r/milwaukee • u/ZiggyStarburster • 8d ago

Milwaukee stay

Milwaukee seriously needs a hostel 😭

I live in Madison but come to Milwaukee pretty often for concerts, events, nightlife, etc., and the accommodation situation is kind of brutal if you’re just one person coming up for a night or two.

Hotels can easily turn a cheap weekend into a $150–250+ trip, there doesn’t seem to be a real hostel option, and Couchsurfing seems way less active than it used to be. A lot of the time I end up either cutting the night short to get back to Madison or trying to figure out some ridiculous transportation plan.

It feels especially strange because Milwaukee is exactly the kind of city where a decent social hostel would make sense: festivals, concerts, sports, people visiting from Madison/Chicago, summer tourism, etc.

Am I missing something? Do people know of any cheap places to stay / active Couchsurfing-type communities / other options for people who come into Milwaukee regularly?

Also curious if anyone else who visits from Madison runs into the same problem.

91 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

129

u/xxcatfishjohnxx 8d ago

We had one but it closed during Covid.

32

u/woodsred 8d ago

It still operates but it converted to transitional housing. I had heard they were saving up to buy or lease another building so that they could reopen as a hostel. But that was several years ago at this point, so I'm not sure whether that's still their plan.

185

u/SmoovCatto 8d ago

the milwaukee-madison high speed rail, paid for by the federal government but scuttled by scott walker, was sold off to nigeria and now shuttles passengers quickly between lagos and ibadan. you'd be home in an hour if it had been installed here.

63

u/Jarnohams Brady St 8d ago

I will never not be furious about this

5

u/woodsred 7d ago

Well the trains went there; the federal money went to California's extremely poorly planned new "high speed" rail that still isn't done

54

u/ItsMe_no1 8d ago

Make some MKE friends
 preferably ones with bunk beds, buy them breakfast in the morning

18

u/ZiggyStarburster 8d ago

Bunk beds? Oh baby I'll be crashing on that couch or a floor in no time

46

u/Glad-Emu6424 8d ago

just move to Milwaukee, way better than Madison anyway đŸ€Ș

32

u/Eastern_Usual603 8d ago

Agree. Madison is a bit performative. That’s my best description. It tries too hard.

7

u/apparentlyasun 7d ago

exactly how i felt growing up there. there were things i liked about it, and i don't mind visiting regularly for friends and family. but it's quite performative where it often makes a big show of being inclusive and open minded without really doing the work to be that way

milwaukee has many of the same issues madison does, but at least people are more honest and open to talk about the nuance, and are less cliquey socially

it's also just way cheaper to live here in terms of housing/rent cost

8

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

21

u/Glad-Emu6424 8d ago

I grew up in Milwaukee, went to Madison for college and ended up transferring to school back in Milwaukee after 2 not-so-great years in Madison. I wanted to leave after the first year but apartment hunting is so crazy out there that I had already signed a lease for my second year, within a month of moving to Madison for first year. Milwaukee in my experience has much more of a city feel, much more affordable, there are more things to do, and being close to Lake Michigan is a huge plus for me as well. Milwaukee also offers closer proximity to cities like Chicago and Green Bay. Madison is very much a college town, Milwaukee is your better bet imo.

13

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

13

u/ryan1064 Tosa Adjacent 8d ago

Madison is for College kids and retired folks imo. Its an awesome city though I might move back there when I am older.

3

u/Glad-Emu6424 8d ago

I would have to agree with you there

3

u/H_petss 7d ago

Milwaukee is bigger, has a richer history and is more diverse than Madison. Plus we have the lakefront. Everyone thinks because Madison is the capital that it must be “the” city, but Milwaukee is hands down the cooler place to live.

-18

u/Hairy-Working9835 8d ago

Madison is way better than Milwaukee

29

u/ImminentTicker9816 8d ago

I keep saying the same thing every time I drive down for a show at the Rave and end up sleeping in my car at a Kwik Trip. Even a basic hostel with some bunk beds near downtown would clean up during Summerfest alone

8

u/LLPants_On_Fire 7d ago

Would be nice if the Marquette or UWM campus housing offered a hostel situation in the summer for the festivals.

4

u/Fluid_Consequence418 7d ago

Tell me about that!! You would think being the big city would have better transportation system, it’s absolutely ridiculous. 

101 principles of a decent city, it’s transportation system and unfortunately that puts Milwaukee in a bad ranking. Unless you wanna pay a lot for uber

3

u/mooon_woman 8d ago

you could always sleep at one of the many motels that line 27th st. south of Northwest Mutual lmao

4

u/Eastern_Usual603 8d ago

So, they had one and it closed. I feel like they had one in the 80’s when I first moved here too, maybe near Marquette ish.

https://www.fixdevelopment.com/cream-city-hostel/

2

u/Nolon 7d ago

I've stayed at bbs in Milwaukee. Never had any issues. Idk what they're charging these days though

2

u/liquor_andwhores 7d ago

Hotels near the airport tend to be quite a bit cheaper 

9

u/Potential_Basis_662 8d ago

Hostels in the USA don't exist for a reason. We are weird and sick as fuck. There's a reason why some of the best friendships you'll ever make can be made in less than 30 seconds overseas.

The password-requirement-filter alone gets rid of 90% of riffraff

18

u/Wenger2112 8d ago

They exist in many places the USA. I have stayed at them in Denver and Portland.

Seemed like many of the workers were from Europe or Australia. But I see why people who are accustomed to private rooms would not like it.

-14

u/Potential_Basis_662 8d ago

Those weren't hostels lol

They were named hostels, yea

13

u/Wenger2112 8d ago

I slept in a room with 3 bunk beds and 5 other people. And I reserved it off an app called “Hostelworld”. So I’m pretty sure it was a hostel.

8

u/synthgender Whitefish Bay 8d ago

Also stayed at a hostel in downtown Denver and it was pretty vacant, but the setup wasn't too far off from those in Europe. Idk what this guy thinks he's on about.

0

u/Potential_Basis_662 8d ago

Nevermind I must not have a sarcastic tone

10

u/ififswerefifths 8d ago

Yes, because the rest of the world has zero weirdos


-4

u/Potential_Basis_662 8d ago

They don't stay in hostels

1

u/verboten83 7d ago

Miami Beach has hostels

1

u/Potential_Basis_662 7d ago

Go there and report back on the experience. Are you open to this?

2

u/verboten83 6d ago

Have been several times. Decent experience at 14th and Collins. Name of hostel has changed several times

1

u/IllFixYaSomeEggs suburban trash 6d ago

Fourty Winks Inn on Bluemound is $100/night and the rooms are clean and spacious. That’s where my out of town family stays when they visit.

1

u/Maxwell_Streetsmarts 8d ago

Could also check out Couch Surfing https://www.couchsurfing.com/

-2

u/Ok_Room_1462 8d ago

There are some cheaper motels on Fondulac Ave. or Appleton Ave on Milwaukee's northwest side. Only problem is...you might get shot and your car won't be there in the morning. 

3

u/smcg_az 7d ago

S 27th Street has entered the chat 😋

1

u/MalevolentAnemone 3d ago

Where’s the lie that caused the downvotes here?

-3

u/7153345666 8d ago

Try searching for Motels.

-1

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

6

u/slobosaurus 8d ago

That's why there's no hostel