The place was clean, although there was a really gross communal sponge in the kitchen when I first arrived. By the next day, it was replaced with a fresh sponge. A similarly gross sponge in the bathroom remained the entire time. Paper towels in the kitchen would have been appreciated.
The doors and walls are extremely thin / hollow, so you really do hear everyone else, so bring earplugs. Everyone was very respectful of quiet hour, which was nice. Everyone also wore masks when they were in the kitchen area.
The kitchen did smell strangely funky / gross in spite of the clean sink and trash, but once you are in your room, it's fine. Crack a window if you really need to. I actually woke up the first morning because of the smell in my room. I thought it was the bathroom smell venting into my room, but I think maybe it was the laundry room venting in? I don't know. I kept my windows cracked open every night after that, and it was fine. (The windows have safety locks and very nice shades, by the way.)
The beds are comfortable, and so is the bedding. I was disappointed that the dresser in my room fell apart when I tried to use it, but oh well. the host was made aware of the problem and hopefully took care of it before the next visitor arrived.
There wasn't a working smoke detector in my room, which bothered me, even though there was a slot for one on the ceiling. I don't recall seeing a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, either.
There was a large Ikea-like desk and chair in my room, plus two lamps if you need to work. There was also (kindly) a bottle of water and tissues on the desk. I greatly appreciated the water after the walk from the bus stop.
Water was hot, shower pressure and drainage were good. There was a hair dryer, but when I tried to turn it on, it made that "safety click" you hear that prevents a breaker from tripping. I gave up after 3 tries. Maybe it was user error? I didn't ask, but I'm sure there's a way to make it work.
The location was a bit further away from the city than I would have liked, but once I got used to the MBTA planning schedule, I was able to pick up the bus at the end of the street and take it straight into Forest Hills in about 30 minutes. It's very straightforward.
There are some good restaurants in the area. I highly recommend Sofia's, which is an Italian bistro a few bus stops away. There's also a Dunkin Donuts, a CVS, a liquor store, and a late night sandwich type place connected to the liquor store about 1/2 a mile away (take Uber at night). Further into the center of town (5 or so bus stops away), you'll find pubs, ice cream, etc.
I travel a lot and have stayed at a LOT of hostels in my time. I would rate this one as a "C+". Clean, safe and comfortable, and the host was responsive, but the noise, smell, distance and lack of smoke detector bring the rating down a bit. It's an older home, and you can tell the owner is incrementally working on it.