Pirate Haus Inn

This place would be great for people with kids, they really went to town with the pirate theme. Lap of luxury it’s not, but it’s clean, great location, and reasonably priced. The people running it were super friendly. I feel a little bad because after taking the recommendation from the innkeeper I went to a local dive bar and had to call them at 2a.m. because I couldn’t get the door open, then lost my phone (that bar poured stiff drinks!) so had to have them call it to find the next morning. But they were understanding and cool about it. To be fair, I heard another guest struggling with the lock box too, so I think it may have been tricky — but I am sure the state I was in didn’t help. Anyhow, just a cool, laid back place. Since I woke up in a panic I did not take advantage of the free breakfast. Oh, also, that area is tricky to find parking. The streets were built before there were cars, so most residential areas are permit only, and you have to find a meter of lot. I called the Pirate Haus and they offered some suggestions. Since I came in on a Sunday the meters were free — it just took a while finding one. But in St. Augustine, this is the area you want to be, so just go with it, once you get the car parked everything will be fine.

Pirate Haus made us walk the plank by cancelling our reservation without explanation forcing us to scramble to find another place to stay during spring break season in Florida. Perhaps they overbooked. Perhaps there was something wrong with that particular room. We’ll never know since there was zero, zilch, no communication from Pirate Haus prior to them throwing us overboard. Not a good way to treat customers.

We could not have been happier with our stay here! Truly a gem! Such bang for your buck! Comfortable, clean, AND CENTRAL! Right in the heart of St. Augustine!.. We didn’t have to drive anywhere during our visit! And cheap parking for the 3 earliest birds! The pancakes are good and the bourboney (sp?) makes them even better! We even had what could be considered a tame, little ghost encounter hehehe. But most importantly the staff was great! SO friendly and SO helpful! Oh and they leave chocalate coins on your pillow :)

Fantastic for families!
We stayed with Cap’n Conrad and Crew for 3 nights and loved every moment. From the décor to the pancakes to the game room filled with books and boardgames.
The place was quiet, the guests were pleasant, and the price was right!
Parking is limited, but that is only because the Pirate Haus Inn is right in the middle of old St. Augustine near the Castillos de San Marcos where the restaurants and shops are.
Watch the video!

Pirate Haus Inn is a good choice for staying in St Augustine. I really think the key thing is to be able to park your car and for the most part, not drive anywhere in the downtown area. The Inn is very centrally located so almost anything is within a quick walk, and you can just use the car when you want to see the beach, lighthouse, or maybe a great meal at Back 40 Urban grill.
Driving to the place is an interesting experience in itself. I was not clear on the parking situation and when we arrived, everywhere was very crowded with no parking. So we called and were told that they would have a parking space for us. $ 10 a day is great. Driving down Treasury Street is interesting. Good thing we had a small car.
The first experience in arriving the staircase. It is both kinda whimsical and scary, it seems pretty steep. Our daily cardio was going up and down this staircase.
We got room 6, the Jungle room. It is quaint. As others have said, you come here for different reasons, and if you are looking for a pristine modern place, you should keep looking. This is really more a hostel turned into a quasi-BnB…sort of. :) It certainly retains a feel of a hostel, I would assume more so with the rooms with shared facilities. There is a cute common area with books and games. An outdoor deck with table and chairs, and a kitchen. The place reminded me more of places I have stayed in Europe.
Our room had the bunkbeds, perfect for the kids, though we were initially confused by the bedding. There is a refrigerator. Free wifi that worked well. Limited outlets, so if you want to run something on the bunk beds, bring an extension cord. No tv of course. Bathroom is a bit old but still charming. The tap handles on the tub/​shower seemed barely attached. But we had plenty of hot water and everything worked.
The owners and staff we very friendly. The guy who runs it (Conrad?) seems a great guy with some interesting stories. We also enjoyed meeting people from around the world, and if we were here without the children, I would have liked to have spent more time socializing. Pancakes were good, Conrad enjoys exploring his creative outlet on the griddle. :) If you do not like pancakes, you may be out of luck, but I think they try to be open to working with you if you wanted to make something else. Coffee is available.
We did notice some extra free entertainment from people on the street, but it was not too bad and seemed to get pretty quiet later at night. The AC worked well enough to keep the room at a good temp, specially with the ceiling fan.

Great place, great staff. Second visit here and loved it. Like other reviews, if you are looking for a Hilton, stay at a Hilton. If you want to pay $ 20 per night and hang out with people from around the world, this place rocks!

Pros:
1. The staff are awesome… friendly, accommodating, funny, and down-​to-​earth.
2. Family-​friendly: quiet times are enforced, staff are great with kids, and place is safe
3. Location is in the heart of the downtown area. You can walk almost to all the major attractions and certainly find great food and fun.
4. Rooms are large
4. Basic essentials are provided
5. Great price
6. Good wifi
7. Hang out room with TV, books, and games exists, but we did not try it out.
Neutrals:
1. Looks and feels like a hostel. We had a young child (less than 2) with us, so we were not looking for romance at a B&B. So, no big deal.
2. Pancakes, coffee, and fruit on one of the mornings were all great, but this is all the breakfast is comprised of. Adequate (if you like pancakes), but nothing fancy.
Cons:
1. Parking was stated as free on the reservation, but only a few pay spots existed on site and $ 8/​day parking was available across the street (which is pretty cheap for the area). This would have not been brought up, except that our reservation said it would be free.
2. Location is in the heart of the downtown area. (Yes, I already wrote this in the pros section.) Harry’s restaurant and bar is located a block away and plays loud music all night. One of the nights we were there, they played until 2am. The windows do not block the sound of the music or the people walking by as they leave the area. With a small child this is not the greatest thing to put up with.
The staff tried everything to accommodate us (even called the police), but the reality is that this is the downtown area and the bar is allowed to play loud music until they close.
Luckily, Harry’s doesn’t have music every night. Primarily on the weekends, holidays, and school breaks. So, keep an eye on that and you will be okay. If you do not have young children and/​or you don’t mind staying up late, then this may be a non-​issue.

Listen, if you’re looking for a Hilton, go to a Hilton and not a hostel. Everyone will be happier! If you’re looking for one of the best hostels in the States, go to here! It’s location in St. Augustine is ridiculously convenient, firstly. But also, staff has always been super nice and helpful the couple times I’ve been, guiding me in to find their location (that bit was tricky for me. Thanks, «smart» phone). Last time my partner and I woke up there, a staff member was there, eager to make us pancakes and coffee, even writing my partner’s name into hers. I mean, personalized pancakes?! Furthermore our private room was clean clean and really cozy. The pirate décor is everywhere, and each room has it’s own theme and really cool mural. Ours was an underwater coral reef scene. Our mattress was ah-​mazing. Having worked in two hostels, I can say good mattresses are not typical. Our private bathroom was nice and clean, shower was piping hot. Pirate Haus is a great stop for me every time I head Souther than South, and I’ve never been disappointed.

Captain Conrad made us pirate pancakes and gave us grapefruit his neighbor picked and won our undying affection because of it.
The place was comfortable and nice and they had community spaghetti dinner night. There is a cute little libraryish living area and people gathered there and played guitars one of the evenings we were there.
I loved the location too — right in the middle of everything.
I’m going to Florida for spring break in a month, and I was really pushing for us to go to St. Augustine moooostly because of Pirate Haus…

I’m sitting in the fish/​underwater room right now, kind of sad about leaving this place. It’s like staying with your uncle, who’s really into pirates. It’s comfortable, welcoming, and fun. If you’re looking for a chain hotel experience, and you’re going to be mad because you didn’t read about amenities, don’t come here. If you’re going to be uptight, don’t come here. Do come here if you’re into rad pancake breakfasts, hanging out with pirates, and being centrally located, but not broke from just your hotel rates. Do take up Gold Tooth Dave on his Walking Ghost Tour. Because not only is he a super nice dude, he’s very knowledgeable about the history of St. Augustine. I highly recommend this place if you have kids, because they will love it. Thanks guys, we will stay here again!

We stayed 4 nights at the Pirate Haus Inn in March 2013. I enjoyed it. We had the rainforest room. I traveled with my mother and 6 year old daughter. It is not a fancy place, and the stairs could be hard on people with bad knees. But the room was spacious and comfortable.
The feeling at this inn is very friendly, if you want to, you can hang out, meet other people, talk with the staff. If you are not into mingling with others, or if you have a «me first» attitude this place is not for you. There was a line up for pancakes every morning we were there. So we hung out, drank coffee and talked. We liked that there were other kids around for my daughter to play with. There is also a quiet time at night, from 10 pm to about 8 am. This is great for families.
The location is fantastic, it is in walking distance of everything to do in St. Augustine, except the beach. Free parking is another huge bonus, although some cars will be parked in, which can require some patience and coordination.
The down side was the outdoor noise — this room faced the street and since it was spring break there were many drunks roaming the streets and yelling all night. Also cars with thumping bass that rattled the windows. I am not sure if the rooms on the other side of the building might be less prone to street noise. Consider ear plugs.
The owner and the staff were generally friendly. The person who checks you in was snarky and it was no pirate act. Maybe it’s because I’m from Minnesota but I enjoy genuinely nice people and choose to avoid the attitude.

Either you’re going to like this place or you aren’t. Used to staying in five star hotels? Head somewhere else. Are you more laid back and just looking for a place to crash at the end of the day? Take a chance on the Pirate Haus.
The rooms were huge, the management was friendly, the beds were comfortable and the price was right. Two friends and I stayed for two nights and enjoyed ourselves.
The best part of the Pirate Haus is the location. You’re within a five minute walk from everything there is to do in the historic district. Cab rides to the beach were $ 10 for three of us. I would recommend staying in the historic district and cabbing to the beach, not vice versa. The food in the historic district is delicious, and there isn’t too much to do by the beach (except, of course, swim).
Management was happy to answer any questions and point us in the right direction for food and drinks. I’d stay here again.

Loved this place! Family and solo traveler friendly in Historic Downtown St. Augustine. Enjoyed meeting other guest in this relaxed & friendly inn. Cute seeing kids at breakfast wearing their Pirate Pajamas and enjoying Capt. Conrad’s famous pancakes! Great coffee and excellent location. Don’t miss this place.

I never stayed at this inn, however I have been inside and I have also experienced the management who owns this establishment and I must say, why go anywhere else, the owner is one of the most laid back but serious guys you will meet. He takes the «Pirate Haus Inn» very serious and it is truly for those who have a pirate in them.
It is built in Saint Augustine in the Historic part of the city and this place truly has character.
Must warn you though, this place has stairs when you first arrive, it’s on the second floor of an establishment, there is a rail that goes up the stairs, so you can take your time to get up the stairs but that is the only way in or out!

It’s funny to hear the owner (in a post below) comment that their last manager «had some issues». In response to my review on Trip Advisor, he was nothing but defensive of this manager, who clearly had no experience and made for an incredibly disappointing vacation.
We stayed there last summer, with our 2 boys. The rooms reeked of phony fragrance (from about 5 Glade plug-​ins in one small room) and while it was clean, it is an old building and you get what you get with that. If you are sensitive to smells/​mold, etc, it might not be the place for you.
The 4 top table in the kitchen area was filled with locals plus the manager’s girlfriend. The Inn boasts of a breakfast that I could not enjoy b/​c my family and I had no place to sit and wound up going outside. The manager was not even in the kitchen when the breakfast hour began and he had to fuel up on coffee (with aforementioned girlfriend) while my kids tried to be patient.
Ugh, the list goes on and it’s too irritating to even think about that trip. I’m happy to read that the owner admits that his last manager was ineffectual, because he most certainly was and I did not appreciate being blown-​off when I gave him feedback about our experience. I’ve been in hospitality and food for over 20 years and I was baffled by the way I was treated on this trip.
Oh, and I was newly pregnant with my third son during the trip. I mentioned this on the side, in another review, to which the «captain» quipped that I «certainly didn’t look pregnant». WTF??? Diude, when you have morning sickness, 5 glade plug-​ins masking the smell of mold, plus a late breakfast b/​c of a hungover manager are not my idea of fun. Not to mention the car fiasco (parking is insane and we were blocked in for hours, and missed our dinner reservation and meeting with friends.) Lame.

Appreciate the Captain’s hospitality and look forward to the chance to give the Haus another chance. All the fundamentals are there for a great experience, location, facilities, fun theme.

Located in the heart of Historic St. Augustine, this Inn definitely has character. You can literally spend hours just examining the miscellaneous pirate paraphernalia randomly displayed on the walls.
Three of my girl friends and I shared what is known as the «Jungle Room» and man, that’s not just a catchy name. As soon as we opened the door we were greeted with a 360 degree jungle mural. Awesome! The room contained a bunk bed and a double bed. When split four ways, it ended up costing each of us $ 25 — not bad at all!
The website boasts an all you can eat pancake breakfast but us ladies weren’t ready in time. Also, shirts are for sale! (No, not ours… the Inn’s, of course!)
FYI — Although this place has a sort of «hostel» feel, it was made very clear to us that it is a family-​friendly inn. The walls are paper thin and saying things like «pissed» will get you a talking to (or maybe the manager just didn’t appreciate us).
Overall, a great place for a very reasonable price!

«Arrr!»… almost. Frenchie and I came here while on our extended roadtrip this summer. It was pretty sweet– even though the owner pirate was having phone company issues when we arrived… we got settled.
The guys who live and work there are the chillest bunch I’ve met in awhile and we would sit in the kitchen drinking our «pirate rum» and talking.
Eveyone has got that chill attitude. that surfer-​like chilltude.
The best parts? Free pancakes– all you can eat. It’s right in the heart of St. Augustine.
The worst parts? Fleas. I think. Something bit and itched– and I’ve heard there’s a lot in Florida.
Other than that the place was super sweet… complete with Pirate décor and the «arrr“tastic staff.