Gershwin Hollywood Hotel & Hostel

Los Angeles (Hollywood)

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Address	5533 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles (Hollywood), California, USA Map
Price	Dorm beds from US$20.00. Private rooms from US$32.50/person. Price may vary by season - Check Current Prices by Date Here

Location/Contact

Details

Description

Features

Washing Machine (laundry)
Lounge / Common space
Travel information provided
Gameroom
Free Breakfast
Elevator/Lift
Lockers

Ratings & Comments

2.6 Average from 17 Ratings

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Comment by Waxing nostalgic, USA

July 2009

It used to be fabulous, believe it or not.
Ah, the Gershwin! I knew it over sixty years ago when it was the St. Francis, when it was a grand place to be, and where my uncle and grandparents lived in modest luxury -- and when Hollywood was still magical -- not the sewer it is now. My grandpa ran a liquor store a couple of doors down, and they had a great Chinese restaurant on the corner of Western and Hollywood as well as Terry's Cafeteria across the street. So the Gershwin is a rat hole now evidently, but it used to be one of the places in Hollywood. As a little boy, I spent many happy hours in it visiting. I wonder who's living in #203 now.

Comment by SM, USA

November 2007

Nastiest, Ghetto Hostel I have seen in a while
I had a three-day reservation and was too scared to stay the other nights. I only stayed the first night because it was already late when I arrived at the airport. The people aren't friendly (employees and guest). I wandered around to "check out" the place. More than half of it was under construction. I stayed last winter and my room was freezing. I definitely not recommend this hostel for females traveling alone or with another female. There were a lot of shady guest staying there and wandering around at all hours of the night!

Comment by Kate, Ireland

September 2007

Not the best but not the worst!
Myself and a friend stayed in this hostel for a few days in August. The location is great, you can walk to the Kodak theatre, the grauman chinese theatre, and the walk of fame, which are all just up the road along with a view of the hollywood sign. It's a fine hostel if you are planning to go out during the day, it's clean, it has comfortable enough beds, showers in room were fine. The staff are friendly and extremely helpful. one of them helped us ring lots of hostels for the next part of our trip. Breakfast is free and consists of Donuts, waffles, toast, cereal, and fruit which are just put out in the kitchen and you help yourself. Not really a place for socialising, people usually get up early, go out and then come back in the evening and go to bed. So to sum it up it's cheap enough and you get a basic room and a decent enough breakfast! Would go back again for the location.

Comment by smeedyova, germany

April 2007

This is the worst place that I have ever stayed in my life (and I have stayed in budget places in many, many countries). Filthy beyond belief! I had the impression that all homeless people in LA live here. Those pictures on the internet are very, very misleading. The area is very dangerous. The hotel is dangerous. Do not stay here for anything. There is a reason why it is cheap and always has free space.

Comment by RJC

December 2006

I stayed here for two weeks back in 1998 and paid $115 per week. My room had a bed, a TV, and a toilet. It would have been better if I wasn't facing an alley that housed the back of a Mexican bar that blared its music till 3 a.m.

Comment by RPS Master

March 2006

This place is probably not for everyone. It is on the run down side, but what do you want for the price? The staff is great, very helpful and friendly (which is what initially drew me here.). The rooms are clean (no bugs) and are cleaned daily, trash emptied, linens brought, bed made. I have a room without television, but the clock radio picks up great public radio stations and AM radio. There doesn't seem to be heat or AC, which is totally fine at this time of year. They have internet access, laundry facilities and breakfast (coffee and pbj sandwiches). The only real negative is the hot water situation. I got some today after three days, but it really wasn't so bad. Nearby amenities include a metro stop, a twenty-four hour diner, thrift store, Thai Town, supermarket, and a twenty-four hour porn store (hey, I said it wasn't for everyone). All in all, the Gershwin has made for an interesting, safe, affordable stay in LA. If you're easily spooked, look elsewhere. But if you're even slightly adventurous, can look past initial appearances, and need a place to land on your feet, check it out.

Comment by Anon Y Mouse

February 2006

I like this place and yet have no rational reason for that, since it is basically a hellhole. But the staff are friendly and nice and pleasant, even if they look unusual. It is in a great location close to public transportation and near to a good grocery and lots of cheap restaurants. Also, it is really near to the American Film Institute and a short walk from one of the nicest areas of Griffith Park. It is a short bus or train ride or even a walk to the hot spots of Hollywood-- if you want to see that junk. But you can also get on the train right there and get downtown, or to LAX. YOu can take a bus on Sunset and ride for an hour or so out to the ocean. You can also go east on the Sunset bus into Silverlake and Echo Park, and go to the hip places there. Some of these comments HAVE to be fake. The Gershwin Hotel is old and dirty. The decor is leftover from about 1968, with hot pink shag carpeting that is filthy and stained, and puce green walls that are also filthy. That one saying it is like Ikea?! They threw a couple retro stylish chairs into a dump, but that does not make the place anything other than itchy. If you stay in a dorm, it may or may not be okay, but in any case, you will feel like you are staying in an abandoned warehouse of some sort. The proper words to describe this place are dirty and in desperate need of a makeover. There was not even a chair in the room! You may or may not get hot water in your shower. If someone with money buys this place, they will turn it into a 5-star hotel or a high-priced condo building. It is good building stock, just in dire need of repair and renovation. There is no lounge that anyone with any sense would sit in. There is a dim big screen TV in a dark room with a collapsing ceiling and water dripping down. The breakfast is something that might be coffee or might be tea or might be something else, with a loaf of the cheapest bread - that you can toast yourself, served with rancid peanut butter and old dry jelly that is so coagulated it could not spread onto the toast. The people who work at the desk are very nice and most of them live in the building-- and pay high rents to do so! Why? Who knows? The maintenance man turns heat on when he feels like it, which is not very often, even if it is very cold outside. When I was there, the front door was missing, and a cold breeze blew throughout. A couple people sat in coats and hats watching TV in the so-called lounge. The people staying there are a mixed bag of national and international travellers, film geeks, folks planning moves to LA, people with some kind of story or problem, a homeless family with a small child (how sad!) and some ragbag guys that the place allows to sit in the doorway and smoke or drink and make the whole place look ghetto. These guys made comments as women walked in or out, and it brought the whole place down. Why the place allows this is beyond me. WOULD I STAY THERE AGAIN? For the location, price, and nice staff, yes. Would I recommend it to those who are easily spooked? NO!

Comment by Lucy

September 2005

Oh my god!!! This is the worst place you could ever imagine staying! Me and my friend arrived there, our first night in LA and nearly cried. It's in the worst area, so if you are girls travelling alone then think twice about staying here! We had booked a female dorm but found we were staying with guys, which wasn't a bad thing, but since we had paid for a female dorm we were a bit shocked to say the least! The hardwood floors are rotting, and the rooms don't appear to have been cleaned for 5 years. Be warned this place looks nothing like it does on the pictures. It's dark and dingy and the best possible way to describe it is like an old warehouse in Harehills, Leeds! BAD! Oh, and all the bums of LA actually live here. The police were called to arrest people twice in the three days we stayed there!

Comment by Evan Morgan

August 2005

I lived in this hotel for about six months in 1975. It was populated back then by a lot of wild people, and some old Hollywood actors. Frankie Darrow, the 40's serial actor, lived here in '75 on the 4th floor across from my apartment. I was on the 4th floor on the east at the very end of the hotel. A lady who was a member of the Lemalie family (Universal Studios founder) was here, and Judy Canova's mother was also a longtime resident. Ed Wood even stayed here for awhile. So did Frank Faylin (Dobie Gillis' father on TV). He told me he stayed here in the 50's. Frank gave me a rundown of some more famous people who lived here but I can't remember them all as we talked at Gino's bar on Hollywood Blvd. in 1975. I think someone should publish a book about when this place was the St. Francis Hotel, as it dates back to the silent era. The manager here in 1975 told me that James Earl Ray hid out here while eluding the FBI after the Martin Luther King, Jr. murder. His court records do state that Ray frequented the Sultan Room, which was in the front of the hotel. There were ex-actors, directors, schoolteachers (John Kenyon) and others from all walks of life who lived here over the years. There is great history here.

Comment by Maureen Kirby

August 2005

What I liked about the Gershwin was the huge amount of space in the rooms and halls and the sense of history and charm that goes with being in a building built during the Roaring Twenties. In the women's dorm where I stayed the bunk bed was clean, the shower worked fine (both hot and cold) and the toilet also. I was intrigued by the original hardwood floors, cupboards and windows. I kept thinking, wow, this place could be a fantastic historic Hollywood hotel if someone put the money into it to restore it. The staff were friendly and I loved waking up and thinking I had gone back in time. For anyone who truly appreciates history and charm over appearances and modern conveniences I highly recommend it. I wanted to find out more about the original hotel St. Francis but kept missing the owner. I would love to receive more info via e-mail.

Comment by Dona

July 2005

My boyfriend and I had to spend two nights in LA, and didn't find reasonable prices to book. So we went to Gershwin (which has plenty of space). The room at $42 is really awful. So we took the one for $57. It was quite ok, even if we didn't need two big beds. The real problem was there was NO WATER in the shower!!! You had to deal with caps of warm water or take it cold so you can actually get wet. Another thing is that we asked for a remote control for the TV, which they gave us without the batteries. The crew is the weird and kind of grunge type, but they were ok. Forget about the breakfast, anybody who has 5 bucks to spend would prefer to take it outside. To conclude, hotels in LA are very expensive; if you don't find a deal somewhere else, this can be your plan B, but be prepared.

Comment by Karl

July 2005

This is not a hostel, but a home for homeless people, drug dealers and so on. DO NOT stay there. It is not on central Hollywood Boulevard, but in a district called Little Armenia. STAY AWAY from this building!!!

Comment by Anonymous

February 2005

This hotel was awesome. Carole, the owner, was very nice and welcoming. You should really stay there.

Comment by Kandice M.

February 2005

This is no five-star hotel but it's definitely cute. It's very artsy, it's decorated well, and it's definitely charming.

Comment by Nico West

January 2005

You can't beat these accommodations in Hollywood — friendly staff, clean and spacious rooms. A grocery store is less than a block away, and there's free wireless Internet access nearby.

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