HI - San Luis Obispo, Hostel Obispo

Very welcoming!
I stayed here in January 2007. First impressions, it's in a nice safe neighbourhood, within easy walking distance from the Greyhound and Amtrak stations. (Very close to Amtrak.) It was certainly a strange experience checking in. As i strolled into the hostel, I was welcomed by Phantom of the Opera being played on the piano! The rooms were a little small, the bathrooms were as you expect, clean. The dining room and lounge is great, we ended up having a British vs American game of Risk which was odd to say the least but good fun. The owner (lady from what I can remember) is very helpful. Breakfast great, all you can eat pancakes. One minus point is having to be out of the hostel by 10 a.m. every day and not being allowed back in until around 4 p.m., but if you're out exploring, this won't affect you.

Bedbugged, doghairs, and filthy
i stayed there for one day and i had to leave again since i woke up eaten away by bedbugs. the breakfast was suppose to be free and i have never met a more unfriendly staff on my travels. dogs around the breakfast table was the final straw. my advice, avoid san luis obispo hostel.

I loved this friendly place, where hostel life centres around the big kitchen table (and delicious pancake breakfast!). The dorms are comfortable and the shared rooms cosy and nicely decorated. town is great too -- low-key but lively, and the hostel is well placed for walking. I'm traveling alone and felt safe and at home in Hostel Obispo. I came for a night or two and ended up staying the week!

At other California hostels, I experienced nothing but good hospitality from the staff. But the owners and people running the Hostel Obispo are extremely difficult to deal with. Possibly they're former hippies turned businesspeople, considering how they nickel and dime guests (even just dialing a 1-800 number from their phone costs fifty cents!). I couldn't tell what was going on, but their nastiness was definitely somewhat off-putting. Granted, the rooms were clean and cozy, but I would never go back there in a million years.
Reply from the Hostel: We have installed a separate telephone line with a very good long distance package for guests to use. Guests can call anywhere in the US and talk for as long as they wish (unless someone else is waiting to use it) for $.50. For international calls, we request $1 plus $.07 to $.60 a minute (depending on the country being called). Paying for calls is on the honor system. There is a box next to the phone where guests can deposit coins. If guests prefer to use their own phone card, then we do not ask them to pay for the call, but most find it is cheaper to use our telephone than their card.

When I am travelling, I don't want to feel like I have to get up to an alarm clock and be forced out of bed, my sleeping quarters, and place I am staying. So unless you are an early bird by nature this is not the place for you. I want to relax and mosey, not feel like I am in the military. You are forced up and out and then not allowed back in during the day at all, until after 4:30. And in general, the people running it have way too regimented an attitude. So, definitely a no go.
Reply from the Hostel: We are a small, family-owned hostel with just 24 beds. As such, we cannot afford to pay staff to supervise the hostel during the day, when most people are out sightseeing anyway. Being closed during the day gives us the opportunity to thoroughly clean the hostel and have it ready for new guests in the afternoon. Guests in private rooms can return to their rooms earlier in the afternoon, after checking first with hostel staff.

Very weak hostel. Bottom sheets are not changed, only sleep sack, so highly unsanitary. Extremely regimented -- if you love rules, this is the place for you. Very unfriendly toward children.

Fantastic -- clean, friendly, and helpful. Only reason it's got four stars rather than five is that there is a lockout between about eleven a.m. and four-thirty p.m., which is a bit of a pain. Really nice town to stay in too.

Really nice staff and a great location. Next time I'm visiting the central coast I will stay again.

We originally intended San Luis Obispo to be a one night stopover on our journey down the Californian coast but as soon as we arrived we realised that it would be a total mistake to not make this a longer stay. The best way to get here is by train as the hostel is located a couple of blocks walk away from the Amtrak station and is pretty easy to find. The hostel itself is a charming place although we had real difficulty trying to get hold of them on the phone so make sure you call well in advance to hold a place here. The hostel itself is clean, well run and friendly with plenty of communal space and a really homely atmosphere, but be warned that there is a lockout during the day and you can only check in during certain hours of the day so time your arrival carefully. Dowtown SLO is within easy walking distance and it an amazing town, as Cal poly is so close by there is a big student presence here and there are plenty of bars to suit many with live music. The few main streets have loads of great places to eat, a lot of them at the pricey end of the scale, and loads of unusual shops. SLO has a lot events on including great car shows which are definitely worth a look, but be warned that when there is a show on accomodation fills up fast so would recommend booking well in advance.

The hostel is a large older house only four blocks from the main downtown area. It's clean, including the bathrooms. We stayed in the private room, which was a little pricey but nice, and is located right next to the bathrooms. The common room and kitchen are large and set up for lots of interaction between guests, including a folk guitar available for playing. The room has no TV. The kitchen is open to guests and is pretty comprehensive. The hosts made a large batch of pancake batter for the morning and had some bread for toast. Guests were expected to cook for themselves and clean up. Outside the hostel has a grassy area and a deck with picnic table as well as a parking lot for about four cars. Bike storage is available in a covered area that, while not locked, is far away from public access. The outside rear of the house could use some cleaning, since there seemed to be junk scattered around the house that had seen its last useful days and should have been trashed but was just weathering in the rain. San Luis Obispo itself is a great college town with lots to do and see, including little shops and student hangouts as well as the mission. Don't miss the Firestone Grill.

We stayed there the week before Labor Day, and it was great! The private room was decent, and so was the kitchen. Very cute place, and a very funky town!

Our family stayed in the private room and we loved it! Our kids met other travelling familes with kids and we met some really great people there. The breakfasts are wonderful and we slept comfortably and peacefully. We will stay there again this summer and any time we are near the area.

San Luis Obispo was rad! I love that town–a lot of sweet babes running around! The hostel was in a great location and was an easy walk to downtown. I went to a lot of clubs and met a lot of people. San Luis Obispo was a really young university town. The people running/owning the hostel are a little off, but I still liked the place a lot.

A great hostel. Fabulous people 'serving' the traveller.