ABOUT US

Gaslamp Hostel is owned and managed by backpackers who love what hostelling is all about and believe in its mission to bring people together from diverse backgrounds to celebrate their uniqueness and similarities, provide a secure and clean base while they are in San Diego. We are a small, woman-owned business. We knew this building well, as it was formerly USA Hostels (which started as the Grand Pacific Hostel), and we are former USA Hostels employees who helped run that chain and create some of the best hostels in the United States.

Yellow walls of the atrium and a picture of a woman dressed in an outfit from the 1800s

Black and white image of building with a large marching band in front of it

Black and white image of building with adult theatre and adult book store on lower levels

While this building has been a hostel for nearly 30 years, it dates back to 1887 where William Llewelyn built his family shoe store. In its history, this building has been a brothel as well as a hotel of "ill repute".

It's history is evident in the beautiful architecture as well as in the ghosts who haunt it. Perhaps they come from 1917 when the building owners were charged with running a "cat house" or perhaps some stuff went down in the 1970s when it was the Louis Hotel and known as the least savory address in the Gaslamp Quarter.