ITH San Diego Beach Bungalow Surf Hostel — Hotel in San Diego

I stayed in two rooms during my time; 8-bed female and 12-bed mixed. My review will reflect on both of these experiences. The cons are significant, so I’ve started with these as I feel strongly about highlighting my concerns.

Cons:

Our door did not properly lock in the 8-bed female. The staff also did not know how to lock it upon check-in and therefore couldn’t show me. There was a sign on the door saying to turn the handle up when closed but this would not work, therefore, the room was very often left unsecured. No one closed the door for the 12-bed mixed. It was open ALL the time. While I could put small valuables in a locker, I didn’t feel safe leaving anything outside of the locker in this room. I kept everything in our rental car at all times, which was inconvenient. I heard from other guests that a man that no one recognized as being a guest at the hostel trespassed into their room and was looking through their belongings, shining a light on people, and spending time in the bathroom in the middle of the night. This was the room where the door was very hard to secure, as mentioned above, but I had moved out of this room by that time. I did not experience this myself, but knowing any room I stayed in had an open door either by an unsecured lock or lack of safety enforcement by staff (telling people they need to close the room doors) makes my skin crawl. I feel very uneasy knowing I was potentially at risk of an unsafe situation during my time here. The bathrooms are VERY dirty. Dirt and dust caked an inch thick along all the baseboards. The sink had handfuls of hair for more than one day, making me think they did not get cleaned. The hostel rooms overall were dirty. All window sills in the 8-bed female looked like it had little eggs of some type of bug all over it, although, I can't confirm if that’s what it was. = It was extremely loud at night and there was a lot of partying. While I love to enjoy some nightlife, the nights I wanted to sleep/wake up early I wasn’t able to.

Pros:

Excellent location. Right by the beach, number of restaurants/bars around. A convenience store is a 5-minute walk away. Very social. Easy to meet people, everyone was quite friendly. I really enjoyed spending time with the people that I met here! Organized socials. Especially great for a solo traveler. Mostly based around drinking but other opportunities such as yoga. The deck area is super vibey and cute. The hammocks are great and you can see the ocean from there. There is also a spot to have a fire back there, which is awesome. A great hangout spot! Breakfast included (pancakes and eggs) is a great bonus!

Overall, I enjoyed the people that I met, the beachfront location, the friendly staff, the deck, and the socials. Despite this, I would NOT recommend staying here. It was not a safe experience for myself or my belongings and basic cleanliness is not a...

I whole heartedly believe that everyone in the entire world should make staying at the ITH Beach Bungalow part of their bucket list. That being said I'd like to take some time to share with the world my incredible experience there. I was welcomed at the door by Emily, a beautiful young friendly woman from Texas, who gave me the run down of all the rules and showed me where everything was. The next person I met was an Australian by the name of Jim who put a smile on my face, a beer in my hand, and a whole lot of love from someone just staying there. From there I met all the staff over my one week and they all did something or another to make my trip unforgettable. Nikita gave me a tattoo to remember the greatest week ever. David opened my eyes to the humbleness of selflessly helping others. Emily laughed with me about our love of George Strait and southern country classics. Josh shared my love of peace within and we had great conversations about how we found ourselves. Helo was always around with a big bright smile brightening everyone's day. Celine made me feel so welcomed and accommodated any and all needs I had. Aleks captured a moment that'll last a lifetime. Arrate was always solving problems quickly and effectively. Finally Justice, the one who went out of her way to show me the time of my life in San Diego. I met people I'm planning to see all over the world. Max from France. Barbara in Switzerland. James in Canada. There's a lot more I would name but then this post would go on incessantly. I'll consider all these people my ITH family for life and will be thankful for the memories and secrets we share together. I took over a thousand pictures and I'll be sure to add some in here when I finish editing them. I'll close this in saying that this is the greatest treasure America can offer any foreign or domestic traveler and to not see it once in your life would be a great mistake. Love y'all at the...

We were strongly disappointed by Banana Bungalow. We made a reservation for a private room with an own bathroom. What we received was a small room with just bed and a tiny bathroom containing a pot and a shower. There was absolutely nothing to put your clothes or hang your towel. The room was quite dirty and in a bad shape. They just swept it out quickly when we checked in. We found hairs and stains in the bed, so probably the bedclothes were not changed. That was quite disgusting. The wall next to the bed was newly painted and still wet. The hostel has thin walls, so it’s slightly noisy at night; you better bring ear plugs if you want to get some sleep. Wireless LAN is provided free, but the bandwidth or the speed was not good enough to skype out. We asked if we could use the hostel’s phone to make a local call, but unfortunately we were not allowed. Instead they send us to a public phone which was two blocks away and not working. As a result of a plumbing problem some parts of the hostel got flooded and our bathroom was locked. So we had the chance to use the common bathroom that was now shared by all guests. I was surprised that the common bathroom had the same tiny size than the one we had in our room and that there was not even a mirror. We decided to leave earlier and it was promptly pointed out that they have a strict “no refund policy” which was not mentioned as we checked in. At least they refunded a very small amount. Well at this point we never really got what we booked. However, we left and found a hotel nearby which offered much more comfort and had even cheaper room rates at the same time. Banana Bungalow is located directly at the beach, but you get the same value for less money if you just sleep in a bedroll at the beach and use the beaches’ public bathroom. I would not stay there again and so I cannot recommend this place to...