Do you dream about staying in the Old City of Jerusalem?
Well, your dream can easily come true! Citadel Hostel, an 800-year-old youth hostel, wait, I mean an 800-year old Jerusalem stone-house that runs a youth hostel is an excellent option! You can book a dorm bed or a shared room. The view on the balcony is incredible. If you want the experience of waking up in Jerusalem, this is the place!
Location
From Jaffa Gate. First, go down a flight of stairs, then turn right and go up the stairs. After that, there’s a flat road. It’s 4 minutes walk to the Church of Holy Sepulchre!
It’s sort of in parallel to the main road, so it doesn’t belong to any quarter!
The entrance to the Citadel Hostel! This building is 800 years old!
My impression of the Old City of Jerusalem is dark and cold… I have no idea if this hostel would turn out to be a bad experience….
Check-In
When I came in, I was amazed by the architecture! It’s more than what pictures can deliver! You feel immediately connected to Jerusalem, really, you have to be there. With a relatively “okay” review, I was surprised that the staff was so friendly. Our triple room was $85, with a shared bathroom and no breakfast. A dorm bed would cost $25, so a triple room was a good deal. By the way, cash only. The staff let us store our luggage before our room was ready. When I asked if I could leave my luggage here the next day after check-out? The staff immediately agreed and said I could leave it there as long as I want. I was really impressed 🙂 By the way, even though bus 231 from Damascus Gate to Bethlehem was easy, I would rather not to carry my luggage all the way from Jerusalem to there!
Facility
Unexpectedly, the lounge was cozy and pretty! It was much cleaner than expected too! The area could consider spacious as this is how big a floor is in this 800-year-old building! So this probably counts as the basement? Look at these sofas (floor cushions)! So Middle Eastern!
From here, there’s a doorway for leaving luggage. And that door at the end leads to a dorm room.
If the lounge is considered B1, the reception as 1st floor, then from the intriguing stairs it leads to 3 more floors. 
This is the second floor. There are two rooms and 3 shared bathrooms. 
On the third floor, there’s a kitchen. But I found the electric stove inefficient. It takes forever to cook something. And the switch for the light is impossible to find… well, there’s a box above “Exit” with a yellow keychain right? That’s the switch! 
And let’s go to the 4th floor. There are two rooms. 
And finally, on the 5th floor, there’s this amazing balcony! You can see the Mt.Olives from here! Wow! The location is superb, and I leave the good views for your surprises! It is simply amazing!
The Room
I stayed in the cheapest triple room with shared bathroom. I didn’t take pictures for the shared bathroom, there are 3 of them, small but enough. It might not be ideal if you are larger in size… 
So here’s our room! I like staying in a stone room, the experience made me happy! It’s more atmospheric there than on pictures. But the room was small. It wasn’t cold, and there were blankets on the bed. In Asia, we don’t use blankets. So when a blanket is used, it is always in a cover. It isn’t expected to put a blanket on top of a bed cover. So, anyways, this is a cultural difference. My mom and my aunt didn’t like these blankets. 
And… Wifi was terrible in the room. Probably because of the stones? And the socket (near the door) was too high that made it hard to charge the power bank. 
These are the rooms from 4th floor. It looks brighter because of the windows, but it is less atmospheric in my opinion. 
For $85, with no private bathroom or breakfast, I think it is not so good for value. But hey, this is in the Old City! Prioritize what is important to you, the location? View? Atmosphere? Or Value? In terms of value, at least for me, there are better choices in the New City. The Post Hostel or Stay Inn Hostel. Or Zion Hotel. If you have more budget, and that you really want to have a good experience in the Old City of Jerusalem, then consider Sephardic House ! ($120 for a double room)！
Citadel Hostel — 2019
Comment：Old Building. You can try for 1-2 nights. The advantage is location and atmosphere. $25/dorm without breakfast.
