female travel – Page 2 – ThePassportPrincess

HI New York City – Hostel Review

February 10, 2016February 18, 2016Sarah2 Comments

Stayed: September 2015, 7 Nights
Room: 4 Bedded Female Dorm
Overall Rating: 9/10 *Certificate of Excellence on TripAdvisor*

I’ll start off by saying that i absolutely LOVE New York.
It had always been at the very top of my list for places to see before I die and I’d move there in a heartbeat if the USA wasn’t so strict on who can live in America!
I loved seeing The Empire State Building and feeling like I was in a movie, I loved walking through Central Park and thinking of F.R.I.E.N.D.S when Phoebe went jogging (Even though it wasn’t actually filmed there) and I love how it’s just full of people doing everything from singing and dancing on the subway to doing yoga in the park without a care in the world.
I’ve only been to New York in the Summer time but I would absolutely love to go in the Winter and see Central Park covered in snow. Eeeek! It makes my insides all warm just thinking of it.
I was there for a week and there is still so much I want to see and do. I seriously think in my head about making it a yearly or second-yearly place to travel to…

Anyways, on to the accommodation side of things.
If you’ve ever looked for Hotels in New York City, the cheapest you’d find around August would be $75 – $150 a night for a room at a hotel near the airport. (which is a bit of a drive away from everything) I wanted to be as close to the center of things as possible.
I also wanted to stay somewhere safe and close to a Subway so I wasn’t walking the streets in the dark. (Even though that did end up happening but that’s another story)

img32375-HI-New-York-City---Manhattan-Hostel-exterior-view

Hi New York City Hostel is on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and is surrounded by Central Park and Riverside Park. It’s also just a few minutes walk down the road to the subway where you can easily get to Times Square and Rockefeller Center, the High Line, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Empire State Building and the ferry to the Statue of Liberty.
I think I ended up going to Times Square every second day because it was so easy to get to on the Subway.

To get here, you can order a shuttle or take a taxi from JFK but I think they end up costing about $70 (Plus you have to pay for bridge tolls and a tip on top) and that’s no fun if you’re travelling by yourself.
You can take the train which I’ve heard is excellent and very fast.
Amtrak – Penn Station and then take the Subway to the hostel.
When I’d finished my Contiki tour at a hotel, I took the Subway and stopped off at the station nearest to my hostel.

When I arrived, the Hostel outside actually looked exactly like the pictures. It’s so big!
Can you believe they have 667 beds!
There’s lots of different rooms that you can choose to stay in from 12 Bedded Female Dorm rooms to Male 6 Bedded Dorm rooms. The prices range from USD$58 – $68 per night in the Summer Time (Probably cheaper in the Winter) and you may think that’s expensive for a Hostel, but believe me, try looking at the hotels in the Upper West Side. HELLLOO $300 a night for somewhere decent!
I think for my stay I ended up paying about $600-$700 for the week for a female dorm with 4 beds.
It really doesn’t feel cramped at the hostel either. When I arrived, I had to wait in line for awhile to check-in as everyone seemed to be doing it at the same time but there was never any problem with over-crowding or everyone getting in your way as you’d think would be the problem with nearly 700 people staying there.

[[Now a thing to remember is that this hostel is part of an organization called Hostelling International which is the federation of more than 70 National Youth Hostel Associations in more than 80 countries around the world. If you don’t have a membership you have to pay USD $3 per person per night otherwise you can become a member online here.
Being a member gives you at least a 10% saving on the cost of your accommodation and in some countries Membership is compulsory. Apart from giving you discounts on Accommodation, your membership also gives you access to thousands of travel-related savings at home and abroad. ]]

When I took the lift to my room, it was fine. It wasn’t anything overly amazing like most Hostels aren’t.
I had a bed with my own locker and provided my own key. All the doors are swipe-card activated and you also need your card to get into the main building so no randoms can come in.
The only thing which was annoying was putting my swipe card next to my phone every day and it’d get de-activated so I’d continuously be at the Reception getting it re-activated. (Something to do with you phone and the magnetic stuff in the card…)
What I loved about this hostel is the atmosphere. They really want people to get to know one another so they host twice-weekly Welcome Parties in the patio area (with either a $6 BBQ or Live Band) and then you can go and experience the nightlife with one of the hostel leaders and 50 of your new friends. They also do free beer some nights (However as I don’t drink beer I went across the road to the liquor store and bought some other alcohol – Which I think isn’t quite allowed but you maaaay be able to get away with)
If drinking isn’t really your thing, they have things like Salsa Tuesdays, Ice-Skating in Central Park (Seasonal), Magic and Comedy shows in the theater and day-tours which you can sign up for.

If you’re ever hungry too, they have a full cafe downstairs with so many yummy cupcakes and sandwich type goodies in the cabinet! As Breakfast was included in my room price I had a bagel basically every morning with SOOO much cream cheese. Yum!!

Pro’s

Free Wi-Fi everywhere
TV Room
Massive Kitchen downstairs (Not sure how great it is as I never used it)
Open 24 Hours
Has it’s own Cafe with so many yummy things!
Lockers Available
Accepts Groups Of People
Pool Table
Chill-out area where you can charge your phone
Out-door drinking/patio area
Central Park – 3 Blocks away
Self-service laundry facilities
Free linens, towels, and housekeeping service
Hair Driers in Bathroom
Vending Machines
Cycle Storage
Smoking Area (If you smoke obviously than it’s not an advantage)
Friendly Staff
Pub Crawls and Day Walking-Tours

Cons

Waiting for the showers in the morning
1 Slow Elevator so always having to take the stairs (Me just being lazy)
I sleep through everything, but it may get loud on some nights for some people
My card always being deactivated 😦

Overall my stay was fantastic!
I got so drunk on the first night that I can’t even remember my first and only yellow-taxi cab ride back to my hostel.
I went to the Top of the Rock and saw the Empire State Building.

I ate yummy nachos at T.G.I.F’s in Times Square.
I bought my first pair of Levi Jeans.
I went to what I think is the biggest Victoria Secrets Store and bought lots of yoga pants.
I went for a run through Central Park, people-watched and saw Squirrels!

I also made some great memories and met some really fun girls to go to the beach with and out to a roof top bar at night!

And finally I ate sooo much Ben & Jerry’s with this lovely human which made my last few days in America so much fun!

Day 76 & 77 – Dubai to Singapore

October 30, 2015June 13, 2016Sarah3 Comments

The night before I left Dubai, the hotel said they’d extend my check out until 2pm so I could have a sleep in.
They probably knew how much I loved to sleep as whenever house keeping would come I’d always ask them to come back later haha 😴

So I took advantage of this and slept until about 11am. Then it was up to have a shower, wash my hair and pack all my crap into my bag. Luckily enough I’d only really bought clothes in Dubai so I just rolled them up really tight and shoved them into my suitcase/backpack thing.

When it came to 1pm I checked out and left all my bags downstairs in the storage area.
My flight wasn’t until that night so I passed time by going to the mall and spending what little money I had left.
It’s annoying having a night flight when you’re staying at a hotel or hostel. They always get you to check out in the morning which is fine, and you can usually leave your bags with them. I just always feel I can’t do much during the day because I have to be somewhere at a certain time and it all becomes too stressful to do anything.

I ended up going to the airport really early. I think I arrived before 6pm for my 9.30pm flight. 😑 keen!

I caught a taxi as I just had too much stuff to carry. The train is much quicker and cheaper though. Even though taxis in Dubai are actually really cheap, think my rode cost me like $25 NZD to the airport from my hotel so it wasn’t bad.

When I got to the airport, I got a trolley and loaded up all my stuff. I’d checked in online already so just had to drop my bags off and grab my boarding pass.

I was hoping there’d be lots of stuff in duty free as it was Dubai airport after all but there wasnt!
This always seems to happen to me, I always try and save my money for duty free and end up getting there and not liking any of the stores.
They had all your usual stuff like the perfume counters, they had a mac counter, all the alcohol and the same chocolates you see everywhere.
I don’t know what I was hoping for really. Maybe another Victoria secrets store or something that sold all the clothes.
I did grab myself a frozen yoghurt to pass the time and sat down to write a blog.

It wasn’t until just before my flight I realised that I hadn’t packed any face moisturiser of a face mask for my flight!
Especially as it was a 7 hour over-night flight I knew my skin was going to be drier than the Dubai desert. The ex-beauty therapist in me freaked out and quickly went in search of a hydrating face mask.
I ended up going to Khiels and getting this baby for $44 USD
I was lucky I had USD dollars in my wallet too!

Quite a bargain considering how big the tub is.

I boarded the flight just after 9pm and was gutted it was an older Emirates airplane. Just because I hadn’t charged my tablet the night before and my phone was running out of battery. Usually the planes have a USB port but this one didn’t 😦 they just had a plug and mine wouldn’t fit! It was like a European point which was weird for a middle eastern airline.
Anyways, the flight attendant got me an adapter to put my chargers in but it kept falling out the whole flight. The guy next to me kept laughing at me when I tried holding it in haha.

For 7 hours the flight went really quick. We had dinner and then I went to wash all my make up off and put my new face mask on.
People think it’s weird to do that on a plane but it’s honestly the best thing for your skin. Think how dry and dehydrated your skin gets at 35,000 feet! I feel like my face turns into a prune.
The mask probably wasn’t the best thing for sleeping (Even though it’s an overnight mask) It’s actually quite sticky.

I semi-snoozed through the flight and before I knew it they were waking us up for breakfast. I just had fallen asleep a bit coz I remember feeling grumpy having to wake up haha.

The breakfast was average. Nothing worse than bread that is cold and butter that is even colder coz it’s been fridge. Very hard to spread solid butter onto a cold croissant 😳
First world problems I know!!

I got to Singapore in the morning and the airport was pretty quiet so customs etc. was quick.
I got an airport shuttle for $9 to my hostel which was like half an hour away.
the NZ Dollar and Singapore Dollar are pretty much the same so it’s much easier figuring out how much money I’m spending over here.

As I arrived at my hostel before 10am, check in wasn’t until 3pm so I dropped my bags off and asked if I could have a shower.
I was feeling all yuck from my flight so it was good to freshen up.

I then went off for a walk.
It was so humid outside I didn’t actually last terribly long.
I tried to find something to eat but nothing interested me too much.
If you know me, you’ll know I don’t like Asian food apart from Thai and Indianfood hahaha! I know, crazy! Why am I in Singapore then you ask? Where there is an abundance of Asian food? I don’t actually know. Because it was a stop off on my way home really 😄

When I got back to my hostel it was about 2pm but my room was ready so they showed me up to it and I settled in.
I was so extremely tired I had a lie down on my bunk and ended up falling asleep like 3 times.
Eventually I dragged myself out of bed as I didn’t want to sleep in case I didn’t sleep that night.
I think I ended up going down to Bugis Junction (the closest mall to where I am) and had a look around there.
I came across this Korean skin Care brand called Innisfree and smelt all their products.
I walked away with some samples to try before I bought anything so I was excited to use them that night.

When i got back to the hostel i used one of the volcanic face masks on my skin to try and clear it up a bit.
My skin has broken out majorly ever since I went to Dubai and come to Singapore. I think it’s from all the flying I’ve been doing and sleeping in all the air conditioned rooms. 😣
I hate it!!! Thank god girls can wear make up.

It was safe to say I had a very good sleep that night after barely sleeping for the past 24 hours!

Day 57 – London

October 15, 2015November 29, 2015SarahLeave a comment

7th October 2015

Today I was up in time to have breakfast downstairs at the hostel. There was a selection of spreads with toast, cereals, fruit and yoghurt and also you could make your own toasted sandwiches which was a bit different.
Though I’m still missing my American bagels and cream cheese to be honest haha. 😋

Once breakfast was finished, I put a little status on facebook to see if anyone in London was free to do anything. My friend from NZ who now lives in London replied and said I should come and have lunch with her. I used to work with Emily at an Ice cream store while I was in High School haha. I miss having all that free ice cream now! 🍦🍧

I figured out how to get to her work and took the tube there. When I arrived at my stop, I had some time to spare before our lunch date so just went for a walk at the park next to the tube station. I’m trying to remember what the park was called but I can’t for the life of me remember. I even tried to Google map it but none of the pictures look similar to the park I walked through haha.

I then made my way to the Covent Gardens as I heard there was a magnum store there where you basically get to design your own magnum ice creams.
Unfortunately for me it was only a Summer thing I think and they’d closed it down for the year. It was more of a pop-up store so it wasn’t around forever. 😧

The Covent Gardens aren’t actually a bunch of gardens.
It’s a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End and it’s associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square which is now a popular shopping and tourist site.
I had a look around the shops and even found a shake shack! The famous American burger/shake food place I never went to when I was in the USA. The lines are always just way too long that is can never be bothered lining up.

When it was nearly lunch time I walked to meet Emily at her work so we could go for lunch.

We decided On getting burrito wrap type things at this store called Wrap It Up. So yum! I got a chicken mexican bean thing which was exactly what I felt like.
Pretty soon, an hour had been and gone and Emily had to head back to work. She suggested I go to the store Primark (which is like a Kmart and they just sell heaps of clothes and shoes)

I went there hoping to find the summer clothes I’ve been wanting and was met with rows of sweatshirts and Christmas wollen jumpers. 😣
I walked out of there with a winters hat and baby clothes for my best-friend little baby boy for next year! Haha. At least I tried.

I was all shopped out again so headed back to the hostel as I was meeting a friend later on for dinner.
Dave and I met on Contiki and he’s now living in London so it was good to see a familiar face again!
I insisted we had to go to a classic London pub for a beer (well a cider for me) so we found one and ordered some food. Out of all the foods on the menu, this pub had like 3 pages of Thai food to choose from and a couple of choices of London food.
It was good I love thai food, so I ordered a yummy thai curry and we sat there to drink our drinks for a few hours.

It was getting late so with my tummy all full, we said our goodbyes and I headed back to my hostel for a good night’s sleep.
I ended up actually going downstairs when I got there and attempted to write up a blog but people kept sitting down and talking to me haha. I must have looked lonely or something so I ended up leaving and probably didn’t even finish my blog post.