at the Flying Pig Downtown in Amsterdam. Here are my thoughts!
Flying Pig Downtown Hostel in Amsterdam
Favorite Part: The relaxed atmosphere and location
Least Favorite Part: The rooms and bathroom setup. I didn’t mind it since it was my first hostel and I didn’t know any better…but now that I’ve been other places I realize that the layout was super odd. The rooms had pretty crappy bunk beds (it was the exact same bunk bed that my brother had at age 7) and no privacy. Let’s just say I got really good at changing my pants under my blanket. There was only one bathroom and one shower on my entire floor. I once had to wait 10 minutes for the bathroom and I heard the man before me flush THREE times and then scurry out. So it’s just pretty awkward. The shower was equally awkward as it was a tiny stall in the hallway so I had to shower and change in the same, wet room.
Amenities: WiFi, kitchen access, free breakfast, probably other stuff I didn’t take advantage of. I was honestly quite impressed by the free breakfast- hard boiled eggs for the win.
Location: The location was baller. It was about a 5 minute walk from the central train station and super easy to find. It’s in the middle of a main shopping area and really close to the Red Light District as well.
Atmosphere: I think I described it in my first blog as a frat house and yeah, I would say that again. Although there was never a shortage of people down to rage, it wasn’t as obnoxious as I’m making it sound. I’d say the majority of people were just enjoying the lax drug atmosphere and were constantly chilling in the designated smoking room. There was a lounge room downstairs that I discovered the last night I was there which was really nice. I mean it was really crappy but it was nice to not feel obligated to either be in my tiny bunk bed or in a bar/smoking lounge environment.
Here’s a dark picture from the smoking lounge
Staff: The staff was awesome, I could not have felt more welcomed than I did when I first walked in there. I don’t really know how their jobs work but they were constantly hanging out and partying with guests, but then they would snap into action whenever anyone needed anything. A+!
They also had yet another Neil Pearson, Bradley Service twin on staff
Other Comments: Overall, this was a pretty great place to start my trip. I felt incredibly welcome and had no problem meeting other young travelers. I’d say it was a little intense for me….if this was 2 years ago and I wasn’t Grandma Stacia yet (Grandma Stacia prefers drinking a couple great beers, doing a puzzle, and going to bed at 10 over Long Island Night and dancing at The Front) I would’ve been obsessed with this place. Grandma Stacia wanted a little more privacy and cleanliness but would give Flying Pig an A+ for location and staff.
Oh, and there was this crazy man in my room one night who brought like a giant bag of drugs. I walked in to him and another guy inhaling laughing gas from balloons surrounded by little cartridges (assuming they held said laughing gas). He then asked if I was interested in smoking DMT which I had to Google to find out what it was and he smoked it out of some sort of crack pipe on his little-kid-style bunk bed. I declined, by the way.
Picture from the kitchen in the basement
Overall I will give Flying Pig 4/5 marijuana leaves! Errr… stars.