I stayed here during October 2000 and was delighted by the location, the rooms and the price! For about £10 a night I stayed in a private room of this converted 1885 mansion.
SACRAMENTO - THE TOWNSacramento is the State Capital of California, with plenty of attractions, including:
Also very near Gold-Rush towns and Lake Tahoe (mainly a ski-ing resort)
It is much more peaceful than San Francisco, yet it takes only 3 hours by Greyhound to travel between the two.LOCATION
The hostel is located in a quiet residential area of Sacramento, amongst rows of trees - we felt safe in this area. It is only a short walk from the Greyhound /train station and from the shops and facilities. Although only a short distance from the Greyhound station, be careful when walking here in the dark - we found the station rather intimidating, and a taxi-driver tried to rip us off.
THE HOSTEL
The hostel is a beautifully converted 1885 mansion - it took ages to convince me that this was a hostel and not a top-class hotel!
The décor in the public areas is immaculate - wooden panelling everywhere, antique furniture and beautiful touches.
ROOMS
I stayed in a private room which was modern, clean and basic. The bed was comfortable - a kind of double bed with a single 'bunk' on top. The hostel has 5 private rooms available, and these don't cost much more than a dormitory.
The dormitory rooms are also clean and modern and the hostel has around 70 beds available. Bathrooms are shared and are located throughout the hostel.
FACILITIES
The hostel offers, according to their literature a 'kitchen, meeting room, storage, lockers, laundry, parking, wheelchair accessible, internet'.
The kitchen was large and sparkling clean, and the meeting room was well stocked with games, books and souvenirs. The hostel also offers a 'Tourist Information' service - this is basically a set of folders containing leaflets about local attractions, but these are very useful, and the staff do offer advice if you need it.
Internet access was expensive compared with other hostels - TIP! - if you want to use the Internet, go around the corner to the public library, where Internet access is free.
The staff were all very friendly and welcoming.
COST
The hostel was very good value, at about a quarter of the price of hotels in the vicinity.
If you are not a member of HI (Hostelling International), then you can only stay for about 3 nights - although members can stay for longer.
DISADVANTAGES
OK, now for the disadvantages. Firstly the hostel has limited office hours, meaning that although your belongings can stay in the hostel during the day, you are locked out between 10am and 5pm.
The other disadvantage is that, in return for a cheap price you have to undertake a small chore before you leave. Mine was only to make the bed with a new sheet, so I didn't mind, but some people may object depending upon the chore…
CONCLUSION
I would recommend this hostel to anyone - families, couples, groups, etc. The option of having a private room really means that this hostel can compete with hotels/motels, and the hostel in general is so well maintained that it is difficult to fault.
I actually hadn't stayed in a hostel before this, and was rather dubious about it - but this hostel/mansion changed my opinions! If you are going to Northern California STAY HERE - it is beautiful and very cheap!
More details can be found at : http://www.hiayh.org/ushostel/pnwreg/sacram.htm
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