Fun, Fun, Fun in the Sun, Sun, Sun

By Dave and Lynn Reiter

Situated in downtown Santa Monica, a trendy tourist mecca, HI-Santa Monica is located just west of Los Angeles in an upscale and friendly seaside locale.

The city of Santa Monica supports this hostel in downtown Santa Monica located at 1436 2nd Street. The hostel is built around the first brick building (1875) in the area, built by William Rapp as a tavern and later as town hall. The hostel is about two blocks from the Santa Monica pier and beach. One block in the other direction is the Third Street Promenade, a collection of eclectic shops where only pedestrians are allowed. 

The street is full of friendly dogs and street performers. There are a lot of great restaurants in the area serving many different ethnic foods. Vegetarian dishes are available everywhere. Close by the hostel is “Wahoo’s” serving reasonably priced fish tacos and Junky’s directly across the street serving a wonderful Bombay omelet. 

About three years ago this hostel remodeled, and added seven private rooms, one family room, and 236 dorm beds. Just about every language in the world is spoken in these halls. From the pictures you can see that it offers a lot. Hotels in the area are in the $200-a-night range, so $30 a night is a bargain. 

For safety there is police substation also right across the street. Also, Santa Monica does not hassle the homeless unless they are soliciting the visitors for money. The homeless seem to know this, because we were not approached one time. 

A five mile bicycle ride up the Pacific Coast Highway into Malibu brings you to the entrance of the “Getty Villa.” This is different from the Getty Museum, and it fulfills Getty’s desire to rebuild the destroyed villa in Herculaneum owned by Caesar’s brother-in-law. It also displays Getty’s collection of antiquity art from ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt.

If you decide to visit this area, it would be possible to bicycle from LAX (Los Angeles International) on the beach trail, about twenty miles from LAX north to Santa Monica. Another option would be the public transportation, which is good. 

For more information about HI-Santa Monica, visit www.hilosangeles.org.