Stay Open

Waking up every morning to the Venice boardwalk was unreal. Stay Open was the perfect choice for a few days of an extended solo vacation. It's clean, safe, peaceful, and friendly, in an amazing location. Lawrence is a wonderful host, and the guests I met were really chill and friendly too.

I’ve been here seven days now, and it’s been really peaceful. The guests come from all over and are doing great things, and the hosts keep everything in order while staying cool about it. Everyone respects the quiet-space rules. A great spot to vacation or get work done. I’d definitely book again for a solo trip.

My daughter only needed somewhere to stay for a couple of nights while waiting for another hostel to open for a longer rental. Instead, because of Stay Open, she ended up with all her belongings outside at 5 PM and nowhere to go. I would never recommend this business, and I’m wary of Booking.com too, since they seem to list businesses without vetting them. I booked her bed through Booking.com and got notifications saying everything was confirmed. Then Stay Open suddenly canceled, with a vague explanation about multiple names. Their website has no phone number, which was the first red flag. I wrote through Booking.com and got a call the next day from someone called David, presumably the owner. He said they don’t let people book for someone else, though neither their site nor Booking.com’s listing says that. Booking.com even has a box for that situation, where I entered my daughter’s name and nickname in parentheses after her first name. When I pointed this out, David basically said it was Booking.com’s problem, and apparently mine too. He also mentioned different names and credit card numbers being used. My name hasn’t changed in 67 years, and the name on my card has been the same since I started using credit cards in my twenties. David could have contacted me to sort this out, but canceled without considering the impact on us. I still have a charge on my card. His explanation was that the charge is automatic and banks take time to return the money. After all those excuses, he then told me we couldn’t book with them again. Is he kidding? I wonder what business school taught him that insulting customers is a good idea.

Those sleeping pods let you get proper rest while still being around other travelers, and I loved the people you can chat with in the evenings. The place is right on the beach, with helpful staff, a coworking area, good coffee, bikes, towels, everything. I can’t think of a friendlier or more convenient place to stay in LA. 10/10 from me.