Name: HI Nantucket
Address: 31 Western Avenue, Nantucket, Nantucket, Nantucket, MA 02554, United States of America
Rating: 9

Smoke-free property

All Spaces Non-Smoking (public and private)

General

Common kitchen

Meals

Free parking

Parking

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Surfside Beach

Miacomet Pond

Nobadeer Beach

Nantucket Memorial Airport

Martha's Vineyard Airport

Barnstable Municipal Airport

HI Nantucket

Nantucket

child-bed

child-bed-fee

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park-view

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annex

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

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pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

A great location as it's right near a beach. Building exterior historic. Bathrooms were apparently recently redone. The only inexpensive option on the island so you want a great future for the place. Cereal at breakfast but certainly no cook as in other reviews. Nantucket is a special place and needs this hostel but there are grave issues here.

The BAD: Women's toilets were out of order with tampons blamed (not a first); females instructed to use the laundry room toilet with no lock in men's section. Breakfast routinely 40 minutes late and then, only partially--meaningful as you want to get a bike ride in before the heat of the afternoon. So everyone's forced to wait around. Sleeping quarters literally the worst encountered anywhere. Baffling why this place is so well-rated. Several beds (six) are suffused in darkness, near no lamp or power outlets and too few power strips/space for suitcases/stuff. There's wires strung haphazardly all over the place;  they have the opportunity to fix this now with the lull of the pandemic. Half the bunk beds are narrow with uncomfortable rounded dowel footholds, old models where you feel your bed companion's every movement like an earthquake and the footholds impossible for older people to climb. Most upper bunks missing a key side rail so a worry is falling asleep and falling out. Told to try to push the entire unit as close to the wall as possible but can never get close enough due to slanted ceilings; problem is, clothes pegs are on the same wall so clothes of lower bunkmate trapped. Blankets don't appear to be cleaned. Sandy floors. The unfortunate/inferior bed situation and a preponderance of elderly visitors has given rise to a grossly unfair system of bed reservation alluded to by other reviewers who don't quite understand the system. Freestanding twins are marked reserved for days before en elderly visitor arrives. They sit unused through the night, meaning one is relegated to the awful, dangerous upper bunks missing rails and situated in darkness if hostel is "full". The beds sit empty and fictions spun by desk staff about how someone is expected that evening who never comes. Please: replace the narrow unsafe bunk beds with unworkable steps and missing guard rails. Give people loaner night lights and more power strips as at the Vineyard HI hostel to cure the poor lighting situation. Please, please do something about this situation. It's a total shame that the only real hostel on the island has serious issues of this nature. And I say all of this as an award-winning travel journalist. This kind of situation cannot stand.

Fair warning

….SLACK MANAGEMENT NEEDS TO LIFT ITS GAME.

As with my other 5 HI hostels this trip, I asked on the booking sheet for a bottom bunk given my severely arthritic knees. In all other cases this was met – On arrivalat HI NANTUCKET I was assured by Terrence there was a bottom bunk for me in the 23 bed male dorm but was given no bunk number or location. “Go up and grab it.”(I’m sure they don’t teach THAT in Hostel Management 101). Unfortunately the dorm was crowded with a mature age cycling group from Boston** which had commandeered every bottom bunk. When I reported this it was suggested I should turf someone out. I replied this was not my job, but Terrence let the issue drop, apparently thinking it was not his job either.
Gets better – next morning the inclusive breakfast was supposed to kick off at 0700 but nothing happened. Near 0800 Terrence rushed in, pretended all was normal and hurriedly set breakfast up.
Maybe book-in was a prelude to the ensuing snafu. My booking sheet clearly stated book-in was at 1500 but Terrence told me to return at 1600. There is not a lot to do at that end of the island to soak up an hour if it is not beach weather.

THE HOSTEL ITSELF – this is not a bad hostel with plenty of leisure space both inside and out, close to the southern beaches (although NANTUCKET beaches are over-rated IMHO) and with free body boards and beach towels. WIFI is okay.  Parking space is good for people with vehicles and bicycle hire is fairly easy and discounted. Certainly accommodation is a bargain compared to the insane NANTUCKET summer average. 
But the hostel is not perfect – there is no nearby shop, the nearest bus runs only once an hour and not before 1000 which creates problems for people leaving on early ferries, there are no guest washing machines or tubs (although a good clothes line meant for drying beach stuff allows air drying of washing I did in the wash basins). The number of rest rooms run behind guest numbers and the women’s wcs suffered frequent blockages. The men’s dorm and some family units are in separate buildings some way from the main building, not great in rainy weather.
This place was less clean and neat than the typical HI. The cyclist managed to tromp in sand which was underfoot everywhere in the dorm. The stairs to the second floor men’s dorm were old and creaky, very noisy under those hard soled shoes cyclists prefer to wear. And those dudes like to get up at 0500 for an early ride.

TIPS – use foot-wear on the 300m track thru the dunes to the beach: sharp grass seeds can be a hazard.
- if you get the munchies be aware the only close fast food is 10 minutes walk away at the main beach canteen near the beach bus stop (canteen open 0800-20000) where the food is expensive and not so great.
- if you normally like top bunks but have mobility issues, be aware that HI NANTUCKET’s were the only ones all trip with a thick wooden bar across the top of the stair rail – it took me 3 attempts and 15 agonising minutes to climb down first morning.
- if you are tall be aware the double bunks are somewhat longer than the singles. The wooden frame is very solid too.
- the section of beach nearest is un-patrolled. For lifeguards turn left and walk 10 minutes to the main beach area.

**should hostels be used as a cheap weekend getaway for regional locals or confined to true out of area travellers? This question brings up many issues, one being the difference between US and overseas hostels. Certainly HI hostels have many more mature age guests attending courses, job interviews etc compared to overseas hostels. Not to mention school groups.

I’m Sure They Don’t Teach That in Hostel Management 101…...

Set on a quiet part of the island this hostel is just lovely. Sassy is such an amazing host with incredible personable skills and has a way of making everyone happy even when they’re breaking the rules. It’s nice to have the run of the place and the outdoor showers (there is indoor ones too) are an added bonus. The rooms are clean and comfortable and although there isn’t air conditioning there is a decent amount of air flow. 
It was so nice in the evenings star gazing including the shooting stars! Thanks Sassy 

I just loved it here! 

The HI Nantucket is a treasure! The restored lighthouse station features a beach location and a highly professional, knowledgeable, and helpful manager and staff members.  Guests can catch The Wave, the public shuttle, a few blocks from the Hostel to ride around Nantucket.  The Hostel is sparkling clean.  A delicious breakfast is included in the reasonable nightly rates.

Beautiful Beach Hostel

After checking in and paying my bill, the host gave me a quick tour and led me to my bed. There were 32 bunks in the female dorm. My bed was in a quiet corner and on the lower bunk. 

The dorm and hostel were spotless. There was a community kitchen that was fully equipped.  The hostel prepares a light complimentary continental breakfast in the kitchen. The dinning area was neat and modern. The lobby was well furnished with a variety of board games like monopoly. Outside the hostel, there were a volleyball court, bicycle racks and a walkway to Surfside Beach. 

Besides bicycling, public transportation is one of the most affordable ways to see the island. A bus stop is conveniently located a block away from the hostel and the bus runs until 5:30 pm.

This place is neat

This was my 2nd stay at this hostel.  My wife and I went for a wknd, 2 nights.  The hostel is located at Surfside Beach, about 25min bike-ride from town.  There’s nothing nearby other than other houses and beach/ocean.  The beach is beautiful and right there though you have to walk on a path through the dunes.  If you want to go to anywhere else, you’ll need a bike or car.  The hostel used to be a coastguard station and is very charming.  There’s a fire pit outside with lots of lounge chairs, beach things, bike racks, volleyball net etc.  The common area inside has lots of comfy couches and chairs.  Plenty of refrigerated storage and full kitchen if you want to cook your own food.  Breakfast was a little chaotic … it’s self-serve but hard to tell what things are available to “everybody” and which things are reserved only for certain groups (they get a lot of groups staying there who cook/eat together and do their own mini-self-serve stations).  Hosts don’t wear uniforms or name tags so it was hard to tell the difference between guests and staff.  The dorms are spotless, as are the bathrooms.  Linens were provided and clean.  Very good mix of ages/demographics in the clientele.  Wifi was good and free.  The best thing about this place is the price …. it’s a fraction of what you’ll pay anywhere else on the island.  Even a family of 4 would do better staying at the hostel then even the cheapest hotel or inn.

Hidden Gem

Everything was overbooked in Nantucket for the 4th, so opted to stay here though I usually stay away from hostels!  Amazing location with direct access to very beautiful Surfside beach! Great, spacious, clean room with huge bathroom, very modern showers etc.  All the linen, towels were new and clean!  Honestly, better experience than our recent stay at the Flatiron Hotel in heart of Manhattan, where the room was nice yet the hotel was worn down.  Breakfast at the Star of the Sea was amazing: coffee, granola with selection of yogurts, toasts, peanutbutter, you could cook your own thins as well.  Wheres at Flatiron 4* we had only omelett :(

Just make sure to buy some groceries, water etc at Stop & Shop in the midtown of the island as there are no shops there, and you have to take a 10 minute $2 shuttle to get to the stores.  Make sure to visit the Siasconset part of the island and also bring lots of water & snacks with you!

HI Nantucket

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