D.C. Downtown Hostel

23 Apr 2022 by Amby

$67

Washington, D.C. country-icon

United States location-icon

Duo Housing D.C.

I had a bit of a miscommunication with the friend I was staying with when I arrived in D.C. and ended up needing to arrange another place for my first night in town. I figured this could be a good opportunity to check out the city’s hostel scene.

I picked Duo Housing D.C. because the 11th St. location was pretty close to my old neighborhood and a couple friends I wanted to hang out with. I got a bed in the 8 person room.

A homey little hostel

While Sev and I used hostels a lot in 2021 while traveling Latin America, they were always private rooms. It’s been quite some time since I did the multiple-strangers-in-a-room experience. I really didn’t mind it!

My roommates were a few Welsh guys and a lady who worked at the hostel. They were really nice and friendly.

There were lots of maps like this everywhere

The building was basically a large townhouse that was converted to a hostel, so had a strong homey atmosphere. Guests are also required to take their shoes off in a foyer before entering the main building, which I thought was a little weird but ended up appreciating as things were more clean because of it.

The hostel offered lockers to put your things, which I used. You do need your own lock though.

Lobby—remove your shoes before coming in!

The bathrooms were okay except the water was extremely hot in some of the showers and basically not usable.

I went out for dinner and drinks that night and was super tired from my international flight. Although I could see people were being social in the common areas when I got back around 10:30pm, I fell asleep immediately and did not wake up until morning.

There was a big community breakfast in the morning where a staffer made pancakes for everyone which was really cute and tasty, and a great way to meet people. I had a fun conversation with a lady from Chile who really made me want to visit that country at some point…

Breakfast is served

There’s also a nice outdoors space by the kitchen where you can relax and take in the sun. I drank my coffee and socialized out there.

A place to sit outside leading from the kitchen. This is on the roof.

I went to visit my friend for lunch and kept my stuff at the hostel and picked it up later that afternoon—the storage place was just a big room where you left your things and I wasn't completely comfortable leaving my laptop given how busy the hostel was. I just kept my backpack and left my luggage. No problems!

I say if you want a social cozy hostel in a fantastic location, Duo Housing is the way to go!