Stay Open Venice Beach — Hotel in Los Angeles

Wow! There are so many things I could say about my stay I am not sure where to start! I visited Venice Beach/ Santa Monica Beach as a solo traveler for the first time last week. I have never stayed in a hostel or work space concept before and was curious to try something new.

Location: Stay Open literally sits on the beach at 11 Brooks Ave so the location is perfect!

Check In: The opener came off a little crass while giving me a tour of the house as it was still "quiet time" and I was trying to move about the house with luggage and bags in hand but I was able to check in super early which was a plus!

Bedding/Pod: My pod was made up and ready for me to use. I quickly started unpacking my stuff and tried to make myself comfortable. It's a Twin size bed that has a fan, chargers, outlets for additional chargers, and a fire alarm inside.

The Space: The space is an open concept with no doors besides the showers/toilets. Four levels so plenty of room to spread out and chill or work if you plan to stay in most of your trip. Absolutely beautiful, especially the rooftop!

The Guests: I enjoyed meeting literally people from all over the world. Everyday I woke up, someone had checked out and someone new checked in! Lol Everyone was sweet and very polite and we all go to know where we we were all from and what brought us to Venice.

Other things to note: One of the openers (host) has a dog that was there everyday of my stay. I wanted to point this out as on their website it states guest cannot bring their dog but there was one that was present inside most of the day during my stay. If you have allergies or are afraid of dogs in general you might want to reach out to management before your stay for special accomodations. The dog was friendly for sure but I get how some people are just not dog people, so full disclosure here.

Overall, I had a great stay! Close to everything and I mean everything in Venice and Santa Monica! I am glad I decided to make my stay extra special by trying something new! When on Venice Beach, go check...

This was a great stay! I booked this spot for one night to attend a concert and the location was great. The pods were very cozy and gives a sense of privacy compared to other hostels. I also appreciated the hooks and charging ports inside the pods. The other tenants and the owner were very fun to talk to! It definitely feels more like a community here. Meeting travelers from other countries also added to the quality of my stay. I ultimately ended up paying the small extra fee to check out later because the convenience of storing my bags somewhere as well as not needing to use the public beach bathrooms was superior to the fee. I will definitely be coming back in the future for a longer stay! I look forward to participating in the yoga and exercise opportunities offered.

Check in/Check out: Check in was easy. If you cannot get inside because your mobile key doesn't download until the exact time, there is a doorbell you can ring. The stay was nicer than I expected so I ended up extending my stay to check out later in the day. Checking out was easy since the key is mobile and expires upon check out.

Quality: Everything was clean and organized. The linens were set up for me prior to arrival and the fact that there are multiple restrooms on the premise is reassuring. There are lots of storage options and one locked storage for safekeeping of valuables.

Location: The location is great! Stay Open has bikes you can use to get around and there is a bike path that leads to the Santa Monica pier for easy access. I think the pleasant bike rides really adds to the quality of the stay and location! I ended up biking into the city as well and did some shopping in Santa Monica and on Abbot Kinney. There are some homeless folks around but they're practically harmless and if you take a bike you can avoid them and the crowd of people as well.

Food: There's a ton of restaurants and shops nearby. You can stop by the local grocery to bring back to Stay Open and store them in the fridge and pantry.

Overall...

I was joking with a staff here during my stay who said that their first 4 star review would be a good thing because when I booked, every review was 5 stars and I honestly thought this place was fake. I'm sorry I couldn't bring myself to give 4 stars; Stay Open is BEYOND amazing. I'd give 12 stars if I could.

I flew in from Eastern Canada and the check-in was seamless, the staff giving me the tour was helpful and kind, and the location is unreal. Stay Open was clean and well maintained and everyone seemed to know how to act kindly in a communal space. The staff even accommodated my weird check-out schedule when they easily could have left me to fend for myself.

I also happened to be there during the weekly yoga class which was well worth the small extra cost. The teacher was amazing and the view of the beach couldn't be beat!

The only thing I found unusual about Stay Open was that there was only a small drawer-sized space to lock valuables. Most other hostel-style accommodations I've been to have larger cubbies or cages to lock bags up when you're out and about. Maybe that feature would be nice in the future or for people who stay longer (I only stayed two nights)? However, I didn't feel like it was at all necessary to lock my bag up after only a few hours there. Everyone was so friendly and kind, I didn't feel like I was at risk of losing anything ..and I didn't!

Sorry this is getting long but one more thing: having a portion of your stay being donated to a local charity to help with homelessness is THE BEST choice that EVERY business should be making. Honestly that was what sealed the deal for me booking. If you want to travel sustainably, Stay Open is the way to do it. I looked for something similar when I was booking for San Fran and was sad to see there is nothing as amazing as Stay Open.

You guys are phenomenal! Please expand to other cities because the world needs more...