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AYH Hosteling International Hostel

San Francisco Union Square

285 beds with 2-6 beds per room @ $26/night (price as of August 2003)

Area Rating=C- relatively poor neighborhood but tolerable, especially during daytime

Very centrally located near Union Square at 312 Mason @ O'Farrell

Phone:  (415) 788-5604

Private rooms are available for an additional fee. The hostel has a kitchen, laundry, internet, reading room, and TV lounge with DirecTV onsite. The information desk is open 24 hours a day. 

AYH writes , "I wanted to encourage you to revisit our SF-Downtown hostel (located at 312 Mason Street). Since your last review we have made great progress in renovating, cleaning and maintaining a friendly and bug-free environment for all of our hostellers. The hostel has a new manager, and remains a favorite among visitors to San Francisco.

Secondly, I would like to invite you to visit and review our newest HI-AYH hostel, SF-City Center (695 Ellis Street). Comments regarding this latest addition have already appeared on your website, but there is still no "official review" posted. I am confident that you will find it not only a pleasantly plush and comfortable property, but that you will also find the staff helpful, friendly and accommodating. I am excited for all potential travelers to know about this new hostel, as it offers an unparalleled level of comfort and convenience."

A reader writes, "I've been staying at the AYH hostel on Mason Street - it's nice. I read the review by the lady who had bedbugs - and though that must have sucked - the place is much better then she lead on. The staff are really sweet - I've had no problems. The place is clean and safe. I recommend it to folks traveling to San Francisco. "

J.R. writes , "I just stayed at the the three AYH hostels in San Francisco last week. We spent two days at each since we wanted to get different views of the City. We had a really great time at all of them and each one was completely different from the others. We tried the new City Center one on Larkin Street first. It was amazing. It's like a luxury hotel. Each dorm only has 4 beds and all have private baths that are immaculate. The staff were very friendly. This is really a lot more upscale than any hostel I've ever stayed in. We moved to Mason Street and again the staff made us feel really welcome and gave us some great ideas for things to do in the area. Both these hostels are in very urban areas but we didn't feel unsafe. We ended the week at Fort Mason which has to be one of the most beautiful areas in San Francisco. They have a great breakfast at this hostel which is included in the price. They also had some really fun music in the cafe at night and this too was free. We ended up taking advantage of a tour to wine country that they were offering and that turned out to be the highlight of our trip. The staff here were great too one of them helped us plan the rest of our trip up to Portland and Seattle where we also had good experiences in AYH hostels. We plan to return to San Francisco in the Spring and will probably do the same thing although when we stay at the City Center one we might splurge for a private room for one of the nights. It's great that such a beautiful and expensive city has such great affordable lodging options."

K.M. writes, I stayed at the Hostel at Union Square last October. It was okay. One thing I really didn't like was the sound of the whistles from expensive hotels calling for taxis. On the weekend, these whistles can keep you up all night. Common space to just hang out in is rare, but the hostel provides a great newsletter about events in the area and will even take you to some of them. There's a TV with a VCR, where videos are shown regularly.

B.M. recommends this hostel, "It is only two blocks away from a huge collection of bus stops, the MUNI, and the BART (most important). The hostel itself is kept very clean, and what's better, the employees really are pretty cool. They offer the best all-around accommodations for $17-20 a night. One morning I overslept, and instead of charging me for the extra night, they let me slide, AND still returned my deposit (a deposit whose sole purpose is to safeguard against this) What's more, they will arrange a shuttle van to pick you up and bring you to the airport for only $7 (not bad) or tell you exactly how to do it by bus ($2)...These people were the BEST!"