stayed here in private room in june 2011 whilst doing 3 week trip of california.
2 girls for 2 nights $141.80 inc taxes and non member fees. the private room had double bed and a bunk bed. quite dark in the room, bit grubby looking. the dorms actually looked nicer! the rest of the hostel was nice enough. tv area lovely and kitchen big and clean. bathroom adequate, free use of hairdryers. need tokens for showers get these from reception and if you needed more no prob, trying to conserve water here. big car park (free) bit of walk down to monterey sea front but not too bad (bout 15mins) didnt love this hostel but it was adequate for our stay, free trolley round monterey (bus ride) and the sardine factory restaurant i highly recommend (do 3 course dinner for around 30dollars if i remember rightly from 5-7pm?) didnt really know where to go at night for nights out and the hostel has a curfew so if your looking for a sociable night out then you cant be late back as you get locked out!!! think it was 1am curfew time, in hindsight i would only stay here for 1 night again and thats if i had to stay in monterey again, it was too long a drive to get from santa bab to san fran through big sur etc so we had to stop off somewhere- think monterey is a place for older people to enjoy, we did ask at reception what to do at night but was told wasnt much. to be honest this was the only hostel i wouldnt stay at again on my travels round california, just thought it was a bit gloomy for us and like i said only stayed in monterey to break up the long drive.

First - it's important to note this is a hostel, not a hotel, so yes, expect that type of set up. We paid a little extra to get a double room and this was an excellent decision, it is truly excellent value for a place like Monterey and you can still have your privacy.
The element that truly sets this hostel apart is the service. We had free breakfast cheerfully cooked for us every morning, and the advice we received about tourist attractions and eating locally was spot on. Absolutely everything that was recommended to us was 100% wonderful, so it was nice spending all the extra money we saved on an expensive room elsewhere on fun local activities and excellent food.
The common areas were very comfy and there was somewhere to put our feet up every night and use the free wi fi.
It is in the most central location so it was easy to walk around if you didn't want to jump in the car.
I'd say this hostel deserves an upgrade in facilities but it is very well taken care of and is kept clean and tidy.
We really enjoyed our stay after a few nights in more sterile San Fran Hotel environments and if you are feeling like catching a bit of 'local atmosphere' this arrangement is for you. We would love to return someday.

Let’s get something straight: this is a hostel. It is not a hotel. And therefore it is quite basic: shared bathrooms, you put your own bed-linen on and take it off when you leave, it has a curfew, you use (free) tokens to get hot water in the showers. But it has a lot going for it: it is right in the central (touristy) bit of Monterey so you are 5 mins from the aquarium, it has a really big, comfy communal area and a well-equipped kitchen, and it has really friendly, helpful people who run it, who are happy to recommend places to go, places to eat, routes out of town. And of course, it’s really cheap!! If you’re passing through Monterey for a couple of nights, this place is definitely worth a visit.

Great location. Fantastic for walking along the coast and real earthy neighbourhood. Comfy Tempur bunks. Dorm had two sets of 6 bunks divided by a curtain. Was much quieter than would have expected. Free tokens for timed hot water shower which didn’t present any problems.

Great mix of people were staying at the hostel. Beware only one bus to the airport (public transport) a day and that's at 9am!