Opened in 2002, the Academy Youth Hostel is one of the first youth hostels in Xi'an. Located at the foot of the Yongning Gate of the South City Wall, the Academy Youth Hostel is a three-hall courtyard house with a very conspicuous appearance: red lacquered doors and windows, large lanterns, a soft couch at the entrance, and a square table and teapot on the side. The interior of the hostel is more elaborately decorated, with all kinds of old furniture scattered in the courtyard, desks, square tables, and Taishi chairs collected from all over the place, bird cages hanging from the roof, and potted plants and landscape paintings hanging on the walls.

The Academy's hostel is popular with foreign tourists, as evidenced by the restaurant's menu. The menu is bilingual in Chinese and English, and the restaurant offers a variety of breakfast options such as British, American, French, Israeli, vegetarian, etc., including Mexican chicken burritos, pancakes, eggs benedict and more. Lunch and dinner are mostly Western-style dishes such as pizza, pasta, and steak, and in terms of drinks, the restaurant has prepared a variety of cocktails and wines.

In addition to providing international specialties, the hostel also has a wide variety of activities, and it is also very popular with foreign guests. The hostel's daily activities are different, including cooking classes, calligraphy, free KTV, dumpling feast, game night, etc., please refer to the official information for details. The hostel also has a basement bar, located in the second courtyard, the bar sings and dances from time to time, which is very lively. Although the bar is clearly stipulated to close at 23 o'clock, it is often open until the early hours of the morning, and it is very noisy, which causes a lot of trouble to the residents.

Compared to dining and entertainment, the hostel living experience is not satisfactory. The hostel has three floors, the first floor is the restaurant, the second and third floors are the housing, and you need to take the stairs to go up and down, which is slightly inconvenient. Most of the multi-bed rooms are mixed, and there are also special rooms for girls, but there are not many of them. The biggest problem with the room is that the facilities are old and not fully equipped. The toilets are shared on the same floor, and there is only one toilet on each floor, which is often crowded. There are many green plants and flowers in the hostel, it is inevitable that there will be mosquito infestment, and the electric mosquito killer equipped with the room is not effective, so it is recommended to bring your own mosquito repellent.

The room rate of the academy hostel is on the higher side of the Xi'an youth hostel, the price of a multi-person mixed room is between 45 yuan/night and 60 yuan/night, and the price of other room types is between 200 yuan/night and 320 yuan/night, which is more than some express hotels. The hostel has been open for a long time, and although it has been renovated, there are still problems such as old and incomplete facilities, poor sound insulation, etc.