My two friends and I planned a 10 day trip to Barc...

My two friends and I planned a 10 day trip to Barcelona and Amsterdam for our February break. We had originally booked accomodations through Air BnB which was great for our first stop. However, although advertised as downtown Amsterdam, clean, and safe, in asking my Dutch friend we were disturbed to find out that it was essentially in the ghetto of Amsterdam, and a solid 15 min DRIVE into downtown. Panicked, my friends and I searched for a new place to stay, but with two days until we were supposed to arrive, everything was either booked or FAR too expense. The cheaper options were even further from downtown.
We originally we hesitant about booking a hostel because we had heard horror stories from other friends. But when we came across Cocomama we took the leap, as it had availability for the three of us in the same room, for 5 days, and the price could not be beat especially for the location that is maybe a 10 minute walk from downtown.
When we arrived, we were shocked to walk into a mansion of a town house, perfectly clean, welcomed by two of the friendliest people, let alone staff members I have ever met in my life. The two of them (I forget their names unfortunately) walked us through Cocomama and told us the hilarious history of the building. They then gave us keys to our rooms which were PHENOMINAL triple decker bunk beds built into the rooms, with curtains to close yourself off from others when you would like, lights in your 'pod' so you can stay up and read, and perfectly comfortable matresses. They then gave us maps of Amsterdam, and told us some of the fun things to do, as the people who run Cocomama (who are in their late 20's, early 30's probably) live in the city themselves. With the map, they showed us all of the guided tours and fun activities that the staff run themselves throughout the city which all Cocomama stayers AND THEIR FRIENDS could sign up for.
The absolute greatest two aspects of Cocomama however are:
1) They do your laundry for you!!! If you would like, while you and your friends are out exploring, the staff take your dirty clothing to a laundrymat down the street. By the time your back, all of your clothes are back, clean, and FOLDED in your room... which is just the greatest thing ever.
2) The staff are fun! They do not care if you want to invite friends over, there is a large common room for everyone to gather in, that doesn't let noise escape to the rooms upstairs who may want some peace and quiet. I think we met up with 20 of our friends, literally, and had them all over for drinks before going downtown. Not only did the staff love it, but they joined in with their friends, and other stayers came down with THEIR friends.

For someone who was very wary of hostels, Cocomama has completely changed my opinion, and makes me think that hostels are actually the way you should stay in a city, especially if you are a young traveller who is paying their own way, and looking to be social. Very highend, very fun, and we met so so many amazing people.

Thank you very much Cocomama, I really hope to come back some day soon!