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| This photo of Seafarers & International House is courtesy of TripAdvisor |
I initially stumbled upon Seafarers on tripadvisor. It had a mountain of glowing reviews, touting it as safe, convenience, clean, and affordable.
Right off the bat I could vouch for the location, 15th Street just two blocks east of Union Square. If I won the lottery and could buy my own property in NYC, I would look no further than this very block. Union Square has the convenience of a huge Whole Foods Market that's open until 11pm every night. Not five minutes away is the Trader Joe's by New York University, when no frills groceries are required. Also in Union Square is a 24h (during the week) Best Buy, Forever 21, Designer Shoe Warehouse, Strawberry, Barnes & Noble, Walgreens, and Duane Reade for all your shopping needs. The Square itself has a rotating farmers market and artists market every single day of the week. Trendy food trucks gravitate towards this area because of its close proximity to NYU and a big multiplex (the Loews Movie Theatre) is just a block away. Miles of books can be found at The Strand bookstore, the latest in comics and collectibles at Forbidden Planet, and the list goes on. As if there's not already enough to eat in the Square, start walking south and you will find yourself in the trendy East Village, go southeast and you're in bohemian Alphabet City, both packed with cheap eats and eccentric shops.
When I arrived at Seafarers, it was evident that it was a budget guesthouse in an older building, including some wicked slow elevators. I knew what I was getting into though, I'd read about the place carefully before booking. A note about booking: Seafarers does not have online booking, you have to do it old school and give them a call. Reception is helpful and answers any questions you may have, they're not overly friendly nor go above and beyond, but they will be able to provide you with all the info you need. I reserved a room with a private bathroom (sink, toilet, and shower) and two twin beds, the cost averaged $140/night. This is pretty spectacular for Manhattan. They gave me a room on the 5th floor, and since there were elevators, this suited me fine.
Though the building is old, and walls and furnishings shows many signs of wear, the halls and rooms were well-aired and did not smell musty. My room had enough space for our bags, there was a rod and some hangers for our clothes, a chest of drawers, a desk with chair, and a mini fridge. I was traveling with a complete germophobe, and when we wiped the surface of the desk and chest with a white towel, there was no visible dirt from the surfaces. I was impressed. Having stayed in some wacky hostels and downright sketchy European B&B's, this place could have easily ranked amongst them. Seafarers is thrift, but not filth.
The bathroom was equally clean, they provided a number of towels, but regretfully no soap. I couldn't figure out how to turn off the bathroom ventilation fan, which provided an annoying background of white noise whenever I didn't have the door closed tightly, but if that was the worse thing about the bathroom I'm happy to deal. I like strong showers and this was entirely passable, water heated up fast and there was plenty of hot water.
I took some issue with the mattress unfortunately. They are old spring mattresses, key word 'old'. I've encountered worse at higher star hotels, and for the price of the room, the quality of mattress was completely understandable. At no point did I have to resort to painkillers for my back/neck (which happened at a 4 star hotel once due to faulty mattress), but I can't lie and say it was a pleasant night's rest either. For a few nights stay, I can cringe and bear it, but if I were in NYC for a week, I would need to find another place to sleep. Of course this is just one room, I may have just gotten the worse bed.
The atmosphere of Seafarers & International House is interesting to say the least. The establishment is run by the Lutheran Church, dedicated to serving sailors and seafarers. There is a small chapel on the main floor with Sunday services, so I was treated to organ music when I went down to get hot water for my tea one morning. There were school groups (religious schools presumably) staying there, but also regular guests as well of all ages & ethnicity. The groups, those staying there, and others who kinda used the space like a church basement, could often be found meeting in the lobby in the evenings. Some sounded suspiciously like self-help... I'm sure this is fine for most, but for me, I get very uncomfortable around self-help anything. I like to joke that I'm not "self-help", I'm about self-deprecation! So some nights when I got home before 11pm, I'd hide in my room until after midnight before coming down to the lobby to use the wifi. Other than that the people I encountered were fine, they weren't fanatical nor preachy, and I never worried that I was going to get hosed down with holy water or anything ;)
These are all the details I can recount, if you have any specific questions please feel free to ask. The Seafarers International House is an establishment where you must decide for yourself whether you'd want to stay there. For me, the price and location make it a good option. I will certainly return.
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