Its hard to put it in words but the Green Tortoise in San Francisco is a very special place. If you stay here for a few days you can really get to know some of the coolest people from all over the world because of the atmosphere and freedom. The most social hostel Ive ever stayed in. Had such a blast I feel like I just got back from Amsterdamn.

We booked into the GT from the sister hostel in Seattle, where we enjoyed our stay. The two are VERY different. We turned up to the hostel to find that it was in the middle of a red light zone, with topless bars and street girls around us. I didn't feel safe using the ATM across from the Hostel but had to anyway. I found the hostel to be old and dingy looking inside, and when we checked in, I was given a bed that was already occupied. The member of staff who was supposed to have checked it hadn't got round to it. This same girl was rude, thought a lot of herself, and should find another job. It was as if customer service was an inconvenience to her.

Once our room situation was sorted, we had a look around the hostel. The kitchen was large and had everything you would need, and the communal area is large but a bit of a dump. The bathrooms were old, dark and dirty looking.

We checked out the next day, spent a bit more money on a hotel room in the Good Hotel - $67 a night between two, and the difference was unimaginable.

We had a double room which was in a separate building for most of our stay which was clean and spacious. the night we stayed in a dorm room, again it was clean and had space to secure your things.

the common room was great and they let you get on with it on your own. it had a pool table and you could drink until you wanted to go to bed. the rooms were away from the noise so you could get a good nights sleep.

breakfast of bagels every morning got boring, but was free so cant complain!! they also arranged beer Olympics and a pub crawl with cheap drinks and free entry to bars/clubs

could easily have stayed for longer!

I've stayed at many hostels including Hostel International in the Tenderloin distric. All and all, not a bad experience, i didn't think it could get worse. IT DID.
After booking a room with Green Tortoise i was expecting to stay at the North Beach location, instead we were sent down the street several blocks to a hole in the wall location where the rooms were small, cramped and worst of all I woke up from the Green Tortoise room with flea bites all over. Once we checked out I talked to the front desk staff about it and they didn't seem at all bothered or apologetic or concerned about my predicament. After I emailed Green Tortoise about the fleas, they did not take accountability and brushed me off. For an organization in the people business, they don't seem to care too much about people.
I would never go back! AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE