A Buffalo Hostel

I have a feeling Hostel Buffalo Niagara is suffering a bit from lack of travelers due to COVID, particularly as the Canadian land border (along with European air travel in general) was closed until November 8. It's also a non-profit seemingly operating on a shoe-string budget. As such, Hostel Buffalo Niagara is light on in-person staff, and check-ins are remote.

Even so, we didn’t have any problem getting our keys and found the hostel to be quite cozy. Our private room had a nice desk and huge windows, along with 20+ foot ceilings.

It was very cold in Buffalo but our room was comfortable. The shared bathrooms and kitchen were clean. I was pleased to find free oatmeal, tea, and coffee in the kitchen, along with a wide assortment of utensils for cooking.

There are two common areas, one attached to the kitchen has couches, board games, and a view onto Main Street, and another in the basement for watching movies, playing ping pong, and doing laundry. I liked both of these spaces.

The location is also really good, right in the theatre district and very close to many local attractions and good restaurants, including a pizza shop right next door. We didn’t see any of the plays but it looked like a really good selection.

One problem is that there just weren’t very many people at the hostel—we only saw one other person—which sort of took away from the fun, social atmosphere we had wanted. The price was kind of high at about $80 a night for two people for a private room (so I'm subtracting one snack), but I give it high marks for the location and style. Definitely worth checking out if you need accommodation in Buffalo.