Las Vegas was an amazing city.

The people working at the hostel were friendly and I met some great people there. Its easy to get to the strip by taking the 24 hr bus which was convenient. If you're travelling on a budget, it helps to get the free toast in the morning.

On the bad side, however, they messed up my booking so I ended up changing rooms for each of my three nights stay (v. annoying). Also, I was bitten during the night while I was sleeping. The jury's still out on what bit me but I've got plenty of scars now for the privilege. I'm just one of those unlucky people very suseptible to insect bites.

Stay here by all means but be prepared, its very basic in comparison to all of the other hostels I've stayed in.

Well, it's been a while since I was at Sin City Hostel. It was in 2003 and I had been on a tour of the US for a month or so when I arrived in Las Vegas. I didn't have a reservation for the hostel but I just walked in and got a bed. That worked fine.
The rooms were very utilitarian, four beds in the girls' room and two in a private room. The bathroom was ok - no massive bugs or anything else nasty there.
We had breakfast made by Paul (who at the time was managing the place) and he also did the dishes as he wanted to know they were squeaky clean, too. The breakfast wasn't great - toast etc. but you lived on it.
The only problem for us girls in this hostel may be that there used to be/are some working girls working at the parking lot behind the hostel at times. I got loads of honk-honks and toot-toots from cars passing by when I was walking up the Strip towards the city... and I had normal clothes on. Just as long as you don't get too ruffled by that, you're fine.
My experience was slightly strange there anyhow because of the managers at the time but there was nothing wrong with the place. It was cheap (US$10 at the time per night), it was on the Strip and you could take the bus to town 24/7.

This place offers all you'll need in Vegas....a bed and clean shower in the morning. You won't be hanging around much if you see Vegas properly. The staff was fine and helpful. My only beef is that they seem to have some arrangement with the Grand Canyon tour companies. They referred us to a tour company and it was decent. We were happy until we met two girls later that night who went on a different tour. Their tour was a lot better than ours and cost $10 less per person. They booked it through hostelworld(--) and obviously by the look of their pictures went with a much better company. They got a fully guided tour and the guide placed them at points where it looked like they were standing right on the edge of the canyon (but really weren't....the kind of pictures that freak your family out). They also got a free t-shirt and CD of their tour that was REALLY good. I asked the guy....can't remember his name but it's an odd name....why they don't refer us to this company. He said they have a deal with the other company so they don't advertise anyone else. This is the first time I've encountered this with a hostel, where they refer people to a worst tour because of some deal. I was put off by it and it really soured my experience with them. I don't think I'll ever see the Grand Canyon again and I'm disappointed that they did this to me.

I have had the privilege of staying at the Sin City twice in the last few years when it was called the las vegas International hostel. I heard it got a major renovation, so the last time I was in vegas June 05, i went to check it out and much to my surprise, nothing had changed.

Ok there are good parts to the hostel, i.e friendly staff, a kitchen, a tv room, very friendly guests and good touring options, I had a great trip to the Grand Canyon which included hiking down the Canyon, something most of the big touring companies don't offer.

However the hostel itself is in a very, very dangerous part of town, between the strip and downtown. Unless you are armed with some sort of weapon, I would advise against walking outside, especially at night or with any sort of luggage. Every day I was approached by crack dealers, junkies etc. The area itself is really seedy, strip clubs, tattoo parlours, really crappy casinos.

The rooms are poor (something along the lines of a prison cell), even by basic hostel standard. I have stayed in hostels all over Europe, some good, some bad, this was very bad. Private rooms are adjacent to dorms, this means you have to first go through the dorm to get to your private room. Try this at 4am in the dark when everyone is sleeping in the dorm and you'll understand it better. Same problem with bathroom, if you could call it that. Also beware of giant cockroaches, yes i think they may actually be paying guests.

For the same $35-$40 a night (private rooom in Sin City Hostel) you have a choice either stay somewhere like El cortez, Four Queens in old Downtown, or Sahara, Circus Circus, Gold Coast, Somerset House Motel, all on or near the Strip. Each of the hotels mentioned apart from somerset having numerous restaurants, big casinos, tv, proper bedroom/bathroom facilities.

If on the other hand you want to meet some nice people while paying huge amounts on taxi, bus fares, coupled with the chance of being mugged or even worse then this place is perfect.

Las vegas is perhaps the greatest city in the world, don't let the Sin City Hostel spoil even part of what is an amazing experience