The Hostelz.com Review
A large HI hostel located just two blocks from the beach, not far from the Santa Monica Pier. A couple blocks in the other direction is the Third Street Promenade with its popular shops, bars, and restaurants. The location couldn't be any more ideal.
It's a large HI hostel, so you can expect most of what you usually find in large HI hostels. It's clean and modern, but maybe a little too cold and "sterile" for some people's tastes. The rooms are very nice, with nice sturdy wooden bunk beds and large lockers. There's a nice large kitchen, a dining room / hang-out area, and a patio area. It can be a social place depending on the crowd, but as with most larger hostels people tend to keep to themselves a little more than small hostels.
It's a large HI hostel, so you can expect most of what you usually find in large HI hostels. It's clean and modern, but maybe a little too cold and "sterile" for some people's tastes. The rooms are very nice, with nice sturdy wooden bunk beds and large lockers. There's a nice large kitchen, a dining room / hang-out area, and a patio area. It can be a social place depending on the crowd, but as with most larger hostels people tend to keep to themselves a little more than small hostels.
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HI - Los Angeles - Santa Monica Hostel Details
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HI - Los Angeles - Santa Monica Hostel Reviews from the WebHostelz.com Guest Reviews
I didn't want to leave! This is by far the best hostel I have ever stayed in. It is clean, spacious, comfortable, and a great base for exploring all that L.A. has to offer! Santa Monica is in the far west of L.A. so get ready for some long bus trips (1 hour to Hollywood, 1.5 hours to downtown). However, Santa Monica itself is beautiful, with beaches and the famous pier as well as the 3rd street promenade shopping centre (all within very close walking distance to hostel). And bus travel in L.A. is dirty cheap for its size! I also participated in the free walking tours offered by the hostel which were AMAZING -- especially to Venice Beach (which is walking distance). I stayed a whole week and honestly could have stayed longer. — captainwinter364 , Canada (2010-05-26) Friendly, clean, welcoming I have stayed at HI Hostel Santa Monica for seven days in total. I really liked this place. The staff was helpful at all times, provided us with information on bus and train times and on locations to see. Every day the hostel offers organised trips to Malibu Beach, Hollywood. This was really convenient as public transport in L.A. is not the best. Other hostelers are very considerate and you get the chance of meeting people from all over world for example at breakfast. The hostel offers a breakfast with coffee, tea, orange juice, cornflakes, bread rolls, toast, jam, and fruit salad. The rooms are clean and the bathroom is fine too. The cleanliness was a very important aspect for me. It can be a reason why I might avoid staying in hostels but HI-Santa Monica met my expectations. The location is also great, the beach is just a five-minutes walk away. And the bus to Beverly Hills and West Hollywood leaves just down the road. However, the bus journey takes about half an hour to Beverly Hills and an hour to Hollywood. But it only costs 1.75 dollars.
The only backdrop was that we were not able to leave our luggage in the free luggage store when we were leaving, This free store is only available for people who check in again the same day. The luggage store on the leaving day costs 5 dollars but it is huge, so you can share it with somebody provided you are traveling with someone else. HI-Santa Monica might not be the cheapest hostel, but it is clean, friendly, safe, and has a lot of activities to offer. I would stay there again and recommend this hostel to everyone. You will enjoy your stay! — Millie , Germany (2009-09-14) Hostile in Santa Monica -- no luggage storage day of check out What I could say about this place, "please plan your exit from LA in accordance with the Hostile Santa Monica's new "no luggage storage on day of check out" policy, and no knowledge of the bus route to get to Beverly Hills." Stay, July 15/17, 2009. Wow. Wow, in a bad way. I used to live in LA several years ago, and when I first moved to LA, I used the HI Santa Monica, back when it could be called a cool hostel, and not a Hostile. Staff is multi-lingual, so that's a plus. Two beefs, and both are not traveler friendly. Beware, Biggest beef, nowadays, there is no luggage storage on the day of checkout. Ok, ok, ok -- there are $5 lockers to use for luggage storage on day of checkout; and granted, you can extend the storage to a maximum of five days, which is, really, a good idea (so, other LA hostels, can you match the $5 per day luggage storage fee for extended luggage storage? Please?). Otherwise, you still need to pay $5 to store luggage for, what, a few hours on the day of checkout? See, the reason this Santa Monica Hostile changed their luggage storage tune is my second beef, in order to extend your stay, you must check out at 11 a.m., store your luggage for free just next to the front desk, then check back in at 2 p.m. The line for check in at 2 p.m. can take up to an hour, so you lose four hours if your train/plane/bus is delayed or if you decide to stay beyond your "due date" -- beds are assigned at time of reservation. The free luggage storage is for returning guests extending their stay, and for those guests just checking in. I say *beware the HI Santa Monica's new luggage policy, because in Santa Monica there are "secret police" who cruise the Promenade, looking for people with large sets of luggage (unless you are Burberry's fan, like me, who oddly enough was ignored by the "homeless" police in Samo). The "police" then suspect the person of Homelessness, and will proceed to harass the person, and search their luggage, even if the person is a traveler. If you are carrying your luggage on day of check out and want to sit on the Promenade for several hours before you leave, please have a foreign accent or "name brand" luggage. Evidently these two tricks help a lot nowadays in Santa Monica. Otherwise, you can be stopped for Suspected Homelessness in Santa Monica -- a big no, no there in Samo. On another point, very sterile, almost hospital like rooms -- very hot and stuffy rooms at night, and if you room with a Brit who "doesn't like the noise of the fan" at night, fug-ged-about having cool breezes, you will sweat like a pig in a sauna. Before 11 a.m., cleaning staff simply walk into the rooms without knocking, toss luggage and clothes aside, and will proceed to vacuum the room, regardless of your state of being -- undressed or dressed, the Cleaner doesn't care. very rude. Breakfast is rather good, raisin bran or cornflakes with milk, coffee, OJ, hard boiled eggs, bread and cream cheese. But again the staff snatches the food away at 9:45 a.m., so be there, or beware of your rumbling stomach. Coffee is lukewarm and while it's claimed there is twenty-four/seven availability for coffee, there isn't much left after 10 a.m. Movies? Um, where was the movie room? They claimed to show two movies, on Tuesday but I couldn't find the movie room, even after "directions" from the staff. No movies on other nights. None of the staff knows the bus system to get to Beverly Hills or Hollywood. Otherwise, it seems the staff is confined to the premises. Other than the luggage policy, and the quirky must check out in order to extend your stay policy, and the rude cleaning staff, this place can be tolerable -- especially helpful on the weekends, when the music performers come out in force on the Promenade. — ferrarisgirl , usa (2009-07-17) A good place I was needing a place to stay and came across Santa Monica HI Hostel. IT is a very clean and decent place to stay. The major complaint i have with this hostel is the courtyard which is in the middle of the hostel. Since there is no air, all windows are opened. All day long and 1/2 the nite, the smoke is LOUD!!!! From the manager, chris to the guest, SMOKE in your rooms. This hostel also only allows you 14 days in a year to stay, they used to allow 21 days in and one day out. They also have a homeless problem there, and plus the staff allows ANYONE to come thru the doors, so beware of belongings. IT is a clean place, and lots of tourist. It is also a LOUD place. Whether it is from the guest, to the surroundings of constant traffic, sirens, and so on. SINCE all windows are open. A great place to stay if you like meeting other people. — cirtap , usa (2009-05-11) Excellent place to stay I'd never been to L.A. before, but had stayed in rather dodgy hostels in San Francisco and New York, so had no idea what to expect here. First, I loved the location. It's close to a stunning stretch of beach, and I could have spent days just walking up and down it and back again. It's also next to a nice stretch of all the basic American "High Street" shops (as the British would call them) and restaurants. The hostel itself is a good basic hostel. It's clean and there's an ok breakfast, friendly and helpful staff, and free wireless -- if, like me, you've got your laptop. For me the best part of the hostel was the cheap/free guided tours they offered each day to places like Malibu Beach and the Getty Museum. I'm ashamed to say that I hadn't heard of the latter. The tour there was free, and the Getty was outstanding. In fact I spent more time looking at the building and the view of LA than I did at the exhibits inside. As others have said there are regular and cheap (but long) bus services from nearby the hostel to other destinations like downtown L.A., Hollywood, Malibu. I've stayed in a lot of hostels all over the world, and this is one of my better memories. — Nick Thompson , New Zealand/UK (2009-03-10) Excellent Location, Good Facilities I stayed here for two nights in October 2008. The photos of this place are pretty accurate and the location -- two blocks from the beach and Santa Monica Pier, and a block away from the main shopping/eating street -- cannot be beaten.
It is an easy 75-cent ride to the hostel from LAX although downtown LA is difficult to navigate without a car (not the fault of the hostel though -- but I would recommend the tours run by the company next door as they are comprehensive and enjoyable). The hostel was clean and the facilities good -- the free breakfast is pretty decent -- but the staff were slightly unfriendly and curt, with some having limited English. I would stay here again and have recommended it to others on my travels. — Roz , UK (2008-12-02) Spectacular location, clean and congenial, nice people and atmosphere Santa Monica is the best area in the city of Los Angeles. The weather is sublime; the beach is across the street; shopping, services, and restaurants make it easy to stay local without ever leaving the area. There is even a farmer's market on Wednesday for local food. Parking is an issue so if you can live without a car do so. The HI LA Santa Monica has doubled in price, I stayed here for a week beginning 13 July 2008, so check the prices before you book. Online prices are cheaper than calling on the phone to make a reservation. There are multiple community areas to lounge about in. There are two TV rooms. One used as the theatre room shows excellent movies operated from the front desk. The dorm rooms are very clean. Some rooms have toilets/sinks/showers in the room which is terrific. I have experienced the showers located down the hall, but recommend the en-suite rooms if possible, everything was clean in both locations. Breakfast is offered each morning. There is ample room to store your groceries if you purchase food to cook. Cooking facilities are very good, with utensils, plates, bowls, and cups, and they are china not plastic. Staff is nice and professional. I met wonderful people traveling. Great place to stay, terrific experience. — Terry , USA (2008-07-28) Good, except for one thing Great location, perfect for getting into L.A. or Hollywood by bus or walking distance to Santa Monica pier and the beach (both Venice and Santa Monica). Great facilities and pretty good staff, everything seems quite new and is clean -- the bunk beds are sturdy! The only downside -- not everyone there is a traveler, there can be homeless people (or at least they seem homeless) staying. — Ben H , England (2008-03-09) Would've Been Great If They Didn't Let Homeless People In Your Room I was the unlucky person who had to endure a mental patient/homeless woman being let loose in our room. The management and staff were just unconcerned and ignored our misgivings. It took four complaints before they took action. Be wary when booking your stay here. — An Unlucky Traveler , USA (2007-12-21) The best place to stay for ocean and city! I and my family stayed here one night during our seven-week odyssey Down Under late Spring and Summer 2006. I had initially arranged for us to spend all of the Odyssey time Down Below, but realized that L.A. is definitely a major world city and merited more than just a fly through. So, after spending some significantly big bucks to reset the Air New Zealand flights, we stayed at this exceptional hostel. We found this hostel just as nice as any of the other hostels we'd been in, whether stateside, Western Europe/Scandinavia/Russia, or Northern Asia. It was so nice to walk a few blocks to one terminus of the historic Route 66 and get into the water. It was also an excellent starting point to catch the bus down Santa Monica Boulevard to Hollywood, another delightful site. — Juanito Hayburg , USA (2007-11-13) BEST HOSTEL EVER I stayed in this hostel for 4 nights, and I have to say that this is the best hostel I have ever stayed in! HUGE, clean, modern, and a lot of facilities! They have a big big tv, internet, laundry facilities, a library, a bug kitchen, a nice courtyard and so on. It is such a beautiful hostel, and the beach is so close! I would love to go back there on time! The people were really quiet during the nights, and the rooms were very nice too: beds completely made, and a fuzzy carpet in the room! comfy! 5 STARS! — maria , Austria (2007-11-07) You can get to this place easily via public transport from LAX at only 75 cents, it takes about forty minutes. Santa Monica is one of the best parts of LA and the hostel is close to many tourist orientated spots. The hostel itself is fine as far as i'm concerned, it has bathrooms that are cleaned everyday and reasonably large rooms if you are lucky enough to get one facing second street. Whilst some have commented on its expense, take into consideration the cost of running a property of this size in this part of the city. We had a couple of local transients staying in our room who looked a little suspect but you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. The transient issue in hostels seems to be an ongoing debate -- when i first visited the U.S. in '96 i don't remember any in the hostels i stayed at. now it's a different story. The best thing about this place is that it is just around the corner from Ye Olde King's Head pub and Hooter's if you're that way inclined. — Mr T , Australia (2007-05-06) Stayed here November '06. Very cold atmosphere and night receptionist was rude. However, breakfast was reasonably priced, rooms were clean and nice, and being so close to the beach was great. — Anonymous (2006-12-04) Stayed here in July '06. Location is awesome, close to the beach and Third St promenade. My short stay was pretty good. Getting to it from the airport was easy. I found my shared eight-bed dorm to be spacious and it had a window which was good because it was a pretty warm night. Large lockers in the rooms are great but remember to bring a lock. Showers were clean and hot. Late check in time is a pain but they will lock up your bags for you. Don't pay for the internet, go to the SM library. Booking tours can be done from the place next door. Met some good crew. HI staff could have been more outgoing and helpful! — vinnie/australia (2006-11-21) Fantastic location, one block from the beach is just great. Clean hostel which is large and would seem unfriendly but to try and combat this issue, they do a bbq for just six bucks (all you can eat) every night if i remember correctly and then is the time and place to meet people -- just great, made the hostel in my opinion. One thing though that really lets this hostel down is that they have no air conditioners and I was there during the recent heatwave in July '06! I had the top bunk but elected to sleep on the floor it was so hot and another guy did the same. The only thing that lets this hostel down in my opinion. — Pezza (2006-08-07)