Stayed for 5 nights and was so excited about leaving that I checked out early at 7Am. when my flight was at 5pm.
Pros: Easy check in with keypad.
Host is friendly and sometimes bakes for guests.
location is right in front of W Oakland Bart station. (Even though the neighborhood is quite ghetto)
Cons: Ghetto neighborhood.
-More of a house than a hostel (THIS IS NOT A HOSTEL. It is a house that was turned into a Hostel Business. So you will not find amenities that a regular hostel has like common areas to seat with comfortable and clean couches to enjoy and discuss with other travelers.
-There is only one fridge (the one normally used in houses. not a commercial fridge to accommodate the number of tenants (11 minimum guests in the house including host) SO you wont have space for your food in the fridge. and Since the fridge is always packed, it is messy and dirty. so even if you were to find a spot to put your food in, you risk food contamination/food poisonings
-toilets was clean most of the time. But Soap is what is provided. (which is not ideal as what would be right to provide for sharing among guest is liquid soap. nope solid soap to share with strangers. So buy your toiletries)
-Our room was filthy. carpet was so nasty that i was even scare of my foot touching the ground. so i was climbing the stair to the bed and removing my shoes from the bed and was wearing them right before going down) .. Not even sure that the sheets on bed are freshly clean. Mine didnt smell fresh. i could smell someone smell on them
Bottom line., what i would recommend is to book for a proper hostel through a website for hostels. With Airbnb fees and cleaning fees and all, daily rate came up to $40 which is the average price for hostels in Downtown San Francisco.
If this place was at $25/ night, then the person booking would be getting what they paid for. at $40/night, it does not worth it at all. I had the option to pay cheaper at a hostel in Downtown SF. But i wanted to be in oakland cuz sometimes transport can get really expensive in the bay area. But next time, i would rather be comfortable in a regular hostel and pay a bit more for transport than staying here.
Also my cover was put on the wrong bed and there was a note saying that if you touch a bed that is not yours, you will be charged for it in addition to your bed. So i ended up sleeping without a cover the first night and almost froze.
WONT BE RETURNING