Hostel on 3rd

Location: 542 3rd avenue, San Diego, California, 92101, San Diego, US

Star Rating: 1 Stars

Property Type: Hostel/Backpacker accommodation

About this Property

Important Information

Policies

Check-in: 04:00 PM - 12:00 AM

Check-out: 11:00 AM

Instructions: The front desk is open daily from 8 AM - midnight. This property doesn't offer after-hours check-in. The front desk is staffed during limited hours.

Amenities & Facilities

• Free breakfast
• Health or beauty spa nearby
• Carport
• Books
• Free WiFi
• Luggage storage
• Table tennis
• Wheelchair accessible
• Free breakfast
• Front desk (limited hours)
• Smoke-free property
• Billiards or pool table
• Grocery/convenience store
• Computer station
• Books
• Games
• Carport
• Garage
• Health or beauty spa nearby
• Coin laundry on site
• Handrails in stairways
• Upper floors accessible by stairs only
• Well-lit path to entrance
• Stair-free path to entrance

Rooms Available

• Room (Downtown private room)

  2 Twin Beds

  Internet - Free WiFi

  Food & Drink - Shared/communal kitchen access

  Sleep - Bed sheets

  Bathroom - Shower

  Practical - Rollaway beds (free) available on request

  Comfort - Ceiling fan

  Need to Know - No housekeeping

  Non-Smoking

  Max Occupancy: 2 (2 Adults)

  • Shower
  • Ceiling fan
  • Free WiFi
  • Shared/communal kitchen access
  • Bedsheets provided
  • No housekeeping

• Shared Room, 6 Bed Mixed Dorm (Unisex)

  6 Twin Beds

  Internet - Free WiFi

  Food & Drink - Shared/communal kitchen access

  Sleep - Bed sheets

  Bathroom - Shower

  Practical - Rollaway beds (free) available on request

  Comfort - Ceiling fan

  Need to Know - No housekeeping

  Non-Smoking

  Max Occupancy: 6 (6 Adults)

  • Shower
  • Ceiling fan
  • Free WiFi
  • Shared/communal kitchen access
  • Bedsheets provided
  • No housekeeping

• Room (4 bed female dorm)

  4 Twin Beds

  Internet - Free WiFi

  Food & Drink - Shared/communal kitchen access

  Sleep - Bed sheets

  Bathroom - Shower

  Practical - Rollaway beds (surcharge) available on request

  Comfort - Ceiling fan

  Need to Know - No housekeeping

  Non-Smoking

  Max Occupancy: 4 (4 Adults)

  • Shower
  • Ceiling fan
  • Free WiFi
  • Shared/communal kitchen access
  • Bedsheets provided
  • No housekeeping

• Shared Room, 4 Bed Mixed Dorm (Unisex)

  4 Twin Beds

  Internet - Free WiFi

  Food & Drink - Shared/communal kitchen access

  Sleep - Bed sheets

  Bathroom - Shower

  Practical - Rollaway beds (free) available on request

  Comfort - Ceiling fan

  Need to Know - No housekeeping

  Non-Smoking

  Max Occupancy: 4 (4 Adults)

  • Shower
  • Ceiling fan
  • Free WiFi
  • Shared/communal kitchen access
  • Bedsheets provided
  • No housekeeping

Guest Reviews

• Ariane (10/5): - Ease of check in, friendly staff. Multiple bathrooms/ showers available , fridge & cooking available.
• Conor (8/5): - Only issue is parking. If you have a car, parking tickets are more than likely.
• Agron (10/5): - I can plan trip from the hotel and go. The thing I didn't like was the communication between the Expedia and the hotel.
• Elizabeth (10/5): - Great Customer Service
• Abylay (4/5): - Only option if you staying for one night and you don’t have other place to go.
• Ian (8/5): July stay - Susie was great to deal with and very accommodating to our requests. The vibe at the place was tame but also the other guests were respectful and helpful. Great location and walkable to everything.
• Ward (10/5): Met expectations, on a quiet street in great area - If you ever stayed in a hostel before, this one seemed to be about middle of the road. The location is fantastic for attending conferences at the convention center, and Street it's on is very quiet and safe, so the best of the both worlds.
• Pascal (2/5): - Horrible, very dirty
• Linda (4/5): - The owner does the bare minimum with the building and it's really not a comfortable or a welcoming feeling. He's not taking care of the bedding, the fixtures in the bathroom aren't cleaned by staff. The Kitchen isn't pleasant. He not a pleasant man to talk too 😞. There's no elevator, you have to enter through another door outside and walk upstairs on a dirty carpet. So it's not handicapped accessible 😞. Plus the check in hours start at 4 pm and end at midnight. I have to be honest because I travel and have enjoyed other Hostels because the atmosphere was joyful 😊.
• Alejandro (2/5): - Horrible customer service
• murshida (6/5): - Not so clean
• Justin (2/5): - This is the WORST hostel I have ever stayed by far. I think the Manager is truly mentally unwell. The staff couldn't find my reservation. It was very stressful staying here. I don't not recommend staying here to anyone.
• Lisa (8/5): - It was decent nice bunk mates and staff was helpful.
• Sylvia (4/5): - The staff & guests are friendly and keep to themselves. It’s a walkable location for shopping and nightlife too. However, the unsanitary conditions were too much. While I understand that this is an old property, that’s not an excuse for the general uncleanliness. There were layers of dust everywhere, completely stained mattresses, and pillows with holes too. This is a communal living space, practicing frugality, and that’s ok. It’s not ok to have a stack of filthy oven mitts in the kitchen though. I went into the bathroom and someone had sprayed disinfectant but didn’t bother to wipe it up with a clean cloth. They launder the sheets, but you also have to mop, dust, repair water damaged walls, clean the windows, and remove blackened carpet on the stairs too. Nobody deserves to sleep in filth no matter how cheap the room is.
• Jorge (8/5): - It’s a hostel so stuff is old, if you’re good with that, this place is great for the price.
• Verified traveler (4/5): Is it worth it? - Several things not mentioned on the website they take $20 Cash refundable deposit. If you have to use card there is transaction fee to pay the deposit and to get a refund. They charge for a towel also and many others.
• Azhar (4/5): - Poor sanitation. Little to no amenities. No breakfast.
• Jamal (2/5): - Front desk attendant was indirect & rude with their service...
• Marconi (10/5): - Comfortable
• Michael (10/5): - James- the manager and staff were all very nice and really helpful accommodating & professional. Be sure to check out by 11am otherwise you can lose your $20 deposit
• Judith (2/5): - They wouldn't let me check in. Nothing made sense. All paid for, reserved and just turned away! Said to go back to Expedia for refund. Terrible experience.
• Johnny Andrés Velandia (6/5): - The location is perfect, I think is better put the private toilet for every room.
• Mark (6/5): - From the lobby/community area it seemed pretty nice. Unfortunately, the age requirement (18) was not transparent on Expedia when I booked a room for my 16yr old daughter and myself, so we were unable to stay. I am STILL hoping for a Refund...
• Daniel (4/5): - Low price and proximity to the airport are the best features... but i get the sense that the owner/manager is committed to providing only the absolute minimum in terms of service, upkeep, maintenance, improvements, cleanliness...
• Gloria (10/5): I really like this place thank you so much for sha - I really like this place
• Kyle (6/5): - .
• Natalie G (6/5): - Close to downtown
• Tito (2/5): - The entire staff was absolutely rude disrespectful. Not cooperative at all.
• Elizabeth (10/5): - Everything was good.
• Noelia (2/5): - They accepted my reservation and said they don’t accept any locals in sd I tried to show them the document of construction happening in my building but refused service
• Erin (2/5): - Check in closed at midnight. This was not very well documented especially in a party area full of young college students.
• Mischelle (2/5): - It’s a cool looking place in the reception area until the moment I walked in and the front desk attendant told me to go sit down without greeting me, knew this was going to be a problem. They don’t take American passports. I had to wait before someone on the phone called the front desk attendant to let them know if a room was available. I proceeded to read their reviews while I waited and decided NAW this place is not for me. Hotel.com charged me $106 however hostelworld’s price is only $41. It wasn’t my jam so I left and went somewhere else. DON’T do this place.
• Verified traveler (2/5): Not a good experience - The private rooms only have bunk beds. They charge an extra $5 if you don’t pay the security deposit in cash. The room was extremely hot and no AC. Considering the price I paid, it’s a rip-off.
• Aaron (6/5): - Class
• Marsha (2/5): - The room was small as a jail cell, the furniture looked scary to sit on, the mattress was terrible you felt every spring! They water down the liquid soap in bathrooms and in kitchen. The room felt like a sauna! I will NEVER stay there again
• Brahim (10/5): - Good location..clean place ...manager help full
• Woolly Junior (2/5): - They made me wait more 1 hour to check In. The guy told me he had to wait for his boss to know which room were available. Besides, If you check out before 8am, forget your deposit. They open at 8am and nobody will be there to give you those 20 dollars back. I had a flight to take a 5 am. Nobody was a the front desk. I just dropped the keys and left.
• Cynthia (10/5): - Good location. I liked the kitchen and refrigerator.
• 985joshd (2/5): They don't hesitate to not let you stay and then charge you anyway...beware! - The hostel had their reception hours incorrectly listed on the booking sites, which does happen of course, I understand it can be hard to update sometimes. However, this made me book thinking I would get to stay there but reception was closed. The hostel then informed me that they would STILL CHARGE me for the stay after not letting me stay there due to the hour, so i ended up paying double because I had to also book another hostel. Dont let their shady practices get you too; consider choosing another hostel instead like I ended up additionally having to do!
• Echika (2/5): - Not a place i would recommend.
• Draco (10/5): - It was nice to stay there for 3 nights I really enjoyed my stay
• Jocelyne (4/5): - During the weekend it's great but the week day brought the crazy's and the homeless. They do not have parking like it states however there is parking near by; free on the weekends and late night, pay for limited spot and pay attention to signs for street sweeping. Which will have you moving your car early mornings 3 times a week. It's boring, there was no excitement, and yet I hardly got any rest.
• Verified traveler (2/5): - There was bad smelling in the apartment and they took deposit and because of payment bank card , they charged me and not give back all amount because of card payment and I didn’t read that in hotels room page. Before my trip, I sent them message in hotels app but they didn’t reply . In the my room and bathroom , I saw cockroaches.
• Deann (4/5): - The room smell strong of vagrants. The linens which was supposed to be clean smell like vagrants. The dirty sheets stayed on the bed after people left. Fresh air cannot come into the room so it was do stuffy. And the people at the desk downstairs were not nice.
• Dennis (2/5): - Nothing its a pit.
• Haleen (2/5): - Couldn’t find parking, didn’t even check in because the parking was ridiculous. I spent 45 mins trying to find parking outside of hotel, called and was told to park outside in street even though there was no parking. DO NOT RECOMMEND HOTEL AT ALL. WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME. O NOT STAY HERE!!!!!
• robert (2/5): - BED BUGS EVERYWHERE!!!! AND THE SHEETS SMELLED LIKE SOMEONE HAD PEED ON THEM 30 TIMES OVER!!! ***DO NOT STAY HERE***
• Amir (2/5): - Complete nightmare. Please don't waste your time and money. There are much better places keep looking
• 760mandis (2/5): If you like bed bugs, crackhead guests lick their underwear, and sleeping on coil mattresses, Hostel on 3rd is for you! - Don’t let the white girls having fun in the pictures fool you! This hostel is NOT that kind of environment. Do you wonder why it’s $25 a night? You get what you pay for! If you like bed bugs, this is the place for you! If you like staying in a hostel FULL of homeless people, this is the place for you! If you like surrounding yourself with humans that smoke crack, this is the hostel for you! If you like watching a human licking his dirty underwear for 30 minutes as I did (see pic), definitely stay here! Do you like sleeping on mattresses with padding? Then this is NOT the place for you! Here, you will sleep on nasty mattresses, with zero padding and literal coils!!! You sleep on coils!!!! Do you like to get a good nights rest, you won’t get that here! It’s LOUD with partiers and those who smoke crack outside. If you like taking showers in clean bathrooms, you won’t find that here either! If you are not happy with the quality of the hostel, made the mistake of paying for two weeks in advance, don’t expect a refund. DO expect your bank to have to get it back for you. DO expect the owner to not give you a receipt of a refund amount. And definitely don’t expect him to care about the nastiness of his hostel, he doesn’t! What you will receive here is bed bug bites all over you, you will take bed bugs home in your belongings, lack of sleep, nastiness all around you, and an owner who gives no effs! Sincerely, Mandi Stillwell
• Brian (10/5): - Perfect location.
• Martin (10/5): - Nothing by
• Bryant (2/5): - No good
• Maheli (8/5): - Buen ambiente, buena hubicacion y es agradable estar ahi hospedado.
• SmartTraveller111 (10/5): Owners and staff will take care of you, most genuine and caring - Bittersweet to leave this place after 9 weeks of friendhips made, the most accommodating and kind owner James and Nancy along with their staff Charles, Tim, Aerial, Andrew, Chris and Adam. I will miss y'all. This hostel has a magnet, down to earth, caring, most amicable which I have not found or experienced in any other hostel or hotel (trust me, I have been to so many). I will also miss Jame's delicious pastries, cakes and pancakes every morning with coffee without fail, the chill and quiet lobby and patio where I could focus on my work, excellent rates that are honest and forthcoming. Most of all, I will miss its location for everyone's safety, right in the middle of Gaslamp, you can't go better than that. Love you all 💕
• myren (10/5): - great place to if your just looking for a place to crash while your staying in Gaslamp walking around or going to the bars
• Michael (2/5): - I could not park in a safe area. There were homeless people and shady looking characters wandering around looking into parked car windows. So I left and did not check in. I would like a refund.
• Kevin (10/5): - Very convenient!
• Victor (10/5): Wonderful stay - I had to book this last minute trip and I booked it so fast that I didn't realize I added an extra person to my stay when I didn't need it. Chris and James were so thoughtful and offered to give me an extra night too stay for my mistake. I was amazed, their kindness and thoughtfulness is very much appreciated. I'll come back for sure. The staff is kind and welcoming.
• Imani (8/5): I liked this hostel - The hostel was older but maintained. The bathrooms were clean and the staff was very friendly.
• Gilda (2/5): - The energy was horrible the staff was not understanding of situation. They no parking you have to pay in the street. Do not waste your time and money!!!!!!
• Ricardo (8/5): - Nice spot with the basics. Hostel staff was nice and friendly and offered help with CBX input and information.Basics include bed (shared with 3 other guests), Breakfast in the morning, walk-in shower/sink/toilet, and nice lobby. Location is a really quick uber drive to CBX, if planning to take TJ International airport. It is a good and nice simple place for a quick stop. Will use again in the future.
• Jordan (8/5): - Great location and great staff! Otherwise its your typical budget hostel experience. One thing I noticed, they skimp on the community soap. Soap for washing dishes and bathroom soap for hand washing have a lot of water added. Probably not sanitary. Probably violating some health code. I’m sure they have issues with patrons abusing the soap for personal bathing, but skimping is not the solution.
• Teresa (10/5): - Great vive!! Loved walk-in shower room. Reception area delightful. Had ventilation issues; ceiling fan in room seemed to be broken for long time; window had raggedy 1/5th vintage screen, toilet handle broken (unreplaced). Upon removing fitted sheet, mattress was disgusting with stains; Make sure you get a receipt for Deposit!!
• Daniel (2/5): - Poor customer service. I will never be booking with them again.
• Cameron (6/5): - They charge $5 for using a card for a deposit!
• Verified traveler (8/5): D ex - It was my first time at a hostel. The staff were very friendly and helpful with questions I had. Their help with having to check out early was greatly appreciate The slight slack of cleanliness was mostly due to other guests.
• ShawnAlyeska (2/5): Ignoring my cancelation request - Decided to cancel my 2 night stay in Mid-April because of the numerous bad reviews on multiple sites online. That was a week ago, they have yet to respond at all despite multiple cancelation requests. I have never had a hostel take longer than a business day to respond to a cancelation. If they charge me it's going to be the easiest chargeback in history. Not only will my money get clawed back but their card processor will hit them with a 25 to 50$ chargeback fee so I don't get what they are trying to accomplish right now by ignoring me. They will lose money on this transaction by the time I'm done with them, not make it. Really sketchy
• Abdu (10/5): - Very nice place and people......
• Juliana (2/5): - bed bugs, smells terrible, is horrible, dont stay here
• hsin yen (6/5): - We met a psycho there…
• Sean77Ireland (2/5): An Overnight Sauna. - My buddy and I are J1 Work and Travel students travelling the US this August. We spent 2 months in Boston working before heading to the East coast. We picked this place because it was cheap and fell within our budget. Big mistake. Our room, which had one bunk bed and one fan, was disgustingly hot. I got virtually no sleep on the first night. The next day I asked for a second fan. This was dropped up to the room some hours later. Ironically, both fans were so ineffective what they actually did was spread the heat around the room more. On top of all this the shower temperatures ranged from warm to hot, so a cold shower in the morning could not save us. Halfway through our stay we decided enough was enough, checked out, and made our way to a motel with air conditioning. I would advise anyone who is about to book this place to really question what an extra few bucks in a place with air conditioning would mean to you.
• Daniel (2/5): - It is a great place.
• Verified traveler (6/5): Know What You're Getting - Although this is a hostel, which I usually take to mean somewhere between rugged and messy living--I bought a room for myself and so I thought it might be okay. But it really was still kind of a mess, with bunk beds (I was told "two double beds" lol), towels only available for rent, no real air circulation--you really couldn't be in the building during the day, it got too hot--and a window that looked out on another room close enough that you could step between them. I will say the wifi was great, but otherwise it was pretty depressing.
• Dustin (4/5): Nice People, Awful Place - The people who worked there are very pleasant and helpful; however, the rooms and common areas are nothing short of disgusting. There's a strong smell of urine when you walk in the hallway to the rooms. It's really not tolerable, unless you're desperate.
• David (10/5): Not a bad deal at all. - For the money not a bad deal at all. Guy at check in was on his game. Other guests were cool.
• Javier (2/5): - Place needs to be shut down by the city . I’ve been to hotels in 3rd world countries with better cleanliness. Unbelievable got my stuff and left after finding out what was under the bed and on the mattress
• AMIRBAHADOR (6/5): - It was ok
• Ma Concepcion (2/5): - The building was locked it was pitch black in the Building look a banded we never got checked in because it was close we got there at 11:55 no one was around. There was no way of talking to anyone we would like a refund our money
• Melike (4/5): - Horribly dirty place Friendly staff
• Christopher (6/5): - You get what you pay for.
• Verified traveler (2/5): Wow - It’s was ok until they try to steal my deposit and my phones.
• Ivan (4/5): Only for those who like cockroaches - The hostel is at great location, but everything else is horrible - it was dirty and cockroaches were everywhere.
• Rachel (2/5): Digusting Place! - I couldn't stand the place! The 1st night i checked in, I was very disappointed to find out that the entire place is very dirty and it smells very, very bad that it remains in my nose for few more minutes after leaving the place. After staying there for 1 night, i decided not to come back because the very bad foul smell odor gives me a headache. The bathroom is very dirty and it smells very bad as well. This place has a very bad sanitary issue! It's not good for people's health! Please have them clean their place!
• traveltime111 (4/5): Bad policies - This is probably the least expensive hostel in San Diego. I stayed there a few weeks when I visited from LA. The rooms are typical for a hostel, there's a nice, large lobby downstairs and free breakfast. They were only charging $25 a night when I stayed there. I would have rated them 4 stars but subtract 2 stars due to their inhumane rigid guest policies. I ran a food bank at a nearby religious temple for seniors, disabled homeless needing food, clothes and sometimes would try to arrange shelter. I and some other volunteers raised $ for a homeless, senior lady to stay at the hostel. She was not on drugs and mentally competent. They refused to let her stay without ID. This type of rigid ID policy is ludicrous and it's always possible to evaluate people on an individual, case by case basis. This was literally, a nice, little old homeless lady that I just handed her the cash we raised for her since the hostel refused to admit her. Note: San Diego is full of criminals using fake IDs. This policy does not deter bad guests.
• Verified traveler (8/5): Friendly staff - This hostel is in an old building with alot of good character. The staff is nice and plenty of bathrooms so you don't have to wait. My room was clean and comfortable too.
• Richard (10/5): - Fair price. Excellent staff. Conscientious owner. safe and clean. Great location And pancakes and coffee in the morning
• Allan (10/5): - It was nice! Thx
• Jamin (2/5): Guaranteed reservation??? - There was no stay I went in at the time I let them know I was going to check in in fact I showed up like 40 minutes after I told them I was going to check in. I got in I told him that I had a reservation and they told me that I could wait around but it looked like they were going to fill up. Set was completely disorganized and rude I did not know if I guaranteed reservation was actually guaranteed or not. I would not rely on their functionality. My experience with them would tell me to not ever encourage any of my friends the book a stay there.
• omarucsb (2/5): Stay away, as one of the other guests in my room said, it feels like a halfway house. - Location is good, that’s about it. The place is not maintained and not clean. Not safe, as my room had a window that was broken and intact solely with tape. It happened to be the window next to my bed! You will find cockroaches in the room, bathroom and kitchen. One of the guys in my room said he was a felon and his jail was cleaner than the hostel on 3rd, don’t stay here.
• Verified traveler (2/5): - When we arrived at the property we were greeted by 4 people under the influence of narcotic substances, reception and throughout had the very unpleasant stench of urine. We checked in pondered for a moment then walked out. Nobody deserves to stay at this property, no matter what you have done in a previous life.
• Verified traveler (2/5): - It had cockroaches and the beds were so uncomfortable that you can feel every spring.
• Maria (6/5): - This is definitely the place you stay when you have no other options. If you can afford it stay other places.
• MAHLIK (8/5): - ITS IN A VERY SPECIAL LOCATION. CLOSE TO EVERYTHING 12 MIN FROM AIRPORT. SO GLAD I FOUND IT. ALSO I THINK ITS VERY POPULAR SO I WOULD BOOK IN ADVANCE. FRIENDLY STAFF.
• Verified traveler (8/5): - Ok
• Verified traveler (2/5): - Bad bad bad
• Verified traveler (6/5): - It was nice for a hostel, however, there were roaches in the bathroom and that could have been addressed better.
• Greg (2/5): What an unsafe dump - Terrible experience. I had a two day stay here and I would never wish this on anyone. I checked in at about 8pm on day 1. I immediately put my bag in my bed, and then went out to get some food and enjoy Gaslamp. I got back in around 3am and there’s only one other person in my room, on the lower bunk of the bed I was sleeping on. His alarm was going off next to him and he didn’t even hear it. I took a shower, came back around 3:30, alarm was still going on. I get into bed, hoping he’d hear his alarm and turn it off. After a few minutes I had to nudge the frame of the bed to wake him up. He woke up, turned he alarm off only for it to go back on again 20 minutes later. I nudge the frame again, he wakes up, turns it off, 20 minutes later, alarm goes off again. I nudge the bed frame and the man starts threatening me saying that if I shake the bed again we’re gonna have problems and that he’ll shake the whole mother f’ing building. I couldn’t sleep after that, and had to wait until the front desk opened at 8am. The man at the front moved me to another room, and said that man lives there and has shown behavior like that in the past. My new room was filled with mentally unwell people, but at least they were not violent/threatening. This was basically a shelter, which is great that people have an option to have a rood over their heads, but not a good option for travelers trying to be somewhere safe/enjoyable when they are out of town. Stay away from this place at all costs.
• Francine (10/5): San Diego's hidden Gem - The facility was friendly, clean, people were pretty friendly... Cockroaches were really no big deal. We were grateful to have been a guest here. Love the location
• Verified traveler (6/5): - Cockroaches. Staff came in without knocking. Dirty. Nice building needs better staff. Another guest touched me inappropriately.
• Verified traveler (2/5): - Place is a dump! Roaches in the kitchen, bathroom, & every place the lights are turned off. Not sure how this place is in business. Unfortunately, the Staff is the worse I’ve ever crossed paths with on top on it.

Photos