The Hostelz.com Review
This is a favorite hostel of many people. The hostel itself isn't anything special, but it always seems to attract a young, fun crowd and it's a great place to meet other young backpackers.
It's a little known fact that the owner of this hostel was the creator of the original Hostels.com (not to be confused with Hostelz.com). (But Hostels.com has since been bought out by a web reservations corporation that now runs it.) It's located in the middle of downtown, next to Chinatown, and not far from the Transamerica Pyramid. The hostel is in a building up four flights of stairs, so be prepared for a bit of a climb. There's a full kitchen, and a little internet access area where you can use the internet for free. The main common area is a long table with chairs and several shelves of reading material.
The sleeping area is upstairs, consisting of a hallway with several rooms. Most of the beds are metal frame bunk beds. Some of the beds are located in a space next to the hallway with no walls or door separating it, so it may be a little harder to sleep if you get put there and you're a light sleeper.
Overall it's an average hostel as far as the actual accommodations, but it's the fun and social crowd that makes it an exceptional hostel to stay at. It also helps that drinking is allowed in the common area. Older travellers would probably feel out of place here, but it's a great choice for young, social backpackers.
Note: They have recently renovated the whole hostel and we hope to return to write a new review with new pictures in the near future.
It's a little known fact that the owner of this hostel was the creator of the original Hostels.com (not to be confused with Hostelz.com). (But Hostels.com has since been bought out by a web reservations corporation that now runs it.) It's located in the middle of downtown, next to Chinatown, and not far from the Transamerica Pyramid. The hostel is in a building up four flights of stairs, so be prepared for a bit of a climb. There's a full kitchen, and a little internet access area where you can use the internet for free. The main common area is a long table with chairs and several shelves of reading material.
The sleeping area is upstairs, consisting of a hallway with several rooms. Most of the beds are metal frame bunk beds. Some of the beds are located in a space next to the hallway with no walls or door separating it, so it may be a little harder to sleep if you get put there and you're a light sleeper.
Overall it's an average hostel as far as the actual accommodations, but it's the fun and social crowd that makes it an exceptional hostel to stay at. It also helps that drinking is allowed in the common area. Older travellers would probably feel out of place here, but it's a great choice for young, social backpackers.
Note: They have recently renovated the whole hostel and we hope to return to write a new review with new pictures in the near future.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
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Pacific Tradewinds Hostel Details
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Pacific Tradewinds Hostel Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
This place helped make my trip incredible! This hostel is fantastic, if you are a 20-something who enjoys hanging out with cool young people from around the world. The atmosphere is relaxed, super friendly and welcoming. I would definitely stay there again. BONUS: the location is next to so many cool things! I highly recommend this hostel. — Maggie , USA (2011-10-24) The place to be! Friendly and social. I was supposed to stay only for one night and the keep couch surfing around the city, but when I met David, all the staff and the other travelers I felt welcomed right away and decided to stay for 2 extra nights even though I had a free place to stay. Pacific Tradewinds is in a cool location, close to bus and train stations. The staff is awesome and very helpful and they do their best to make the hostel a very socially international place rather than a simple cheap accommodation for travelers. They always organize events and nights out and they truly helped me make the best out of my experience in San Francisco.
Definitely recommended. — Ernesto Cinquenove , Italy (2010-12-16) Pacific Tradewinds I had an excellent time in San Francisco and the Tradewinds, so much so that my original 4 day stay turned into 9 days. When traveling alone, it's the people that make a place what it is, the staff at the hostel are great, they will do anything to make your stay more enjoyable, and the clients of the hostel were, for the most part, all very nice people, and ive made some new friends from far away lands. The hostel is clean and well run, a definite recommendation for anyone wanting a small, chilled out hostel in San Fran. — Jonathan , England (2010-07-11) Awesome hostel with bags of character! I have stayed in a lot of backpacker hostels over the years & I can say with confidence that I have, by far, had the most enjoyable experience at the Pacific Tradewinds. PT is perfectly located in the heart of the city so close to many of the popular neighbourhoods, & public transport to other areas is conveniently close by. The hostel has enormous amounts of character, added to by the team of staff who work there. Friendly and welcoming, they all have a vast knowledge of the San Francisco, not only of the traditional tourist areas, but their own personal favourite spots, which is well worth paying attention to while you visit. Regular nights out were organised by the staff, or other guests, who were an eclectic mix, and if you're lucky, someone is cooking up a storm in the kitchen. The atmosphere had a great vibe and I looked forward to coming back after a long day out in the city. PT was always well kept, and clean and tidy. The shower rooms were bright and airy, with warm, powerful showers. Dorm rooms were not too large, 8 beds being the most, and the beds were comfortable. The beds were even bolted in to the wall for extra stability in case of an earthquake! There was plenty of secure, easy access, storage under the beds for backpacks and personal belongings, and at checkout, somewhere to store bags during the day. PT had a real home away from home feeling. So much so I wanted to stay and was very sad to leave. I have been back home for weeks now and am actually homesick for San Francisco! I met some awesome people during my stay, and made some good friends. One day I hope to go back to visit. It was truly an amazing end to so many months of traveling. Finally, special mention also needs to be made to Dave, the manager. A lovely chap who does his job with an infectious enthusiasm that really made me smile. He was a great help on my last day when I had trouble confirming my flight home as my airline was on strike. He and the other staff make PT the place it is and I hope I've done justice reflecting that in this review. — Sarah-Jane , British (2010-04-29) Look up "hostel" in the dictionary -- you'll see Pacific Tradewinds Compared to hostels I have stayed at in Europe and North America, Pacific Tradewinds is the best. First, the basics. The location, on the Financial District/Chinatown border, is excellent. It's a five-minute walk from the subway, one or two blocks away from major bus routes that go all over the city, and walking distance to the water/Ferry Building/Embarcadero/Fisherman's Wharf, North Beach (Little Italy), great restaurants and bars, and shopping (if you're into that). The facilities are very nice. The free linens are clean; you can rent a bath towel for $1 that can be replaced for free as often as you like. Bring a padlock so you can secure your belongings in the big personal locker under your bed. Every morning the floors are vacuumed and the restrooms are scrubbed. The clean, fully-stocked kitchen has new fixtures and lots of room in which several people can cook. For a small monetary contribution you can also dine with the staff at their communal dinner. The living room/common area (sans television, thankfully) has computers with free internet; the hostel has free wifi. But this place is special because of its people. I visited San Francisco for an academic conference and initially needed only a place to sleep for four nights that was affordable on a graduate student budget. For those who want to explore the city all day and night, this hostel can function as just such a crash pad. Yet one will also find a community, transient as it may be, of genuine people who are interested in you and your story. This holds true for the staff (all of them travellers staying in S.F. for a short while) and, inexplicably, for the other guests who will, if you want, become your friends and adventure-mates during your stay. The easy-going, friendly tone is set by Dave, the manager who lives upstairs and who knows how to pick good people for his staff. Two favorite memories of my experience at this hostel are, first, arriving "home" at night following a tiring day at the conference. Before I had taken off my coat, I was greeted by South Africa Pete, who gave me a martini glass filled with Two-Buck Chuck and instructed me to drink and to join the others. A dozen or so of us then sipped cabernet, listened to music, talked, and chilled until the wee hours. Second, it was on Friday evening that I found myself half-napping on the sofa, curled up next to Miami Pete, who was sharing Iraq and Afghanistan war stories with Vietnam veteran Edmunton Dave, who had been stationed in West Berlin prior to living in Thailand for 27 years. Jele (nicknamed "Silent Belgium") was websurfing, Andy (staff) was sitting at reception playing music, and Shelli (staff) was chopping vegetables as she prepared the communal dinner. Though the experience wasn't extravagant, there was a sense of contentment one finds in moments that are both ordinary and beautiful. I have always enjoyed hostels for the setting and opportunity they provide for clarifying and for reminding me what is, in the end, important. Pacific Tradewinds is such a place, and somehow also more. My five days there felt like five weeks or five months. To Dave and the staff: thank you. I will always be grateful. — Min S. , United States (2010-04-13) Amazing place with relaxed and friendly atmosphere!!! I must've been to more than hundred hostels all around the world, but i must say I absolutely LOVED staying in Pacific Tradewinds Backpacker Hostel. It's the best hostel in San Francisco! The place was really clean and comfortable, the location was great, close to BART, MUNI, and to buses and trams, but what's more important -- the staff there is quite amazing! Everyone is really friendly and goes out of their way to make sure you have a great time in San Francisco. They have special discounts for tours, bikes and will suggest you where and how to spend a day; they'll pretty much share with you all they know about SF. Also, their central "hanging-out" space is really cosy and friendly. If you are traveling by yourself and don't know many people in SF, definitely stay in this hostel, and you'll make a lot of new friends and have a good time! Last but not least, they have a free Wi-Fi there, and even two desktops where you can check your email. — Anna Rozenblat , USA (2010-03-04) Probably the worst U.S. hostel I've stayed at I couldn't get into the vibe of this place. It's really, really small -- smaller than it looks in the pictures. I guess people like the fact that it's "laid back" or "intimate" or whatever but I found the way it was run annoyingly unprofessional. The employees are always taking up the entire place. The small kitchen and small common area were always packed with tons of employees. There's nowhere to go. There's like seven or eight of them. They all live there and sleep in the same dorms as you. I saw more of them than guests. It's almost as if the place is run for the benefit of the people working there in exchange for room and board than for the travelers who pay to stay there. It's weird. Some of them were friendly and helpful, but there were a few that were quite rude though. One particularly loud obnoxious guy comes to mind. The place was really loud at all hours and impossible to get a good night's sleep. There weren't enough outlets in the common room. There was only one toilet in the whole place. Yes, one. There was never any hot water in the showers. Someone stole my food from the refrigerator. I guess it was well set up for meeting people, only because it's so small that you can't help but be within an arm's length of another person at all times. You might like it if you really want to try to fit into the little click that they have going on there, otherwise, you'll be much happier elsewhere. On the positive side, the location was excellent. — The Dude , USA (2008-08-19) Friendly and fun We just spent four days at the Pacific Tradewinds hostel, and it was such a blast my friend is actually thinking of going back there to work for them. The accommodations are nothing special, but were comfortable, but the thing that made this hostel awesome was the atmosphere. The common room upstairs was the scene of much hilarity, the managers and staff were friendly (Dave, Al, Mila), and so were the other hostelers. I've stayed in hostels before and the only other time I've had this much fun was in Prague. The rates can't be beaten, the location is fantastic, and the kitchen is fully stocked and usable. They even let you exchange sweat equity for room discounts, so definitely ask if you're interested. Clean, well maintained -- my only complaint would be the lack of storage options in the room (one under the bed locker per person, not enough hooks), and the lack of individual lights (one common light for the room, hallway lights go off at 10 p.m.). I would go back in a heartbeat. — Maya , US (2008-03-25) Awesome, perfect, couldn't be better This hostel hits the nail bang on the head. It's very clean, very well run, the staff are super friendly, and I have to say without a doubt that it is the best hostel I have ever stayed in. It's very social, partly since it's a smaller hostel, and partly since the common room area is smaller as well and is set up to be quite intimate and promoting of good conversation starting. Since there is a fourteen-day limit, everyone at the hostel has just arrived and are looking to make friends and meet people. I don't know how they do it, but they seem to keep most of the bad apples out as well. The kitchen is well equipped with good quality cookware, and utensils, a good stove, big modern fridge (with water cooler) and is well lit. There are two free internet terminals in the common area and there is free wireless as well. Since they don't try to enforce dozens of fun-police type rules like HIs do, people tend to relax and just kick back. Drinking in the lounge is allowed, and the kitchen doesn't get closed at ridiculously early hours. It really felt like a casual house party. The dorms are all co-ed, with one big dorm downstairs and two smaller dorms upstairs. The bunk beds are a custom design and are made of heavy gauge welded steel. I'm six-foot-four and was quite comfortable. The dorm downstairs is arranged with partitions creating about three or four "cubbies" with four to six beds each but surprisingly noise wasn't a huge problem. Each bed also has a steel locker underneath. The location was also great, right downtown. It's an easy walk to the North Beach bars, but yet far enough away that the bar-scene chaos doesn't spill back into the hostel. The only con I can think of is that there is no way someone with a physical disability can stay here since the hostel is three floors up, with no elevator. — Steve , Canadian (2007-06-13) IF YOU WANT TO HAVE FUN THIS IS THE PLACE TO BE!!!! i've been in 2 hostels in SF during June 2006. Staff is cool. People are cool and everybody talks to everybody. BUT 8 per rooms, no doors, 4 showers, no elevator, i even saw 1 cockroaches!!!! wall arent touching the ceiling so you can hear everyone. 2 computers only. Very well located. Overall, If you want to have fun its the place to be, beside that -- don't go there. — Vic (2007-01-31) It is a safe and clean place to stay. The staff is helpful without being intrusive. The facilities give the traveler practical comfort. The price is ok. It is located near interesting places that are near enough for people who love walking. — Victor Villanueva (2006-04-22) First of all, the entrance is almost impossible to find because of small signage in the anonymous street.
Second of all, the dormitory room is a joke: it is just one big and long hallway divided into four or five "cubicles" with overcast fluorescent lamps blazing brightly and no doors.
Third of all, no lift is fitted there, so forget about carrying heavy luggage up several flights of stairs.
Fourth of all, "free coffee" is nothing but a jar of instant coffee and hot water.
I would never stay at that place ever again! — German Guy (2005-11-09) DON'T STAY HERE!!! I have stayed at many hostels in the Bay Area and this was the WORST of all. My reservation said a 4-bed dorm and in reality, I was in a room with at least 30 beds, separated by dividers. And there were six beds in my cubicle. They kept the bright overhead lights on in this 30-bed room until 3 a.m. or so.
On the Web site, they claimed it was not a party hostel but this is far from the truth. When I arrived, there was a man snorting cocaine while on his bed and later that night a couple was having sex in the cubicle beside mine.
The hostel also claimed to be clean . . .it was NOT. People left dirty dishes in the kitchen and left the toilet area messy with bodily fluids. And, to make things worse there are 2 toilets . . . one per floor! This is insane. Save your money and go elsewhere!!! — unhappy (2005-08-15) This was just a great fun hostel. I wouldn't recommend it for very light sleepers, but after a day in the city, I just crashed and didn't have a problem with such an open room. I also brought an eye cover because they don't turn off the lights until 11 p.m., and I was exhausted. Everything was clean and new. People were very friendly and the staff definitely brought out the extroversion in even the quietest of people. I left with some great stories and new friends after only a few days. — Lisa Bradway (2005-08-09) I stayed here in May 2005. The staff try to be helpful; my friend and I were in an eight-bed dorm and the staff were nice. But this hostel is at the top of an office building, with about 8 stairs up and no elevator, not good when you have luggage to carry. The staff did their best but they offer no free breakfast or laundry. We moved to another hostel, which was better. — Susan Threstle (2005-05-28)