USA Hostels

The first impression for me! I came early morning and not be able to check in until 2 pm. But lovely staff help me big my big luggage (+15kg) up from downstair! Offer for free storage until check in time. Then provide me a good information about traveling in San Diego and lend me a compass ticket!!! So i can save a fee for compass just top up 5 $ for 1 day pass. I will come back and recommend everyone to stay here! Best service & warm welcome from staff. Location is very good. Come to stay here!

Solid hostel that can’t really be beat for location. It’s a little rowdy — it is a backpacker’s place after all — but it’s an excellent launching pad for exploring San Diego. Easy access to the convention center as well, just about a 7 short block walk. No shortage of dining or drinking and entertainment options nearby as well.
The place is clean, a little warm this time of year (October) and lacking a touch in the climate control department. It’s clean, though, they have clean sheets, towels and lockers for you and enforce quiet hours. Male and female only, as well as mixed rooms are available in addition to a few private rooms for those who want something to themselves.
Breakfast and dinner are served daily and the hostel has organized events every night including free walking tours of Tijuana few times a week. I don’t see how you could do much better for a good cheap place to stay in the area. The location alone sells the place.

It was a great location and lots of the staff were friendly. However, the rooms were exceedingly hot with cheap fans, and it made it difficult to sleep. I wouldn’t have minded this given the cost and the location, but we didn’t have a good experience overall.
We stayed for 2 nights and explicitly asked the front desk as we checked in if we needed to do anything on day 2 — they confirmed we only needed to come down again to pay for the second night — so we went to the beach happy. Upon return we found they had removed all our possessions from our room, put them in bin bags and thrown them in the cloakroom! A few items were lost, and the annoyance of our belongings all being in each others bags and not knowing where anything was, as well as someone having been through our stuff, was not an experience I was expecting. Upon asking and complaining about this that evening the response was less than useful, we didn’t receive any apology or explanation.
The girls on the desk the next day were more helpful, but all we received was $ 5 back each which didn’t even cover the cost of our missing toiletries. All in all I wouldn’t return based on this experience and expectation that this service level is acceptable.

As far as getting a «full hostel experience» goes, USA Hostels San Diego goes above and beyond. They have the friendliest staff with extensive knowledge on all kinds of things to do, see, and places to eat. The hostel itself is easy to miss if you’re just passing by in a car, but much easier to spot walking down the sidewalk.
Once you’re inside, its a very welcoming environment with music always playing. They have a lounge room where they have mini beer pong competitions, and a shuffle board table! Breakfast is complimentary, with unlimited pancakes. UNLIMITED. I kind of wish I could live there.
Special thanks to staff members: Henning, Dustin (Dusty), Dylan, Olga, and Tim for making my weekend there a rad one.

A great Hostel. The best location for restaurants and bars. The Hostel offers great deals on local pubs. The rooms are clean the staff is super friendly. They offer great activities and good meals. I would highly-​recommend staying here will visiting beautiful San Diego.

Great location if you want to be downtown in the Gaslamp area. Its right in the middle of the street with all the bars, restaurants, shops in this area.
Stayed here for two nights. Its obviously not as nice as a hotel, but I would stay here again. It has a cool feel to it. I think we paid about $ 30 a night per person so definitely a good option if you want to save money or don’t plan on being in the hostel for much of your trip. Personally i think 2 nights would be my max stay, but many people were staying for extended periods. I was in a 6 person room, but i think they do rooms of varying sizes (the more people in the room, the cheaper it is).
The place had a good atmosphere and people were generally friendly. The staff was also very friendly and helpful. The bathroom situation was good for a hostel (shared sinks with individual stall and shower rooms. They provide towels, sheets, and breakfast.
There are lockers to put your valuables in, but you have to bring your own lock!

The cool parts: the staff is really friendly & the place has a hippie vibe. Beds had night lights attached to them for each person (very useful).
The not so cool parts: beds were not comfortable, the springs could be felt in the mattresses and they were squeaky. It was a little too loud for me (but this was a given depending on the location of the hostel). Bathrooms were not really clean and they were co-​ed, which was a bit weird.

They have coffee, tea, WiFi, pancakes for breakfast and fun social activities :). A good place to sleep if you want to explore San Diego’s gas lamp quarter. It can be noisy if you sleep on the front side of the building. If you like party hostels, you’ll like this one.
If you’re looking for peace and quiet, a hostel or campground outside of gas lamp might be a better fit.

USA HOSTELS a stupid hostels where they call cups if you don’t check in time never see that before there is no milk at the breakfast the breakfast are poor for 33 $ a night the shower are so nasty hair on the wall and smell so bad either for the washroom too many staircase if you are with your luggage good luck cause staff are so girly to help you and they aren’t cool that’s not the place to stay if you want have fun the price doesn’t equal with what it is

Cool décor and vibe. Staff friendly or dismissive, hit or miss. Tinier than thou kitchen and eating area. Stifling hot in the dorms and kitchen, their fans are not adequate! Fantastic location downtown if you want to hit the town!

I stayed 4 nights during Comic Con 2014 (SDCC) and my experience was good. I had the top bunk in a four bed shared room. The hostel is hidden in plain sight among two restaurants. I walked past the front door more times than I could count.
I had a good experience. I didn’t spend TOO much time in the hostel, but for the time I was there, it was comfortable. The staff is extremely friendly, courteous, and knowledgeable.
A thing to note is the number of stairs you will be climbing. It is completely manageable, but since I had walked from the train station to the hostel, I was dead by the time I got to the door and I had a lot of stuff to lug up the stairs. Fortunately, a young lad came trotting down the stairs to help me carry everything up (even though I said I could manage, he didn’t believe me — thankfully). There is a long flight to get to the main landing floor, and two smaller flights to get to the second level, where my room was located.
The 4-​bed room was equipped with two sets of bunk beds and four lockers. You have to bring your own lock, but as soon as I arrived my roommates and I talked about #NerdHonor and we didn’t really use the lockers. I had a lock, but it was a pain, so we mostly used the lockers to get the stuff off the floor. The lockers did have a charging station and four double hooks for hanging items. There is a full length mirror and a coat rack. The A/​C unit worked fantastically and the ceiling fan was great too. The ceilings are high, so no fear of hitting your head at all. The lighting was good and each bunk had a privacy guard, outlets, small shelf, and a book light. I very much appreciated this. Also, the floor space was sufficient. There was a lot of stuff in the room. Luggage and collectibles and poster tubes… there was space under the beds as well.
The bedding is given to you at check-​in and you have to make up your own bed. This is fine, except that I had the top bunk and it was sort of uncomfortable to do. I’m sure there was a better way to do it besides hanging off the bed, but I didn’t figure it out. The fitted and flat sheets were crispy clean and the pillow and comforter were nice and fluffy.
Breakfast was a great inclusion. I’ve never made pancakes before, so I didn’t really go near those — but there was a large array of items. Lots of fresh fruits, cheeses, and hard boiled eggs. There were juices and coffee, oatmeal and toast. It was nice and the kitchen was very large and clean.
I never checked out the common areas much, but there seemed to be limited seating outside the kitchen. There is a couple of couches, one on the main landing and another on the second, and people always seemed to be chatting there. Also, on the second landing of the stairs is directly where the A/​C was flowing — so you could spot me just standing there letting it wash over me.
Overall, the experience was very nice. The prices are hiked up for Comic Con, but worth it if you are traveling alone and haven’t managed to find some other accommodations. I would, and plan to, stay here again.
Oh, and they have good storage to keep all the SDCC goods — which was a concern for me.
Lastly, the location was perfect. A short walk downhill to the Convention Center and in the heart of the Gaslamp. I walked everywhere without a problem.

I had a great time at this hostel. It was super clean and the staff made the stay so enjoyable. The location is great. Very laid back atmosphere. Definitely take advantage of the activities coordinated by the hostel.
Tips:
–If you are traveling from the US bring your passport, not just a driver’s license. I made this mistake and I was unable to do the bus day-​trip to Tijuana, Mexico with the hostel (only $ 18!)
–The rooms in the front of the hostel can be a bit noisy due to construction that was going on outside. The hostel also has a bunch of flags hanging out front and they were a little noisy as well. I’m not a heavy sleeper at all, but I’m sure if you are, this probably wouldn’t be a huge issue.
If I returned to San Diego I would definitely stay in this hostel again!

Great Location right in the heart of Gaslamp Quarter. Affordable, but still with a certain lack of personality. Great to party though.

Not bad. Great service, clean rooms. It looks like it’s crappy on the outside from the old building in Gaslamp Quarter, but once you walk in, it’s actually pretty nice!
Why you would come here: Best location in the heart of Gaslamp Quarter
What needs improvement: A larger lounge with a focus on more interaction between hostelers. Their lounge is a small room at the corner of the building. Not many people hang out there.

So glad that I chose this place to stay at while in San Diego. I really would like to give a shout out to the staff who were always super helpful and nice, it really goes a long way. The first night I stayed here, I was pretty sure the constant barrage of noise coming from the Gaslamp (oh, its loud folks) would be an issue, but after the first night I got used to it and it wasnt a problem. If you are a light sleeper, this probably isnt the hostel for you for that reason.
They have some shampoo and soap in the showers (which is a nice perk), but if you have sensitive skin you should use your own. I do not have sensitive skin so I decided to use what they provided instead of my own the first few nights — that was my mistake. I broke out in hives until I stopped using it. It wasnt a big deal and I just used my own after that. Showers are cleaned daily and the bathrooms are co-​ed.
The free breakfast is definitely awesome. My advice: get down there early because the kitchen fills up fast. That kitchen is pretty nice. The laundry facilities were definitely a plus.
Anyway, we enjoyed our stay. It was worth the money especially with it being in the Gaslamp district. We enjoyed meeting people (lots of German and Aussie travelers!) And there were plenty of hostel activities if you found yourself bored.

Excellent location in gaslamp and tons of fun
The staff here was extremely friendly. I had some problems upon check-​in with getting a keycard for my room but overall everything was handled well. The beds are comfortable and you get a small shelf area with outlets attached to every bed. Also there are lockers in the rooms.
You will immediately notice when you enter that there are events set up for every day. They outline what is going on throughout the week. Take advantage of these events to meet people and have some fun. The social room here is great and a lot of people hangout there throughout the day and night. Breakfast is nothing amazing, but at least its included… expect pancakes and fruit.
Overall, this was one of my best hostel experiences and I will stay here the next time I am in San Diego.

Smack bang in the Gaslamp district, nice & cheap, clean and pancakes for breakfast, what’s not to like?
The staff I met in my two days there were cool and eager to help, gave great advice on where to go and how to get there.
The shared room I stayed in was serviceable, with each of the beds having a power outlet and light if you need it. You’ll need your own lock for the private locker and a towel for the shower but soap and shampoo are provided for those in need.

USA hostels is a beautiful place to stay, located in the center of the Gaslamp district.
I chose to stay here because I was traveling alone and needed somewhere reasonably priced to stay for 3 nights. For 70 dollars a night, I got a private room.
The room was small, but just what I needed as I had a lot planned to do in San Diego and wouldn’t be in the room much. The room was clean, as well as the bathrooms. The employees were very kind and helpful.
My beef? It was always loud. There was a couch right outside my room where people sat night and day. I had people rapping outside my door at 8 in the morning, and drunk late nighters stumbling up the stairs at 3 am. Besides that, there was always music playing. In the lobby, in the hallway, in the bathroom… I couldn’t get away from it!
It’s a good deal, but if you desire some actual peace and quiet while you sleep, its not the best location for you.

Great location and staff.
Easy to get to with a 2 block walk from the airport bus stop. Fully equipped kitchen with all you can make pancakes, fruit, bread in the morning. 24hr free tea and coffee.
Each of the bed cubbies has a light and power plug so you don’t have to disturb your bunkmates. I totally lucked out for Comic-​con with not one of my 5 roommates snoring.
Bring your own lock and towel. Parking would be a pain. Other than TV and free WiFi not much in the way of entertainment, but located in the heart of the Gaslamp bar and restaurant district.
If you get a room facing 5^th Ave, it can be quite noisy.

This is a great hostel located in the Gaslamp area, just next to the best clubs, bars and restaurants. I’ve stayed at three different USA Hostels in California and this one is in par with the others. Staff is always multicultural, but this place had a majority of Brazilian male staff.
I would give them a 3.5 star rating. It’s very noisy outside the hostel and they had some issues with the restrooms during my stay.