As two 20 year old girls arriving in San Fran with nothing but a vauge apprehension about the 'quality' of the Mission district in which the Elements hostel is situated, we were quite nervy when we got off the metro nearest to where the hostel was and started walking up Mission Street to find it. People call the Mission district 'colourful' and 'vibrant' but to be honest, it is rather edgy and a bit scary. As we were walking down the road trying to look inconspicuous there were SO many homeless people and groups of latino looking guys looking like they had a lot of time on their hands calling out to us and approaching us to try and get our attention. We just kept our heads down and WALKED. We were the only white girls we could see, and even though it was midday and bright sunshine there was definitely a sense of tension in the district. But having said that, there were quite a few women with children out and about.

When we reached Elements it was such a huge relief. The place was spotlessly clean and super trendy. We were just in awe at the funky decor, the downstairs bar and restaurant area, (the bar attracts a crowd of rich buisnessmen some evenings, and on our last night we were lucky enough to be bought a round of drinks by a generous feeling suited buisnessman!) and at once we felt totally safe. Our room was spotlessly clean with a pristine bathroom, all the rooms are brand new. Free internet access outside the rooms, and free breakfast in the mornings - a huge muffin, a piece of fruit and a coffee which was lovely. The manager of the hostel (can't remember his name but he was such a nice guy) was around and about the place all the time and always said hello - he even bought us a drink in the bar one night - he really helped to make us feel comfortable and safe.

We liked it so much here (and I have very high standards!) that we came back to stay at the end of our holiday. It's by far the best hostel I've ever stayed in, and better than a lot of hotels. The only thing I would recommend would be not to walk around in the district. The walk to the metro station a couple of blocks away is fine once you're 'eased in' to the area, and we ended up doing it every day. The line takes you straight into the tourist districts of San Fran about 5 mins away. But if its getting late in the day DEFINITELY get a taxi, and I wouldn't bother exploring down any side streets - just to be on the safe side. A taxi driver dropping us home one night told us we were perfectly safe in the Mission district as long as we didn't go exploring off the main road where Elements is on, and we stayed together. Overall, the great hostel is definitely worth braving the slightly deprived location - after seeing the rest of San Fran we thought that pretty much all the city had this 'edgy' quality, so it was quite representative of San Fran culture anyway.

On our trip through California we stayed in SF for 4 nights.

We ended up staying at The Elements Hostel in the mission district. The place is brand new and is more like a boutique hotel.

They have got a lot of private rooms with bathroom, tv and a good bed! There is free internet acces and they have a rooftop terrace which has an awesome view of the SF city and skyline.

The hostel is situated on 24th and mission in the mission district which is very "latin" orientated (which we loved) and also a place where alot of artists hang out.

It is adjoined by a great mediterranean restaurant called medjool, where we had our free breakfast. Busstop is right in front of it or u can walk 2 blocks to the subway for transportation!

We have travelled a lot and stayed in many good hostels/hotels, but this was by far the best hostel we ever stayed in.