Honestly, I am calling out every single person who gave this place a "decent" review. I, myself, have never been to prison before, but boy will I be humbled enough to find it live-able if I ever go, since I've already experienced the worst. Let's put it this way- I work for a Homeless organization that places the homeless in housing and I wouldn't even give them shelter here if I could. I was going to the Bruno Mars concert in Birmingham and wouldn't make the last train back to London so decided to try to find a hotel. Bruno, your concert was awesome, but "F" you for making Hatters the ONLY available place to sleep that night.... (literally, every single place was booked). "Why are you going to this sh*thole?," said my taxi driver when I told him the address. "You are better off sleeping in a bush." That seems crazy! (I thought). But now, I realize that curling up in bush on a cold night using a branch as a pillow and a leaf as a blanket would be far more luxurious than my sleep at Hatters. When I got shown my room, (I mean, box) the only thing that came to mind was "50 shades of grey." And no, not the kinky film (obvs), but the drab color that covered the walls, carpet and beds. There was NO light, no window, no life. I politely asked to move into a different room since I believe I am a good human being and didn't feel like I did something wrong in life to be in this room. (Kudos to the other 2 people that stayed in that room, God bless you). The "nicer" room was fine ("fine" meaning it still felt like I was sleeping on the set of Orange is the New Black- minus the colorful outfits and fun bunk mates). Oh, speaking of bunk mates.... I was woken up at 3am by a SCREAMING older woman (oh, hey new roomie!) who literally almost climbed into bed with me she was so close to my face yelling at me in Chinese because "I stole her bed." P.S.- I was fast alseep in MY assigned bed so not sure what the deal was and let's be honest, no one stole "the master bedroom" here... The screaming went on for about an hour. All I wanted was a descent night sleep (under the circumstances) with my cardboard bed and pillow made of tissue. Gotta say, the staff was great- very accommodating, cool, helped calm down the screaming lady, etc... Can't say anything bad about them. But when your bare feet hit the bathroom floor and it feels like you may have gotten frostbite from the ice cold floor, something has to be said. So in conclusion, if you have self respect, standards or need a working back for something, don't stay here. If it's a money thing, starve yourself for a few meals and put that money towards somewhere else. If you like role playing (who doesn't like feeling like a character from Prison Break?!) then yes, stay here. read more

Is this the best hostel I've stayed at? No. Is this the worst hostel I've stayed at? Definitely not. I don't know if the Yelper who said this would be worse than jail has ever been to a hostel before. Hatters Birmingham is an all right hostel. I found a cheap flight from Dublin to Birmingham and booked myself a one night in a six bed female dorm (with an ensuite bathroom). It was £12. Pros - Location is about 15 minute walk from New Street station. If your coming from the airport it's 12 minutes on the train to the central station. - Free breakfast. Typical hostel fare cereal, toast, cold cuts, fruit (canned fruit salad), coffee and tea. It's not a 5 star breakfast,but it's something to start the day and it's nice it's included. - Free WiFi. I stayed in a room on the main floor (106) and the signal was full strength the whole time. Really nice cause I've been to some hostels where you can only get WiFi in the common areas. - Beds (while bunks) were pretty comfortable. - Ensuite bathroom means you're only sharing with the other people in your room, and not 50 people on the same floor. - Price was great. Granted I was here for one night midweek in December (before peak travel season) so it could be higher. - Front doors are locked after midnight, so you need a security code to get in. Good safety feature. There's lockers in the dorms (bring your own lock). - Free luggage storage if you check in early before your room is ready or have a late flight and want to explore the city after check out. - Assigned beds that are clearly marked. I like assigned beds because I can request a bottom bunk if it's available. - There is a kitchen if you want to make your own lunch or supper. I didn't use the kitchen. Cons - I stayed in room 106 and my keycard never worked even after the front desk reset it. They had to get a master key to let me in. None of the other girl who were in my room were able to get their keycards to work either. Luckily there was someone in the room to let us in if this happened, but clearly the lock on this door needs to be replaced. - The women's public toilets were in a bit of shambles. Only one of the two toilets worked, there was no soap when I used it (on two separate occasions). - Minimally staffed. The staff were fine, but there was only ever one person at the lobby. A few times the staff must have been out dealing with issues because I had to wait for someone to come by. - Breakfast was fine, but the coffee was horrible. Stick to the tea, it was okay. - I didn't use the shower and the rest of the bathroom was okay, but there is clearly black mold on the tile grout. - The luggage store room is open (no locked door) and it seemed like anyone from the hostel could walk in and take whatever if staff wasn't there. As mentioned earlier there was only ever one person on and if they had to leave to go up to a room for some reason that could happen. - While front door locks after midnight, during the day anyone could get in, and again if staff was away from the desk dealing with a room issue this could be a problem. I don't know if anything has happened, and there is a buzzer to ring it, but it never worked. I could just open the front door and head in. There hostel should look at fixing this to reduce any security risks and give guest some peace of mind. Meh - There isn't much of a social hostel atmosphere here. Maybe it was cause it wasn't too busy when I stayed. In the basement (where the kitchen breakfast area is a place where there would be a bar, but it wasn't working. There's a pool table, some tables and chairs and a couch at the front.desk, but I didn't get a lot socializing vibes here. If you like to meet people at hostels you.migjt have a hard time here. It might be different in the summer. - The front desk area of the hostel has a nice design. There's exposed brickwork and some art, but the rooms are a bit drab. Walls are white and grey with some white and grey artwork. Bunks are blue metal and there an olive green wood panel by the bunks with an assigned letter. Basically this hostel won't win any design awards, but unless your someone who really cares about this is won't matter. - The room In was in (106), was clearly an interior room so there were no windows. That didn't matter to me, but it might be a factor for some. - There are outlets in the rooms, but they're only on the bottom of the wall. If you're in a top bunk you'll have to climb in and out of the bed to charge your phone. So yeah there are some issues, but for the price and a night you get a pretty good deal. I don't know if I'd go out of my way to stay here again, but it was fine. read more