HI Los Angeles Santa Monica Hostel — Attraction in Santa Monica

Stayed from 30th Dec 2021 to 4th Jan 2022. Close to the beach and pier. Common lounge, with a fireplace, is large and somewhat easy to strike up a conversation although many people seemed to be doing their own things so in my five days, only managed to hang with two roomies and one other guy I met at the lounge. Kitchen is large but needs better ventilation. For those who do heavy cooking, the grease comes out to the dining area and common lounge and lingers. It's a dry hostel so no alcohol allowed anywhere on premise. But alcohol is the way to socialise and meet others so pretty bummed about it. No breakfast and hostel-organised activities either due to covid but hostels need to stop using covid as an excuse. We need to move on with life and resume these activities so others can meet each other otherwise it doesn't hold true to the Hostelling International's vision statement.

Personal lockers in the room. Need your own locks. Bath towel provided during your stay so one less thing to pack. There's generic shampoo and shower foam too but that's if you're not too picky with what you put on your scalp and skin. Shower water could be hotter, especially past midnight. Power outlets by my bed weren't working in spite of repeated reminders to the front desk to activate maintenance to fix them. It was troublesome and inconvenient to have to keep going to another outlet in the room to charge my devices. That outlet was out of my line of sight too so I didn't feel very safe with leaving my devices unattended. Couldn't charge my phone in peace after a night out too. Got my bottle of cologne stolen from my toiletry bag at my bed. I doubt any of my roommates would have stolen it. I suspect it may have been housekeeping who took it when making the bed above mine. There was another recent review about how housekeeping took someone's belongings too. Beds creak to the high heavens due to the metal frames. Somehow I saw some rooms had newer sturdier beds so wondering why we had to settle with sub-par ones. Please upgrade all the beds for sanity's sake and a good night's rest.

Most businesses in the area open 10/11am so if you're an early bird, you can pretty much just get McDonald's or Jimmy's. If you wanna head into downtown LA and other attractions, they're easily 1.5~2h by public transport. Could Lyft or Uber but will be costly and adds up. Driving is cheap but parking ain't. Nonetheless, worth exploring Santa Monica for the beach and beautiful people. Maybe come in spring/summer/fall when it ain't so cold and when there're more hours...

This place is one of the more affordable accommodations you'll find in the area. The location is excellent, there is a shared kitchen, coin laundry (cards not accepted in laundry machines, but there is at least a change machine), and free continental breakfast. There are plenty of shared public spaces to hang out in, work, and meet people.

I stayed here for a week with my husband in a private room with a bathroom, so not the usual dorm situation. I cannot speak for the dorm setup here.

The private room was a decent size. The bed was a queen and it was comfortable enough. We did get some cooler weather when we were here, and the thin blankets weren't really enough. Some nights were on the cold side. Otherwise, there were a solid amount of outlets and plenty of lights. The little work area under the TV was great as I needed to work remotely for a couple of days. The TV itself was a joke. We turned it on once just to see what was available and it was absurdly bad network TV (e.g. an hour of "Bladder Control Tips"), so don't waste your time. (Correction: it's DirecTV not network, but it's terrible regardless) The room came with its own iron and ironing board, which we actually needed, so that was great. An iron and board are also available in the common laundry room.

The private bath was a good size and there were a solid amount of towels. The water pressure wasn't great and it takes a long while to heat up. I also noticed this when using the kitchen and I now suspect this place has a hot water problem. The soap that comes in the bathroom is from dispensers in the shower and at the sink. It's better than nothing, but not great.

I loved having the kitchen available and made soup one night that I shared with some folks. There's an underground Trader Joe's about 6 minutes away by foot, which is super helpful. The kitchen itself is decent, with lots of ranges and a couple of ovens. There's plenty of counter space. You'll never find duller knives, so be careful you don't cut yourself and be sure to wash your own dishes.

The WiFi was stable, the desk is staffed 24-7, and the place was kept clean. Check-In was a pain because your HI membership number isn't tied to your reservation in the system, so you'll have to dig it up. This was pretty irritating to be honest.

Overall, I'm glad we stayed here. Will we do it again? Not sure, but even so, I'm glad it's an option. It's great to have more affordable travel accommodations to...

For budget travelers, the location of this hostel is very good. It’s in downtown Santa Monica within walking distance to the beach. I didn’t have any complaint on the facilities, I just stayed a night and it served its purpose - a bed to sleep in, free light breakfast and wifi.

However, I was not happy with the reservation process on their own website. I tried to book a room at their website. I completed all the information required and put in my credit card details. After I clicked finished, there was a pop-up saying that only travelers outside LA county are allowed to stay at the hostel. I am not from LA, so this warning doesn’t apply to me. When I clicked the ok button, it brought me back to the booking page. I tried booking online again but got the same message. Confused on whether the reservation went through or not, I called the hostel to confirm. The lady who answered the phone said my reservation is not showing on their end and maybe it’s still updating and try to call back at a later time. She also said there’s a lot of vacant beds and would be better to just walk in.

When I arrived at the hostel, I told the front desk person about the zip code error message I got on their online reservation site and she said, it’s a known problem and has happened to other guests too. Oh well, it’s not the first time it happened and they knew about it, yet they haven’t bothered to fix it!!???

I asked for the bed I was trying to book online, but was told they cannot honor the online price. They would charge me higher for the same bed. Worse, she also said, they are sold out on those beds. I told her, I just called and was advised to just walk in since there are a lot of vacant beds. I said it’s not my fault their website is bad and malfunctioning, so I shouldn’t be punished for it. The representative was helpful but it’s still annoying to be charged more for something that was totally not my shortcoming. Their website is not working right, so it’s not fair that they’re making the...