Turtle Hostel

The Turtles Refuge is a questionable place to stay. Although the new management is trying to clean up its image, the hostel remains the hangout of some shady characters, many who are living there long-term. We had to wait outside while one of our roommates in the women's dorm had a visit from her boyfriend. Although we never felt anxious or scared about staying at the hostel, we didn't feel comfortable hanging out either.

The new management has done a lot of painting and other renovations to make the hostel more colorful and put-together, but some of the projects seem to be stopped midway through. The tiles in one of the bathrooms are just sitting in a pile, as if the job was abandoned. One possible explanation for this is a rumor we heard -- the developer currently working on the lots next door also bought the hostel property and plans on tearing it down in the near future.

The Turtles Refuge is about a ten- to fifteen-minute walk from the center of downtown Victoria. Although it is farther out than the city's other hostels, we were able to park our car (for free) in the hostel's driveway and explore on foot. The hostel is across from a bakery and a church, and the neighborhood seemed relatively safe, especially during the day. Overall, the dorm rooms, bathrooms, and common areas are clean. However, the cleanliness of the hostel did not compensate for its strange clientele. One unknown person stole a piece of pizza from our clearly marked box in the refrigerator. This hostel should remain a last resort for visitors to Victoria.

-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review