The Green Tortoise Hostel in San Francisco

Finding a fun, ideally-located, and affordable place to stay in San Francisco isn’t always so easy. There’s even more reason to look for bargains these days, and also lodging that is more reflective of your community-centered values. People are crop-swapping, clothes-swapping, and finding all kinds of ways to get together and share stories, food, clothing, and adventures. Community is certainly one thing that can be strengthened by changing times.

On the San Francisco hostel scene, The Green Tortoise Hostel is just such a place – where it is affordable to be in central San Francisco, and where there’s a sense of adventure and community. There are dorm room beds for $28 a night, private rooms available, and triple dorms with three beds for $81-90 depending on the time of year. The later are perfect for road trips with friends or small families…

There’s also a Green Tortoise Hostel in Seattle, which I included in my GrassRoutes Guide to that city, and the Green Tortoise Adventure trips run group tour buses all over the western Untied States and beyond.

I had a chance to catch up with Ted Boler, general manager of the San Francisco hostel, to get a closer look at this ideal lodging spot.

Serena: How did you end up managing things at the San Francisco Green Tortoise Hostel?

Ted: I worked my way up the Green Tortoise ladder beginning 1993 when I helped transform the old North Beach Hotel into the Green Hostel. The hotel had been shuttered for ten years previously. Then for another ten years – off and on – I drove the bus on legendary Green Tortoise Adventure trips, taking me back and forth across the U.S. ten times, and from Alaska to Guatemala. I’ve now been General Manager here for eight years – I can say it’s been a very rewarding journey.

S: What makes running a hostel in San Francisco your dream job? What are your favorite things about it?

T: San Francisco is a wonderful city to be able to introduce to new comers, and I take pride in the staff I’ve hired to provide the guests that stay with us great service. One of my favorite things is practicing foreign languages with guests from abroad. I think that any of us staff that have a language to speak with guests – from Finish to Spanish to Chinese – especially appreciate this environment, although speaking a second language is not required to work with us.  I’ve been practicing my Chinese a lot these past years and we see more and more guests visiting from China. Another great part of working here are the communal meals, which happen on the Green Tortoise Adventure trips as well. Since I came to the hostel from being a driver with the tour company, I often think of running the hostel building as steering a bus without wheels. I try to bring the hospitality experience of the road into the hostel. Three times each week we feed over a hundred guests by convincing them to volunteer in the kitchen, we haven’t missed a meal in my eight years.

S: Any other things that make Green Tortoise a special place to stay in the Bay Area?

T: Well, we might be known as the Party Hostel because of our ballroom where people party all night but really we are just bringing travelers together in a safe environment.  Over the years we have had live bands and DJs as well as Burningman fashion shows and belling dancing.  Wow, the stories I could tell you…

S: Perks of running the hostel?

T: I get a lot of my clothes from the ton of stuff guests leave behind, I especially like sports team attire, tho I myself am not much into sports.  If I have to shop it is second hand all the way, hands down my favorite shop is the AS IS Goodwill store between market and Mission streets on 11th street  (but one must be in the right frame of mind because it requires digging thru piles of unwashed clothing).

S: What are your favorite local places to visit? Where do you go on “vacation” yourself without leaving the area?

T: It has been years since I really walked in the city, I commute from Vallejo, but when I did discovering stairways through the different neighboring hills was fantastic.  I actually would rather take my vacation by hiking in Muir woods these days, short of that a hike to the top of Bernal Heights or Buena Vista or maybe just a walk at Ocean Beach.

S: What puts the “green” in Green Tortoise? Is there a particular eco-friendly thing you do at the hostel that guests could continue to do when they get back home?

T: The Green Tortoise Adventure travel company is green because any time there is group travel it will be better for our carbon foot print.  It has been running since 1974, providing a unique perspective on America that few experience. The communal meals cooked together and eaten together bring together 36 passengers after a day of hiking, in, say the Grand Canyon, to share more than just the stories of the day. Since day one on the buses we required every one to learn to separate their recyclables. It is difficult to get across to young people at times but that doesn’t stop us from making people aware of recycling and composting at the hostel. At each meal we announce up-coming events both in the city and in the hostel, and we take the time to explain our trash scene. Recycling and composting are great things to do at home, too.