Getting Hostel in the City: All (or Most) of What You Need to Know About Freehand Hotels
The facade of the Freehand Hotel welcomes guests in downtown Los Angeles
Finding accommodations in the heart of a major American city is generally going to be a pricey affair. If you want to stay right downtown where all the action is, that’s usually going to come with a heftier price tag. That makes perfect sense, of course, but what if there was a way to get around the higher cost without sacrificing location or comfort? Freehand Hotels are by no means a magical remedy to this conundrum, but they do offer a digestible solution.
You generally think of hostels (or at least I do) as accommodations found in far-flung places, not the kind of thing you’d find right in the middle of a major metro area. But that’s exactly, or at least partially, what is offered at Freehand properties. Found in four major U.S. cities — namely, New York, Miami, Chicago, and Los Angeles— these hotels would be more accurately described as hotel/hostel combos. Private, standard-style hotel rooms are certainly available, and can be booked at very reasonable nightly rates, but if you really want to save your pennies, and you’re okay sharing a space and potentially meeting other travelers, they’ve also got you covered there.
Each of the Freehand Hotels prides itself on being an artistic, community-centered hub where you not only have a place to stay but also reasons to stay around. All of the properties have their own restaurants, bars, and gathering spaces, as well as robust event calendars that include happy hours, live music, karaoke, trivia nights, and more, with each hotel doing its utmost to showcase or emulate the aura of the city in which it is located. Thus, the Miami hotel leans into sunny vibes and beach culture, while the New York location, which is housed in the former George Washington Hotel in the Flatiron District, leans into its artistic history.
I first discovered Freehand Hotels all the way back in the summer of 2017 when I was a recent college grad fresh off an internship at a Michigan-based news outlet. As a roving, in-between-jobs vagabond, I didn’t have a ton of money to my name at the time but nonetheless decided to take a little road trip over to Wisconsin to visit a friend who was living and working in Fond du Lac that summer. On the way back, my travel bug not yet squashed, I opted to stay one night in Chicago, as it had been a few years since my last visit. You can only imagine the way my eyes bugged out of my head when I found a room in the city, right downtown, for just $47/night.
Was it a scam? Was this place a complete heap of garbage? Was I running right into a trap of some kind? These questions ran through my mind in the days leading up to my stay, but when I arrived at the Freehand Chicago on East Ohio Street, all of my concerns melted away.
Right as you step inside, the artsy, bohemian vibes are off the charts. The lounge has a kind of retro-but-modern charm with warm lighting, dark wood, and patterns just about everywhere you look, making for a stylish and intimate space where you could easily kick back with a good book or get into a rousing round of “Never Have I Ever” with some newfound friends.
After getting a glimpse of the lobby, it was time to head upstairs to see where I’d be staying, which was a hostel-style room with four beds in total. We had a full house that night: me and three strangers getting cozy, as is the hostel experience. Each guest gets their own bed and a complimentary locker to store any valuables (remember to bring a pad lock!), but there is just one bathroom to a room, so you’ve got to be prepared for that — although, when you’re likely paying more for overnight parking than for the room itself, it’s kind of hard to be mad about. While this was some years ago now, the one thing that remains in my mind about the Freehand Chicago was how comfortable the bed was and how easily I fell asleep that night.
But let’s move on, shall we, to my second run-in with a Freehand property. That took place in July 2025, when I flew out to Los Angeles for a little father-son trip. We stayed two nights at the Freehand Los Angeles, which, again, is located right in the city’s downtown area, but this time I booked an actual hotel room as opposed to hostel-style digs.
My experience out west was a little different than in Chicago. The area surrounding the Freehand in L.A. is a little less polished than its counterpart in the Windy City, which sits just off the Magnificent Mile. That is certainly NOT to say it is an unsafe area or anything of the sort; it just has a different vibe and feels less like it is right in the thick of things, despite its location in the heart of the city. There are restaurants and shops in the immediate vicinity, just as in Chicago, and the hotel itself has many of the same trappings, including a rooftop pool and bar, along with a boutique on the first floor (see: second photo up above). But overall, it kind of felt like being on an island in the middle of L.A., as strange as that sounds.
Our hotel room also had kind of a funky vibe. Found right off the elevators, the room seemed to be a converted office space or something of the sort. The wall facing the elevator bank was primarily blacked-out glass and the space left between the door and the floor meant we had to kind of “barricade” ourselves against the noise of the foot traffic just outside the room by using a pair of throw pillows. So that was not exactly ideal, but there were some positives as well.
The lobby at the Freehand Chicago is brimming with retro-but-modern vibes
Just as in Chicago all those years ago, the room at the Freehand Los Angeles came with a comfortable bed that was easy to fall asleep in. The bathroom had a super retro feel to it, with fun green tiles on the floor, yellow brick in the walls, and a spacious shower. And, of course, we had it all to ourselves for under $150/night, which is a steal any way you slice it.
But let’s get down to the nitty-gritty, yeah? The real question that is probably on your mind is whether or not I would recommend staying at a Freehand property, having now experienced a pair of them. Well, okay, let’s talk it over.
The biggest draw, without a doubt, is the price. As I think I’ve repeated 2,467 times by now, the hostel-style dorm rooms at these Freehand Hotels could not be friendlier to your wallet if they tried. Of course, that type of accommodation is not for every kind of traveler — especially not for someone traveling with young kids or teens, as I was when I went out west (though I should note, for the women who may be reading this, that each Freehand property offers female-only dorms, if that is something you have concerns about as either a solo female traveler or as a group of women looking to book multiple beds).
Another major point in their favor are the buildings these hotels are housed in, which are historic spots within the cities they are located in. Additionally, each property, as previously mentioned, comes packed with its own flare particular to its home city.
If we’re being honest, these community-centric spaces are catered more toward a younger crowd and to solo travelers looking for affordability without sacrificing location. Are they the best option for a family of four with young kids or the couple with the newborn baby or toddler? That would be a resounding “no”. But if you’re the adventurous type; if you’re out in the world exploring on your own; if you feel like you embody that bohemian-type spirit — I’m sure you get where I’m going with this — then a Freehand Hotel could be a good option for you.
-LTH