Ocean Beach International Hostel

Brilliant!
Stayed here for over three weeks this summer and loved every minute of it! The hostel is really clean, all the rooms and the kitchen are cleaned properly everyday. Each bed has a curtain around it so that you get a little privacy and can go to bed even when somebody else in the room wants to keep the light on. We had a bathroom in all the rooms that we stayed in but there are some rooms that don't have bathrooms which means you have to use the ones in the hallway but it's grand really because they are all kept really clean anyway. It is the best place for socialising ever as there is a patio out the back where everybody goes down for a drink and to play games! Everyone is really friendly and I met loads of great people, usually everyone then goes down to the beach at night to the bonfires which are so much fun! The hostel itself is right beside the beach (Not even a three minute walk) and although Ocean beach isn't the nicest of all the beaches in San Diego it is good because it is never as crowded as the other beaches and isn't packed with tourists the whole time. The area is lovely, everything is really laid back and chilled out. Oh yeah and there is a farmers market every Wednesday on the street right outside the hostel which is handy enough! Altogether had a really great time and can't wait to go back next year!

Nice hostel, near the beach
The Hostel is really just a view blocks from the beach away and the beach is nice. I had luck to stay in a (really small) room with our own bathroom, but if not you have to share with the rest of the hostel. The breakfast was not the best, even if it's free. You can go everywhere with the bus and they tell you how to go to the nice places. I didn't like the smell which was the whole time in the Hostel. And i found it hard to get to know people. But what was really nice was the free pickup from the airport!

Nice place in a great neighborhood. Ocean Beach is exactly what I thought a southern California beach city should be like. Lots of exploration to do by day and fun nightlife. The hostel has a pretty good groove, with a good sized breakfast (which I barely made in time), comfy TV room, and nice barbeque area out back. I had some trouble getting in since I am an American, but I brought foreign travelers and we were going to Mexico, so other yanks beware. Fun pad overall.

Stayed here for two nights in November 2006 with a couple of friends from Arizona. Rooms are all right, not terrible but not fantastic. There was a sink in room for teeth brushing. Bathroom situation needs to be improved. There are individual bathrooms with a sink, toilet, and shower all in one, a little rough around the edges. Problem is in there are only five of these to service whole hostel. In the morning you have to wait a while if just want to use the toilet. The guy preparing the free breakfast could be cleaner, found hair in eggs twice, but the pancakes were good. Kitchen was small but did not use it. Although one night a guy was carving up a whole turkey. No on-site free parking if you're driving. Free street parking with daytime limits, no overnight limits you may be a block or two away and must move by 9 or 10 a.m. Despite all this the price was right and close to the beach. I have stayed in far worse.

Location and price are right. Close to beach and some bars. BUT. Had room over kitchen (would not recommend #25!) and it was noisy til 3am, then at 7am when the guy comes in to make breakfast. West side of hostel backs to other building and noise from loud people walking on the streets will keep you up until 3am. Bring earplugs. Only had one roomate (in 6 bed room), but he brought in a 'friend' to sleep with him. I was there 2 nights and was ready to leave the hostel. Free breakfast is nice, but bland (eggs and oatmeal), pancakes were good (hey it is free!). Friendly staff, bathrooms were dirty (wear flipflops), but functional (no fans or room). IYH hostels are much better, should of stayed at Point Loma.

Great hostel. Mighty location and very clean.

I stayed in this hostel for six nights in August, and had a really great time there. Ocean Beach is a fun, laid back place and the hostel is only a five-minute walk to the beach! We were also lucky enough to have an en-suite in our room for no extra cost, which was handy! Staff were friendly and the overall atmosphere of the place was good, I would definitely stay here again!

This was a very nice bohemian hostels and a great city. Convienent airport pick-up, friendly staff, decent facilities, nice breakfast, close to the beach and a bus to downtown. There's always a party going on either at the hostel or at the beach (two minutes walk away). There are some regulars, in particular one older lady who was in my room -- I have no idea how she sleeps with so much crap on her bed, including rotting food! They clean the rooms daily but only if stuff is off the floor. The older lady stays there free of charge because she cleans the bathroom, but I nearly killed myself tripping over all of her stuff -- a fire hazzard. Check out Tijuana or Ensenada (nice Mexican day trips), Balboa park on Sunday has nice, free events/concerts, whale watching boat trips were absolutely the highlight of my trip. San Diego was one of my favorite cities in the U.S.A.

I stayed here at the beginning of October 2005. Great location, and cheap; use your VIP card for a discount. The rooms were grubby; you have to store your items under your bed in black trays, which are then put on top of the bottom bunk with other people's items left on the floor each day during cleaning. The bathrooms were the worst I've ever experienced in backpacking so be prepared. Other people's comments about the good atmosphere are true, they do make an effort but it seems to need some cleaning else you may catch something. Several rooms were closed due to bedbugs, and it did not appear that they were ever going to get them fumigated. The staff did wake us up on Sunday with champagne, and gave a free barbecue so they are really trying to make your stay fun. If it helps I would stay there again, I would just be more prepared. They also arranged for us to be collected from town, which always makes your travelling easier.

Once in a lifetime... One stellar hostel manager, and the staff are the loveliest people indeed. The beach, library, post office, grocer, liquor and clothing stores, restaurants and pubs are all within a two-minute walk from the hostel. There's a farmer's market every Wednesday on the street in front of the hostel. It was INCREDIBLE! I miss you all and I shall return, sooner than you think.

I stayed in this hostel in the first week of June with two other friends. Altogether I spent just over three months in San Diego and I can honestly say that that week was one of the best weeks I experienced over there. I met numerous friends who I ended up living with and will stay in contact with even now I'm home. The common room out the back was great craic; us Irish sure know how to party!! I don't think poor Doc knew how to handle us!!

I stayed here after finishing work at a summer camp in 2004 for three nights with two other girls and it was indeed brilliant. The rooms were a good size and the fact ours was en suite was even better. We felt safe, met loads of people whom we went to Tijuana with, and loved the nightlife the beach invoked, where we met more people. Loved the barbecue and free breakfast, and the little cafes helped us keep to our budgets. It was definitely one of the best atmospheres I've felt when staying in a hostel, and I've stayed in a few. PS. The sailors are hot!!!

INCREDIBLE!!!

I stayed there for three days in April 2005. Most of the guys (I saw six women in three days) who were staying there were "living" at the hostel, and it looked like they had been there for a very long time and some were obnoxious. I thought you had to be a "tourist" to stay there and not a middle-aged person in need of a shelter. The kitchen was clean but the bathrooms were gross. The location is great, close to restaurants, beach and stores. As for the staff, I barely saw them and they were not very friendly. They do not enforce the rules about drugs/noises/drinking, so it is pretty unruly at night.

I stayed at this hotel in 1995 and am heading back to the States in August this year, hence, I'm checking out all the hostels that are around now. I am so pleased to find Ocean Beach still thriving as I had the best time there. The staff were great, the place was clean, and the locality was good, right near a pub (I still wear my T-shirt from there). No doubt the same management/staff may not be there now, but because of all the good reviews here, I'm coming back. Thanks for the info guys, see you soon!