Chamounix Mansion & Carriage House

"This place is 5 star It is a gorgeous, historic & peaceful house. The rooms were beautiful. The staffs were also very good Kitchen had all spices you could imagine Warning: The hotel closes from 11-4:30 and you can't stay there. The hostel is not open every day and you cannot book for the same day. Keep that in mind."

"The hostel is a friendly space with communal areas in which people regularly congregate. Pancake breakfast are make your own but all the supplies are available in the kitchen. TV and DVD player are in the living room, piano and other instruments are in common rooms for use by visitors. Even shampoo and soap are available in the bathroom. The staff is friendly, the space is clean, and the location easily accesses bus routes into Philly. The only thing to remember is: no access to the hostel and grounds during the hours of 11am-4pm! No exceptions."

"This was a cool place. Maybe one of the strangest hostels I've stayed at. Be warned that it really isn't walkable from downtown. Do yourself a favour and just get an Uber. It's bloody ginormous, the male dorm is on the top floor and the rooms downstairs are vacuous. It seemed like everyone I stayed with was there for the same reason, they booked the cheapest one and weren't exactly sure what they were expecting but that actually made my experience so much better. People make hostels. Critiques would be that the beds in the male dorm were very uncomfortable, hard, plastic covered mattresses with sheets that were tiny and very rough.. but let's call it "period style bedding" for the building. Why not. Over air conditioned too in my case. Loads of charm. Just book it. There's also a shortcut through the woods to get to the bus stop, ask about it if you're getting the bus and go on an adventure."

"It is a 20 minute walk from the closest bus stop so if you can't drive, I wouldn't recommend it. The hostel, however, is situated in a very peaceful part of Philly as there is literally nothing but trees and forest surrounding the it. If you can love tennis, there are many tennis courts about a 2 min drive from the hostel. As for cleanliness, there were a lot of hair on the blankets they provided and ants running atop kitchen tables. I understand this is an old building but the couches and eating area smelled. Regarding management and staff, everybody in the building was rudely woken up at 1am by one of the staff members who was on shift that night to figure out who parked their car outside of the designated parking spaces. A new friend I made there was called out and when she went to check her space, she realized it wasn't her car. Not only was she wrongly and rudely accused, the person who parked in the unassigned spot was sitting outside on the porch steps, (the staff walked right by him) and the staff woke everybody up to find that out. Moreover, they should have asked if their customers drove upon check-in and let us know the rules and terms clearly. Furthermore, the staff only gave a flippant "sorry" for her mistake. Since everyone was already up at 1am, we could hear the room doors slamming shut. It is an old building and you can hear everything. They should put up a sign telling us to handle the doors with care or something. Due to that unsettling disturbance, it was nearly impossible to return to sleep."