Pippi L.
Yelp
I am sort of inflating my opinion of this place, mainly because it's my first hostel experience, and I did it with our family in a private room. I enjoyed it for what it was, but I had minor gripes too.
First of all, I tried to get a room with the hostel at Pigeon Point Lighthouse. They were full, because of the annual lighting of the fresnel lens, which is why we were going. They recommended a 30 minute drive down the coast to SC, and gave me the number for the Carmelita Cottages.
I called and arranged a private room with private bath. I was supposed to get an email confirmation, which I never received, so I called them on the way to Pescadero, and they had me in their computer. It still worried me until we were actually there.
Check in is from 5-10 PM, so I was a little paranoid we wouldn't make it if there was fog, traffic, or if we got lost. We wanted to go out to dinner with our friends, but our daughter notified us just as the lens was lit that she was done*, so we packed up and headed to SC at 6:30. I was right to be concerned about getting there on time, we checked in at 8 PM. It took us about 35 minutes just to find the place, even with directions from both google and the hostel. Santa Cruz is kind of tricky as it is. If you are heading there from Pescadero, take the google maps directions, and when you get on Beach, look for a sign that says "CHANGE" on the beach side of the street. That is actually "MAIN" street, which is what the directions say, but you cannot see the streetsign from 3rd or Beach, which had us going around in circles for awhile. The office was kind of hard to find, as we arrived around 8 and it was pretty dark with all our stuff. FYI, it's in the back to the right, and once you make your first turn on the paths, there are little signs and lights that lead you right there.
Hosteling with a kid: surprisingly easy. I cannot remember if we stayed in a hotel with her yet, but this was easy. She had a room to run around in, a yard to play in that morning, and mommy had coffee and cracked some walnuts while daddy slept in a bit.
We were in the large private room, not a cottage, and we only had access to the kitchen/dining room. I'm a little jealous there were actual living spaces in some of the other buildings! Still, very cute.
Our room was upstairs, which was sketchy with a toddler who likes to climb stairs. It had 2 bunk beds and a rollaway. The bunk we slept on was the double bed variety, and we all piled in. The bathroom was very spartan, bring your own soap and shampoos, but someone left some shaving cream in the medicine cabinet which made me laugh.
Parking was a bit of a pain, we bought a day pass, but the street you have to park on is a few blocks away. This is not easy with a small child and a diaper bag, stroller and duffle bag. Yes, we could have double parked to unload. The point is, parking is a pain if you have a car.
What I did like about this hostel: easy going, nice grounds. I liked the friendly staff. I liked that my kid could run around a bit, like at home.
If I knew SC better, I would have felt more at home. I wanted to make pancakes with their bisquick, but there was no syrup. If I knew where to go, I would have run out and picked some up, but not knowing the town and not planning on staying, we just cracked walnuts and had coffee. I was otherwise very comfortable there, and chatted with other families who also were hosteling there and who had seen the lighthouse lit the night before.
We made a full day of it and headed to the boardwalk after we checked out.
I definitely recommend the hostel for families, especially with young children, and for parties of more than 4 people. It seemed like a nice option for single travelers too, as many people came into the kitchen while we were there and they were not with groups.
I think it might work better for families, actually, because the kitchen is pretty nice and also because curfew is at 11 PM, which means unless someone opens the door for you, you spend the night in your car. Also, they lock the rooms from 11 to 5 PM, so you can't keep your stuff there, only in lockers. It's for minimalist travelers.
*In toddler lingo, this means about to have a conniption, get the hell out before people think you are "one of those" parents.
