I booked a last minute (the night before) two night stay at the College Hostel frankly as a desperation move, as all other surrounding hostels were booked to capacity; largely due to the 2015 PanAm games that occupied and invigorated an already bustling and very hip city.
Aside from the GREAT LOCATION of this hostel, everything else was simply vanilla.
Contrary to its name this hostel is not limited to college students, but a marketing ploy to attract the shoe-string budget traveller and also indicate the layout to expect. With this philosophy, you definitely get what you pay for, which is not much.
Check-in was simple and the receptionist was pleasant. There I was informed of the function, layout and offers provided to all guests. It consists of one fairly large kitchen with two fridges, one media room with one flat screen tv with two couches and two tables. Very basic and not very warm and welcoming.
The four-bed mixed dorm I was booked in was pretty small. One locker for each bed and nowhere to sit other than your bed. One nice thing about the room however was that it had a small porch with a nice view of the city skyline. The washrooms are identical to that of a college dorm - one separate room for toliet and sink, and another room with two showers and two sinks. I'm almost certain that layout applies to all floors within the hostel.
Though some may consider this hostel a bit shady, my dorm mates and other guests I encountered and interacted with were all amazing people in their own right, so the opportunity to enrich your stay with people and stories money can't buy are there for the taking.
Bean.