Martha's Vineyard Hostel

I have traveled to Martha's Vineyard Hostel twice this year, already, and I have been impressed with some of the improvements. The first being a generally, friendlier staff. The biggest changes I noticed were the conversion of the sitting area in the kitchen to dining tables. This unfortunately removed the opportunity to relax while eating, but I guess this change was inevitable. I stayed in different rooms in each visit, and managed to get a small room the first time. It was a very comfortable setup with 8 beds, while the larger room with probably 20+ beds in adjoining rooms was annoying. This is one of my major complaints with this hostel, since I don't think it is necessary to have such large rooms. The hostel also painted the reconfigured eating area a weird yellow color that I didn't care for.
There aren't any other noticeable changes, and the hostel still doesn't have any interesting activities in the evenings.

Downtown DC Hostel

For the July 4th holiday I stayed at the Downtown DC Hostel for 5 nights in a 6 bed room. The hostel is conveniently located within walking distance of Union Station, but more importantly the Capital City Brewery. This brew pub is attached to the Smithsonian Postal Museum and across the street from Union Station, a busy Metro and Amtrak terminal. The Postal Museum is one of the worst Smithsonian museums, and not worth wasting time visiting. My iphone also dropped on the floor going through their metal detector, which also pissed me off. It isn't much further from Union Station to the Capital building and the mall, so you are better off heading down there, and only stopping here for a drink or to catch a train. The hostel has functioning AC units in the common room and bedrooms, but are adjustable by guests to hot, cold, or in-between. The staff is very friendly, and I enjoyed my experience at this hostel. It is fortunately small enough to avoid the large crowds of children traveling, and other annoying travelers. I would probably pick this hostel over HI for the atmosphere and the convenient beers.