“Lille hostel bars are where you start the night before going out, then the place you come back to at 1 AM when the metro has stopped. JOST's club extends that by another four hours. The People's bar is where I had the longest conversation of my trip with a Belgian who'd come down from Mons just for the welsh-complet at Au Vieux de la Vieille. That's the kind of bar conversation you don't get in Paris.”
A boutique-leaning hostel in the actual centre of Lille, two minutes from the Grand Place. Refurbished building, garden out back, continental breakfast buffet, and a 9.0 rating that's the highest of any hostel in town. Quietly social rather than party-loud.
JOST's Lille outpost: a 200-bed flagship in Wazemmes with a food court, bar, nightclub, and live music. The closest thing Lille has to a true party hostel — international, design-forward, and a 10-minute walk from the Grand Place across the boulevard.
The People's Vieux-Lille flagship: a former townhouse on rue de Saint-André turned design-forward hostel. 10 minutes to the Grand Place, two minutes to the cobbled streets and welsh-and-bière-de-garde estaminets that make Vieux-Lille worth the detour. Bar, terrace, breakfast, real social energy.
Hostelling International's outpost in the Fives neighborhood, 12 minutes by metro from Place du Général de Gaulle. The cheapest beds in Lille, a sun terrace with bar, evening entertainment, and a shared kitchen — exactly what you'd expect from an HI property, no surprises and no pretension.
JOST pours late and has the only on-site nightclub. Best if you want to drink past metro hours.
The People's bar attracts locals — Saturday night is a French crowd not a hostel one.
CENTRAL has the best craft beer selection at the most reasonable prices. €4 for Brasserie de la Goutte d'Or.
HI Lille's bar is functional, not destination — order a snack on the terrace and go elsewhere for the real night.
Try the bière de garde style. It's local, it's strong (6-8% ABV), and it's cheaper at hostel bars than at Vieux-Lille proper bars.
