Apr 23, 2012 - Hostel Linda is alright for a couple of nights stay. The beds were comfortable, but I heard that the room across the hall had mold in the ceilings. I booked last minute, so I feel I over paid for what I got. The doors are really squeeky, and you have to mountain climb up like 5 flights of steep stairs if the lift breaks...which it did. But I met really great people, and had a good time. Amsterdam will be worth it no matter where you stay.
Nov 29, 2011 - Just an OK place, a little bit away from the city centre, but isn't really a problem. The real "hostel" room in the hotel doesn't includes breakfast. 10 beds to one bedroom can be a little problematic, but when I'd stayed there, the room wasn't full
Oct 06, 2011 - I recently stayed at Hostel Linda City Centre for six nights, and it was a decent stay all in all. I've stayed at 1 other hostel previously, so that is the background I'm talking from.
I'll try to address some of the information and experiences given in other reviews.
Basic information:
The room I was staying in was 502, which is located one floor down from the reception, in the basement. It has 10 beds, one window to the street, its own bathroom and its own toilet. (two separate facilities) It also had 10 lockers - some of which were faulty -
and a functional television. The window worked, and it could be opened.
Food:
The breakfast costs 5 EUR. I never used that offer, so I have no idea about the quality of that. I'm vegan and there's a Maoz 50 meters away from the hostel, as well as an Albert Heijn and a Lidl (stores), so that was convenient.
Arrival / Price:
Upon arrival you pay 5% city tax on top of the price, which, apparently, is standard practice. I wish this information was more visible upfront. Aside from that you pay a 10 EUR deposit for a keycard for the door, which you will get back upon checkout.
Keycard:
This keycard stopped functioning twice during my stay, and I had to go to the counter to get if fixed. It took little time to do so, but it was still rather annoying.
Location:
If you just want to shop and visit coffee shops the location is not ideal for you, but in my case I liked being out of the centre and being equally close to the east and the west side of the city, as I went there more to explore the city in general, visit the social centers, alternative places and so on.
Shower:
Another annoyance is the shower, which has this rather odd pattern of suddenly getting very hot, and then getting very cold repeating every 3 minutes or so.
Social element:
There's no room for socialising, unlike a previous hostel I stayed at. You can only socialise in the room you sleep in, and that means that if people decide to do that when other people are trying to sleep, not everyone will be happy, or people are encouraged not to interact with one another and just mind their own business which, arguably, is a bit sad.
Staff: Some of the staff seemed rather careless about your existence, ie. not very welcoming and helpful, but if you don't need their help then I guess it doesn't make that much of a difference.
Ventilation/Temperature:
For 10 people in one room, one small window is perhaps too little, with no other ventilation present. I can imagine that it would get rather hot during the summer, at full capacity. Even in my case, staying in October and the room being at 40% capacity the room got fairly hot.
Various:
Positive: No curfew. (does any hostels actually have that?) I didn't notice any bedbugs?
Negative: Some people have complained about the price. I paid around 25 EUR per night excluding the city tax, for a normal weekday. Weekends are twice that price. For me that seemed in the same ballpark as the other offers available, but if you pay considerably more for your stay here, maybe there's a better alternative.
Meta comments: Worthy of noting is that Hostels Club ratings are all set to 60 by default, and there seemingly is no list of what each category means exactly, and where to put what information. For instance, if there were certain practical things that I think the hostel should've taken care of, at which category does this affect the ratings?
I'm really not sure what the categories "Entertainment" and "Personality" really encompass?
Aug 23, 2011 - A very good hotel. Had everything we needed. a bit thin walls and quite some traffic in the hallways. Good and simple breakfast for 5 euros.
May 31, 2011 - a little far away from suquare and redligth street.room was nice and bath you can getting by subway if you dont like to walk.
Apr 10, 2011 - No problems at all would stay again.
Mar 14, 2011 - No room where you can sit and read og talk to friends. Very helpfull staff.
Sep 27, 2010 - Clean rooms, nice staff, decent location. Everything you need but not too luxorious. Definently worth the money!
Sep 04, 2010 - Unfriendly staff that don't care about you when they find out that you're in a dorm room; poor location 15 min. outside of center; cleaner than other hostels; great breakfast.
Aug 12, 2010 - The bathroom is used by 20 people, and there is only one on each floor, so it is always dirty and may not be available in an emergency, if someone walks across the room, the floor is moving, moving beds, everything is moves, furniture, carpets, etc.. are in very bad condition. It is expensive value for money, but Amsterdam is a very expensive city. It is 10 minutes walk to downtown. And it has no parking as stated in the specifications, the staff is friendly.