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Rainforest HostelForks (HOH Rainforest) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Online booking is not offered for this Hostel. Contact them for availability and reservations (any contact info we have is listed below).
Please see Forks for other available Forks hostels and accommodations.
Rainforest Hostel Details
169312 Hwy 101, Forks (HOH Rainforest),
Washington, USA
(To add or correct information for this listing, please use the Listing Update Form.)
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Hostelz.com Guest Reviews
2.5 Average from 24 Ratings
This is an open forum, and unlike other hostel guide websites we don't censor out the negative reviews. We can't validate the legitimacy of guest reviews posted on this site — so take what you read here with a grain of salt.
Horrible Experience The reviews warning about the owner are correct. I too felt extremely uncomfortable around him and found him rude, intrusive, and even a little hostile towards me. The lodging itself is basic and alright for what it's worth. The owner is the main reason to avoid this hostel -- not hospitable at all and sometimes downright creepy. I would've been better off sleeping in my car.
Very Upsetting Experience -- BEWARE! First, understand that this is basically the owner's house, modified with a few bunk beds.You're basically staying at his house. In my experience, everything was going well, at first. Seemed like a great deal. Owner seemed nice. Had I left after a couple days, I'd probably have given a good review. Then he began acting strangely, aggressively, rudely, and unpredictably. I began feeling overwhelmingly uncomfortable because of him, and fled as soon as I got the chance -- even though it was pouring rain, with no bus service that day, and I had to hitch hike to get to another far away hostel. Probably the worst hostel experience of my life. Wish I'd read these reviews first!!!
Not up to hospitality standards While I was pleased to find an option for accommodation on the west side of the Olympic National Park at an affordable price, I'd much prefer to pay a bit more and know that I would staying in a clean and heated room. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The girl's dormitory consists of a converted barn/garage that gets quite cold at night, even in the summer. Meanwhile, the bathroom was moldy and the kitchen smelled of composting vegetables. Where I come from (Bavaria), we keep our compost outside in the garden.
Fun, and comfortable enough for a night or two I was nervous about staying at this place given how many dubious reviews it has. But actually my girlfriend and I found the place comfortable and fun. It's certainly very basic accommodation but I felt a welcoming atmosphere, it was clean and quiet, and there's a well-equipped kitchen. Not bad for 10 bucks a head. Note it's about twenty miles south of Forks, immediately off the 101.
Wish I had read the comments posted by others before sending my check to stay here. Upon arrival, I found the conditions so grimy, smelly, and deplorable, that I could not get out quick enough despite having prepaid in advance for the family room. I have stayed in hostels all over Europe and the U.S., and this was the first one that I found so disgusting that I refused to stay. I would give this a Sub-Zero star rating if this site allowed me to do so. Am shocked that Oregon puts up highway signs advertising this dump and that Hostels International allows their brand to be used in conjunction with it. Stay away!
Mouldy and hostile We were set up for camping, but one of us was not feeling well so we decided to stay at the Rainforest Hostel. The mould/mildew/damp in the place made that decision rather questionable -- it actually seemed like a health hazard to me. In addition, while I agree broadly with the host's politics and worldview (and I had no problem with doing the chore), I resented his lecturing us non-stop, including berating us and our life choices for basically having "sold out to the man." That is abusing your position as host -- if I want advice about my life choices I will ask for it, but at the age of forty-one, please don't assume I haven't thought long and hard about these things and don't lecture me like a child. It seems to me it's pretty easy to espouse communitarian values when you get to be king of your own domain, and the rules of hospitality demand that your guests remain polite.
I stayed here one night (too long) in the summer of 2002. Calling this a hostel is a wild exaggeration.This is a house with a bunch of bunk beds. There is one bathroom, one shower for the whole place. The entire place is in terrible repair and is grungy. My wife and I stayed one night of a planned two. This is by orders of magnitude the worst hostel I have ever had the displeasure of staying at.
I stayed at the Rainforest Hostel on my first trip to the Pacific Northwest. Coming from New York, I couldn't have wished for a better host than Jim, with whom I spent much time talking about the ecology of the Olympic peninsula as well as the social and cultural factors that make the area unique. The hostel is cozy, welcoming, and I felt right at home -- which is the point. The hostel is Jim's home, not yours. He is sharing his personal space with visitors and you are being blessed with a brief glimpse into someone else's life. How rare and beautiful is that! For people who are turned off by having to do chores, why even bother staying in a hostel? Or visiting the Olympic peninsula? You might as well have spent a week in the Mall of the Americas. Dusting with a feather duster and emptying compost? Oh, the horror!
I agree with the other one-star postings. I did not like the grimy feel of this hostel or the personality of the owner. Next time I will definitely opt for a nearby hotel. I loved Ruby Beach and the rain forest, it is a beautiful area.
A classic case of getting what you pay for. Yes, the rate is quite cheap at $8.50 per night, however, the accomidations were dirty, the house smelled of something rotting, and over all it seemed poorly maintained. The owner did want the people staying there to do a chore in the morning before leaving, which is good in theory, however, maybe just having people clean up after themselves is a better option. As I arrived by myself, I almost didn't stay because it seemed a little scary -- another guest did arrive so I felt somewhat better and did stay. Overall, however, next time I will stay up in Forks and pay a little more. I have stayed in many hostels in several countries and usually I love staying in them. This one, however I would not stay in again. I wish that I had seen the reviews on this page before my stay.
This is not the place you want to stay if you are traveling in coastal Washington State. I did for a couple days in March and regretted it.
The host demands that paying customers perform "chores" around his home, and can be quite nasty if you don't comply with his wishes. His name is Jim, and he's a compulsive control freak. I blew off his last request to clean the toilet bowl, for which he provided explicit instructions. I strongly suggest consider carefully before you make a reservation.
We stayed in this "hostel" with a group of twenty German students. What can I say? Rodent excrements and bugs in the beds, the kitchen full of waste -- to make it short, disgusting. Even the bus driver was shocked -- and he has seen hundreds of hostels in his life. The students were sleeping in the bus that night and payed the full price. The hygiene circumstances are for Europeans dangerous. In Germany a hostel like this would be closed immediately. I still cannot believe this is possible in the States!
With over a dozen acres of wilderness surrounding us, one would expect that, should one have to relieve oneself, ample area could be found away from the eyes of one's guests.
And yet, the opposite was the case. My wife and I were scheduled to stay 2 nights at the Rainforest Hostel, but after the proprietor decided to urinate in his front lawn... well, we decided not to return.
I have no problem with staying in "rustic" quarters, using a stranger's bathroom, or helping out with chores around the house. I can even understand personal eccentricities and those charming quirks that make us all individuals. But I draw the line with public urination. I certainly respect my host enough not to turn his front lawn into a toilet, I only wish he had that same respect for me and my wife.
The Olympic Peninsula is the most beautiful place I've ever been, and I hope to go back one day. Needless to say I will not be staying at the Rainforest Hostel. We stayed our final night at the http://www.olympicsuitesinn.com/ which was less thrifty, but had a more formal idea of waste management.
Hi People. This is a response of sorts to Kate and others. I spent a lot of nights at the RH and got to know Jim. He wouldn't like me to say this, but he is a man of exceptional understanding. He has a life philosophy. He is benevolent, and his knowledge of the area and beyond - culturally, humanly, and of course the nature - is profound; he is only too glad to share those with his guests.
Jim keeps an old school establishment and provides a very important function. It's his home and a public institution wrapped in one. The chores I got to appreciate as symbolic as well as functional: we all share the load of keeping this important establishment alive, we don't just purchase services. You should espouse this philosophy, people. Jim wouldn't want you to pay more and not contribute: for a short while, you become part of his community and project. It's a different experience than the way we usually do things in America, and it's a good experience.
Kate, I thought a lot about your bad experience. Did it occur to you that Jim in fact was worried sick, and when he found out you were OK just let off some steam? I'm not saying he's perfect, and possibly you felt he was nasty to you. Jim doesn't like to be taken for granted, and you know what, neither should we... this isn't a seven-eleven.
For those of you who visit, Jim is a walking treasure of knowledge and respect of local tribal culture; he is held in esteem by tribal people for studying, respecting, and participating in their culture, and by the people of the peninsula generally for having effectively fought for public transportation to go by US 101 and for his efforts re PBS in the area. And this doesn't mean he isn't service-oriented: for instance, as this is out of the way, he keeps a lot of breakfast and lunch foods at dirt-cheap prices, lets you use his broadband internet, etc. I don't like the lockout myself, and hope some day Jim will find a solution for that. But he is salt of that lovely earth, a large and generous spirit, and even if sometimes gruff, he has nothing to appologize for in my book.
My wife and I stayed there in February 2005. We slept in a camper with a space heater. It was fun! Jim is a great guy, a man of the earth. His place is dog-friendly, too. Anyone who didn't like staying there doesn't have a true appreciation of travel. During the night he had to shoo some idiots who arrived late, and I felt sorry for Jim because he must deal with that quite often. Travelers are really grateful that he offers his home as a hostel and truly should respect his home and his time, like people do when they stay at your home, right? The people who posted negative comments on this site were rude to begin with or were afraid of work. The chores we performed were reasonable. About Hostelz.com - Privacy Policy - Contact Hostelz.com - Add a New Hostel - Group Bookings
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