San Antonio International Hostel

San Antonio

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Address	621 Pierce Street, San Antonio Texas, USA Map
Price	Dorm Bed: $16.70-17.83 + tax Check Current Prices by Date Here

Location/Contact

Details

Description

Features

Kitchen
Lockers
Lounge / Common space
Swimming Pool
BBQ
Travel information provided
24 Hour Free Hot Showers
Phones (public or in room)
Air Conditioning

Ratings & Comments

2.9 Average from 35 Ratings

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Comment by two_german_visitors, Germany

June 2008

It was ok
We have to mention at first that we didn't stay at the hostel itself but at the Bed&Breakfast Inn, the main building so to speak. We had booked the hostel for five days but when we arrived there the owner gave us a private room without extra charge. She said because she saw that she had a private room available just that time and because we had booked for five days. "It [would] be nicer if we had some space and our own room for that time." Well, the room we got was really nice, we had a big bed, a couch, TV, fridge. The swimming pool was kind of sandy but the water itself was clean. the internet on the computer didn't really work or only "works very slowly," but wireless was available. About the accommodations of the hostel, We only used the kitchen to make our meals and didn't see the dorms but the kitchen was -- well, it smelled kinda funny in there but (part of) the stove and the toaster worked and that was all we needed. The owner was very friendly, helped us, and answered all our questions about the area and which bus routes to take. You need thirty minutes to get into downtown and pay $1 for a bus ride and that ticket is valid for two hours. If you change buses you have to pay $0.15 or more if you change from Metro to Express, but you can get day passes for all routes for $3.75 a day.

Comment by J.P., American

November 2007

Mildew! dirty metal garage to sleep in!
Don't know where to start. Avoid this place. Mildew in the ceiling got us sick. Food in vending machines past due dates, owner said she was not owner of machines and refused to refund. The sleeping area is really a garage structure with plywood to make it look like rooms, awful. No hot water, but lots of rules from this matronly owner. Money-mill and she does not care. At 25 a night, it is a shame. Not a safe place to be, my iPod went missing the first day. When told, the owner giggled and said that there are pay-lockers to use and not her fault. and so far from downtown, thirty-minute bus ride! good luck to all who stay there.

Comment by Kshithij, Indian

November 2007

Worst hostel I have ever stayed in.
I wish I could put in words that horror I felt about this particular hostel. Especially when I have stayed at other international hostels and found them extremely nice to stay at. I was in San Antonio to attend a national conference in November and having used hostels in Chicago, Seattle, and New York before, I checked this hostel online and booked it for two nights. This hostel is located right beside a royal looking hotel quite far from the downtown, without any public transport within walkable distance. The hostel can best be described as a shack, and it's the stuff horror movies are made of. Beds stunk, bathroom was terrible, and everything inside had an eerie air surrounding it. There was just another old guest in a room opposite to mine when I stayed there. When I stayed at the hostel, I had to pay at the desk in the hotel beside it and when I questioned the receptionist about the terrible conditions, he was not only unhelpful but really rude. What was surprising is that he used a pencil to make my booking! (later I realized they did it because almost all the guests leave the hostel immediately, and i did the same). I was so disgusted with the conditions of the hostel that I demanded my money back. He claimed that the lady who owned the hostel is not around and would come the next day. I was so much in rage that I got up early and waited for her, but she never showed up. I insisted on leaving the hostel and the guy, after talking to that elusive owner, told me that they would refund the money for the second night ($22.50). He assured me that the previous guest too left the place and they returned his money (imagine the gall of the guy in saying that to me). All he did was that he erased the pencil marks on the register in which he entered my information. I was doubtful if they would return my money, but they did. I left in utter rage, and I had to shack up with a friend the second night. I sincerely hope that people who read it would save themselves the horror of visiting this place, let alone staying there. But given the conditions in which I was forced to spend a night, I am glad that I got out of this place alive. And I am really not exaggerating or scaring people, but I would hate to see hostelers relive the trauma I had to go through. Stay away from this place, even if it means that you'll have to scrape every penny you have to stay elsewhere.

Comment by David, USA

September 2007

This is a funky and very reasonably priced key to San Antonio.
I stayed here (in the hostel, only) several times during summer 2007. Summers are always a trying (frying?) time in South Texas and the hostel was cool, the on-site, large outdoor pool inviting and restorative. There are kitchen-access hours now, but they're convenient enough. The neighborhood is Government Hill Historical District and it is suffering from Fort Sam Houston's permanently closing the gate, giving access to the post on its southeast side. Neighborhood is safe, in transition, slowly gentrifying, with excellent, frequent bus service downtown. There are a few Mexican and Bar-B-Que restaurants and a somewhat more distant cluster of convenience stores and fast-food emporia within ready walking distance. The historic guest house to which the hostel is attached gives one's stay a bit of a fillip. There is no question that this is an altogether reasonable and fine alternative to the otherwise mainly very expensive hotels and motels of the Alamo City. I will return without any hesitancy.

Comment by Jonathan, USA

May 2007

This place has a building with private rooms which is nice/interesting and a hostel. I paid around $60 for one private room which has a noisy air conditioning and a TV. Everything is pretty clean but for this price (or near it) I can get a much larger room with a private shower at a motel/small hotel. Didn't see much people around and haven't been at the hostel. There is convenient parking on the premises though.

Comment by The international girls, France/Australia/Switzerland/Buthan

April 2007

We did not really like this hostel. We received no confirmation e-mail. We were supposed to arrive between 10 and 11 p.m. but the front desk was closed at 10 p.m. and when we arrived we had the bad surprise to find everything closed and no one to help us to find the manager and our room for the night. There is no way to contact the manager -- all we found was the 911 emergency number! We met a guest from the B&B who let us in and we found the room where the manager was. We woke him up to find our accommodation and he was not friendly at all. He acted like he did not know we were coming and the funniest thing was that the room was ready for us (in the basement)! Moreover, if you are a foreigner, he will remind you that cash equals money! We could not close the room at all, we stayed only one night.

Comment by Skywalker

February 2007

So what part of budget accommodation do some not understand? This hostel offers a no frills, basic place to sleep while you're traveling, that's all. The dirty showers, creaky floors, and decayed atmosphere are no different from what you find in the vast majority of european hostels, as well as american ones in this price range. The front desk guy was no pleasure to deal with, but if I had to listen to doe-eyed, out-of-place tourists asking "ummm, do you guarantee the area is safe to walk at night?" over and over, I'd probably be a bit cranky too. By the way, the area is much safer than most people think -- the standard of american living today is such that only fenced communities or places within twenty yards of a police station are deemed safe enough. In summary, don't blame the hostel. Rather match what you get to what you paid for and you'll see it isn't that bad.

Comment by Faldor

November 2006

I stayed here in Mid October '06. Texas is a bit dead for backpackers out of scenes it seemed as the only other people staying was a long term resident who was perfectly friendly and didn't give me any problems associated with long termers and a Man from Hong Kong who didn't speak much English. So there wasn't much going on at the hostel and its a bit of a mission to get down town (you have to get two different buses) but you did get to use the hotel's swimming pool (which i had to myself!). The mens dorm which used to be in the hotel basement was in the process of being moved over into the main hostel building when i left. The woman who ran the hostel was very friendly and apologetic that her place wasn't as good as some of the hostels with more money to spend but she was very friendly and helpful! yeah its not the greatest hostel in the world but its the only budget accommodation in San Antonio which was one of the highlights on my U.S. trip, the River walk and the Alamo are glorious!

Comment by Kat

November 2006

Don't stay here! It was truly the worst place I have ever had the misfortune to visit. The kitchen door wasn't locked so anyone could wander in and judging by the homeless guy they did, considering the flimsily looking locks on the doors the place just wasn't safe. The place stunk, particularly the kitchen which smelt of gas. There were stains on the carpet, dust and grime everywhere else, and a dog locked in one of the rooms. As for the womens bathroom, well let's just say it had its own supply of mushrooms and men's underpants. Not surprisingly the taxi driver didn't want to leave us there. My friend and I were there for half an hour and that was more than enough, luckily we had emergency funds and could get a hotel, on leaving the owner got abusive. Please for your own safety, don't stay here, particularly if you're a woman.

Comment by wendy

November 2006

This is the most dirty place I have ever had the misfortune to visit. The smell as you enter the unlocked building is unbelievable, the kitchen which was filthy stank of gas. We were told to let ourselves in as there were no locks on the external doors which was a worry. We waited in the TV room, which was full of dirty old chairs. In one of the rooms someone had left a dog locked up which was whining and barking, a homeless person was wondering through the hall as we went to look at the bathroom. The shower had fungi and a pair of old underpants in it. We immediately called a taxi and left with the hostel owner shouting abuse at us. Fortunately we had a visa card and booked into a hotel. I would recommend females never stay here on their own.

Comment by My Flatley

May 2006

I have stayed here several times. It is not as busy now as before 9/11/2001. The summertime heat is one hundred degrees every day. The rooms have individual air conditioners and the hostel pool is great! San Antonio's best part is the urban hike on the Riverwalk.

Comment by Steven

May 2006

I stayed here for one night in late June '04. The men's dorm is way in the back, a long building full of beds like a military dorm, the blankets were very thin and there were fairly obnoxious signs everywhere, like the one warning you not to eat or drink in the room. The common room and kitchen are in the women's dorm, which is a stuffy, smelly, run-down looking building beside the hotel. The pool was dirty and I didn't try it. When I got there, there was no one else staying in either hostel dorm and the man who checked me in was at the hotel next door. He seemed pretty hostile. Another guy came in while I was out, and we shared this massive room between us. As far as I know, no one was in the women's. The area around the hostel is pretty depressing, boarded-up busnesses everywhere. I am told that the closing of the entrance to Fort Sam Houston military base across the street after Sept. 11, 2001 killed a lot of them. The only bar I could find within walking distance was pretty scary -- very dead and run by a sailor's wife for sailors who apparently no longer come there. The Mexican restuarant around the corner sucked too -- run down and the food was bad. But there was a bright side. The man who checked me out the next day seemed pretty friendly. After I left I discovered that I had left an earring there, and I called him, he mailed it to me. How sweet.

Comment by Lisa

February 2006

This was the worst hostel I have ever stayed in. If I hadn't arrived exhausted at 9 pm I would have thought it through and left immediately. First, the man working at the desk didn't recognize my online reservation so I ended up getting charged twice (which I'm still trying to fight). Second, I was shown to the basement and I was the only person there so it was freaky. Being in the basement meant I got no cell phone reception so if anything went wrong, I had no recourse. I could also hear the house creaking above me. Everything was old (not cute, antique old but run down, dirty, smelly old). The dorm room was dirty and there were dead bugs. The shower was disgusting. There was hair, mildew, and dirt everywhere and it got everything in the bathroom wet (also a problem if there had been anyone else there--there's only one toilet and shower, which only one person can use for 12 people). I was scared all night and did not sleep a minute. I left very early in the morning. It was very eerie because I didn't see anyone during my stay except for the unpleasant man I dealt with initially. I guess I didn't notice the reviews before or something or I would never have stayed there. I would never recommend it to a female travelling alone or for anyone to use during the winter. It reminded me of a haunted house. I will never stay at this awful place again and sadly, it's affected my inclination to stay at an American hostel again.

Comment by Jessica

January 2006

Cheaper by far than other accomodations in San Antonio (downtown hotels were around $180/night for a convention I was attending) - but you barely get what you pay for. I found all encounters with the only staff person I saw very uncomfortable (every time I asked a question, he looked at me askew, as if I were offending him with stupid, offensive questions - such as "is this a safe area for a single woman to walk in after dark?"). The women's room is indeed in a dungeon-like windowless basement and I did room with a large, dead roach. If there hadn't been other women in the room as well, I would have had a VERY hard time sleeping there. The shower & facilities were cramped, dirty and sprayed a mist over anything you brought into the bathroom with you. The neighborhood is wraught with boarded-up dilapidated homes but I had no unpleasant encounters walking the 2 blocks to the bus in the mornings - evenings I opted for the 5-10 taxi ride home from downtown. I asked to look at one of the B&B rooms just out of curiousity but was denied, as "none of them were made up." The staff man is evidently not into customer service, as he never said "thank you," "hope you enjoyed your stay," etc., and had no alarm clock for the pitch-black dungeon dorm. If you stay here - it is bearable, and cheap, but be prepared - BRING FLIP-FLOPS to wear in the shower. Yech.

Comment by Anonymous

April 2005

I stayed at this hostel for two nights in March on my own. The guys' dorms looked okay. The girls' dorms are indeed in a basement. I didn't see any cockroaches but there were a few lizards. It is noisy and the shower is a bit dirty, as were (to a much lesser extent) the sheets. The common areas close at 10 p.m., and there is no laundry or Internet facility. The staff make you feel that just by their presence they are doing you a gigantic favor, but once you get past this, they're quite helpful. It is the only hostel in town, and for two nights I had no problem putting up with it. Nonetheless, this is the worst hostel I stayed in while in the US.

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