A1 LA City Hostel

I left instead of staying, then drove more than two hours home. I’ve stayed in hostels before, but this was easily the worst. The owner is treating my complaint as if I’m blaming the woman in the room, and won’t refund me. The customer service was poor. The women's dorm was a tiny regular bedroom with two bunk beds and only about 30 inches of floor between them. A woman was clearly living there, with a space heater, chair, and other belongings. She was nice, but the owner shouldn’t rent the other beds in such a cramped room. I couldn’t get to my bed or change clothes. There was one toilet for the whole place, for men and women. The stair carpet was disgusting and smelled rank, and the refrigerators were dirty. A stock photo was attached. Picture someone living there. Stinky and cramped. Don’t go.

I was so relieved to leave after only seven hours. As a tourist, I shouldn’t have to sleep alongside aggressive people who live there. I expected to share with other travelers. I regret booking and wouldn’t recommend it to friends visiting from elsewhere. I’m a solo traveler and booked a room for four women, but one girl was already living there and shared the room with me. She acted like it was her place and I wasn’t welcome. I felt extremely uncomfortable and worried about my safety. She kept staring at me, even waking in the middle of the night to sit on her bed and look at me. She left the lights on for 30 minutes past quiet hours. I was afraid to upset her because she had already said NO and acted very aggressively. In the middle of the night she woke up to ask if I’d sprayed something, even though I was just sleeping. It’s a creepy area with no parking. Stay away!

The first thing a guy who lives there asked us was whether we wanted to buy drugs. Don’t book this. The bathrooms and rooms were dirty, there were no lockers, and the beds looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. The common room was rough too, with two couches you wouldn’t want to sit on and two camping tables, maybe. This isn’t a real hostel, it’s a dirt hole.

The host is awesome and really tries to make sure you’re comfortable. This is the cleanest and best-priced hostel in Los Angeles. The area makes me think you should walk with a friend. I’m very satisfied with A1, and I’d call it B+1.