| Satisfaction: |   | | Reviews: 11 | Photos: 5 | | 494 Broadway |
 | San Francisco Green Tortoise Hostel - San Francisco Reviews | 1 - 10 of 11 |  |
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 | Green Tortoise Hostel - San Francisco: Good Choice
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It's a huge messy lively place, international atmosphere, 8 beds in dorms, quite comfortable but rooms very packed. Not enough bathrooms. Very clean though. Huge common room (called the "ballroom") for meals and hanging out, but it's cold and not comfortable at all. Location is in the nice North Beach area with cafes and bars around the corner, however, the immediate neighbourhood is somewhat seedy, but still safe! Events and excursions, trips to Yosemite etc.
Free 24 h internet! Free Breakfast! Sometimes free dinners.
Breakfast was great, with different types of bagels with cream cheese and peanut butter and jam, coffee, tea, and juice - all you can eat! That got you started for the exhausting daily routine of walking the hills of San Francisco.
Hostel is alright as cheap accommodation in a great city but not a place to hang out just to sleep - and check your e-mail any time of the day.
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| Green Tortoise Hostel - San Francisco: Storyin San Francisco
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the hostel is located in China Town , and many adult xxx video store around , but there are blondy BO-BA on those banner , so I do not feel uncomfortable . it cost 22 USD (Cash) , including FREE internet , walking distance from my Amtrak bus stop . every bed has its own private LIGHT!!! so nice !!!! friendly staff !! room with big windows with nice view , many bathroom , I did not have to wait . nice breakfast in an old style big room , very comfortable , my BEST hostel experience in USA ! I only stay one night to wait for the next morning train , I wish I could stay longer .
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| Green Tortoise Hostel - San Francisco: The worst of the worst
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Note: To see the links embedded in this review, you need to go to my profile (click on my name), and then go to the bottom of the page, where it says "Bypassing Bad Site Design", where you'll find links to copies of my reviews on which the links work.
Description of the experience: Hellish. The whole story is on this page. No contest, no competition, both the worst travel and the worst hospitality experience I've ever had. Brief summary - the Tortoise was advised of a pre-existing medical condition, lied about their willingness and ability to accommodate that needs created by that condition, and much fun followed, including an episode in which I was left begging for food in the middle of a desert. Never, never again.
Bad Times on the Green Tortoise - location one
Bad Times on the Green Tortoise - location two
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 by davequ
I actually had a reason ... a nice dude from Belgrade had asked me (via vtmail) about low-budget accomodations / hostels in North Beach, and I told him to check out the Tortoise based on funky-broadway location.
So I get up this morning and find out the hill behind it took a slide last night around 3am.
First thing I thought of was: " oh sh#, I wonder if the guy from Belgrade got buried because of me."
Luckily not so. I just called & spoke with them and (per the desk) all the Tortoise buildings were unaffected, as they were about 1/2 block west and sit on bedrock, not boulders & mud.
At any rate, I like the location of this place for dirt-cheap / affordable beds
(GT is a 200-bed hostel) right in the middle of one of my fave parts of town.
You're right across the street from Enricos' - 1 block from Columbus and all the good North Beach restaurants & clubs; just a few blocks from Chinatown & the financial district as well as the Embarcadero; etc. ... in other words,
it's about location.
If anyone tells you the area isn't safe, they're full of bs: I literally live in this area day & night when I visit the City. Broadway is definitely a little funkified, but imo it is as safe as any other part of SF @ night.
I walk by here all the time, I have been inside & spoken with staff, but truth be told, I have never spent the night here (or in any hostel).
I recommend it for the SF / North Beach location; it's close to Chinatown; and it is definitley cheap (about $20/night).
Free breakfast, 2 or 3 free dinners / week, internet, sauna, organized house-parties etc. in what I would describe as a youthful & definitely communal atmosphere.
I checked all over the web, and you will find reviews varying from "great, loved it; can't wait to go back" - to "yuk" and "don't stay here ever" / "bedbugs" etc.
Most of the reviews I have read here at vt and other places are mostly positive.
so my advice is check out their WEBSITE and see what you think.
Their website surely doesn't try to hide anything.
My impression from dropping in, talking to them, and web research is:
if you're into partying in North Beach with a group of young & mostly foreign travelers, and your main SF objectives are location and to save money, you might want to check it out.
If you're in any way: into privacy / quiet / stuffy / constipated / obsessive / 'neat-freak' / light-sleeper / conservative, etc. ... then the Tortoise may be (for you) a gateway to hell.
Let me know what you think if you ever stay there.
Hey, at least if there is a landslide in North Beach
and if you're partying with everybody @ the Tortoise,
it's likely you'll live to party another day.
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