The Ocean Beach youth hostel is under new ownership and management, but it\u2019s business as usual at the establishment.
\nOne of OB\u2019s oldest buildings, the Ocean Beach International Backpackers Hostel, at 4961 Newport Ave., was recently sold by immediate past owner John Asher to USA Hostels Inc. USA Hostels also operates hostels in San Diego\u2019s Gaslamp Quarter, as well as in Hollywood and San Francisco.
\n“[USA Hostels has] been in business for more than 20 years and we\u2019ve been in the San Diego market for more than 20 years,” said Maria Minos, USA\u2019s chief operating officer. “We\u2019ve always wanted to get our hands on this hostel, so it was great timing that he (Asher) was ready to retire and move on to new things in his life,” she said.
\nAsher could not be reached for comment.
\nMinos said USA Hostels took over the local facility on Sept. 5 just before escrow closed on the building.
\n“It was one of the first buildings here in Ocean Beach and was built in 1909 as The Pearl a few months after the streetcar line came in,” said Susan James of the Ocean Beach Historical Society. “It was a 20-room hotel and became the Newport Hotel in 1914.”
\nJames said the Newport Hotel was shuttered for a while when Asher bought it and reopened it as an international youth hostel in 1995.
\nThere isn\u2019t much that\u2019s garden variety about Ocean Beach International Backpackers Hostel aside from its youthful appeal.
\n“We provide 24-hour security and guests cannot bring strangers in, even if it\u2019s their brother,” said Minos, adding the hostel can accommodate about 100 people. “We have a lot of social activities that you don\u2019t find in hostels or bed and breakfasts but do find in hotels and resorts,” she said.
\nHostel activities include trips to San Diego points of interest and Tijuana as well as trips outside the local area, like to Magic Mountain in the L.A. area.
\n“This hostel will be offering a lot more in the way of activities,” promised Minos. She said changes may include the possibility of a name change. But she said that won\u2019t happen immediately.
\nNoting the OB hostel “still has a hotel license,” Minos said the business has 25 operating dorm-style, 4- and 6-bed rooms, some suites and some with shared restrooms.
\nMinos said the hostel intends to build and expand on its solid foundation.
\n“Eventually, we\u2019ll have a van that will run guests between our two hostels and to different attractions around the area for free,” she said adding some remodeling is also in store.
\n“We\u2019ll be doing some spit and shine, repainting, new door locks and new bunk beds,” Minos said. “We have an exclusively designed bunk bed that we\u2019ve developed ourselves that we\u2019ll be installing.
\n“We really like to keep the flavor of the local areas adding spices to the broth to make it even more a flavor of the neighborhood,” she said.
\nThere is a two-week limit on stays at the OB hostel.
\nMinos said the hostel business is seasonal, like much of tourist-oriented San Diego. She said most hostels tend to draw visitors in their 20s and 30s, but she said Ocean Beach gets its fair share of 50-plus-age clients.
\n“We get a lot of people who used to do hostelling in their 40s and older,” she said. “Beach hostels draw a majority of European travelers with a healthy sprinkling of Asian travelers.”
\nThe hostel COO said about 15 to 20 percent of OB hosteliers are from elsewhere in America, with the rest coming here from abroad.
\n“The Irish invasion happens every June because Irish students are able to get working visas and come here looking for summer jobs,” Minos said. “We also get a lot of South Americans from Brazil and Argentina and Aussies (Australians) all year \u2019round because they\u2019re always traveling. We also get a big influx of Chinese in December.”
\nOB Hostel\u2019s appeal for guests wherever they come from is pretty obvious.
\n“We\u2019re one of those vibrant beach communities in Southern California, and one of the few places in Southern California that really retains that true flavor of the Southern California beach town,” said hostel manager Jack McKeon. “Our location two blocks off the water is perfect for a lot of travelers.”
\nMcKeon spoke of two recent happy patrons.
\n“We had a couple of Polish gentlemen come in last week and they were super-excited to go surfing for the first time,” he said. “We can provide that for people.”
\nMcKeon also pointed out that OB “has a lot of culture and vibrancy born out of the California counterculture movement,” which makes it more attractive to youthful guests.
\n“Some call it the hippie hangover, but we think of it in more positive terms,” he said.
\nThe OB Hostel is strict about not allowing drinking from under-age guests or drug use of any kind.
\n“If you\u2019re caught (with drugs) \u2014 you\u2019ll be kicked out,” said Minos.
\nMinos said the OB Hostel\u2019s new owners want to join with the neighborhood, which she said is a win-win both for the business and the community.
\n“We\u2019re just getting our hands around the community,” she said. “We were lucky enough to buy this hostel, and we\u2019re really thrilled to be here.”
\nMinos noted international travelers staying in relatively inexpensive hostel rooms make good guests for a number of reasons.
\n“They\u2019re on vacation, and a lot of them have saved a long time to be able to take these trips,” Minos said. “They save money on the room, so they have it to spend on everything else. They provide money coming into the community. We want to be able to contribute to that, bring in the right kind of clientele that will be spending that money.”
\nFor more information, visit www.usahostels.com.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Ocean Beach youth hostel is under new ownership and management, but it\u2019s business as usual at the establishment. One of OB\u2019s oldest buildings, the Ocean Beach International Backpackers Hostel, at 4961 Newport Ave., was recently sold by immediate past owner John Asher to USA Hostels Inc. USA Hostels also operates hostels in San Diego\u2019s […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":268147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"OB\u2019s iconic youth hostel changes hands, not mission","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11561],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-268146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-peninsula-beacon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}