cindyj

Yet another call to the Fodorites for advice: a friend's son is taking an exploratory trip to San Francisco and LA from the East Coast to explore possible work as a studio musician or other performance opportunities. He graduated from the Berkley School of Music in Boston and is very talented.

1) Are there hostels or other cheap accommodations in either city?

2) From the locals reading the board, any places he should go to try and make connections? (He does have contacts from school out there, but I figured as long as I was posting I'd ask anyway!)

Thanks a million!

Wellvis

I wish him a lot of luck. There are few cheap places to stay in San Francisco (depending on your definition of "cheap") and even fewer opportunities for a studio musician. http://www.sfhostels.com/ is one site to visit. Look for housing opportunities outside San Francisco for best results.
Many musicians hook up with other musicians through craigslist.org in the Bay Area; I'm sure the same thing holds true in the LA area, although when I lived there the free weekly The Recycler had good ads as well.

trippinkpj

Green Tortoise hostel in San Francisco:
http://www.greentortoise.com/san-fra...stel/index.php

bbqboy

http://www.berkeleyhostel.com/

MBnancy

Safe place just south of LAX in Hermosa Beach is Surf City Hostel.

http://www.surfcityhostel.ws/

trippinkpj

Here's another, this one is near San Jose, CA:
http://www.sanbornparkhostel.org/
Friends of my daughters' stayed here and really liked it. I visted the common areas and grounds which were very nice.

jtrandolph

Have him go to the Thorntree forum on Lonely Planet.

There are a lot of "backpackers" over there (from Australia) and LOTS of reviews on hostels in San Francisco. There is one downtown, one in the Mission District, one at Fort Point on the Bay, one in North Beach, and probably quite a few I have not heard of. It would be good to get personal opinions on them. For example, the one in the Mission District is evidently over a restaurant and can be a little noisy.

All he has to do is post his question. He can also do a "search" for threads on the subject.

smartcookie

the best hostel for him in LA would be the HI Hostel in Santa Monica. I would also strongly recommend him to consider renting a car if he's looking to explore LA. And he would need one for sure if he'll be considering the Hermosa beach hostel recommended above. The other place many stay in is the Orbit Hotel/Hostel in West Hollywood, which is more convenient to exploring LA and is around the somewhat artsy Melrose Ave area (also close to the gay area). They also do lots of outings and tours for people who don't have a car, so that's helpful and easy to meet people.

Green Tortoise is a recommended hostel in SF. They do backpacker bus tours all over CA and the country.

I agree. Tell him to check out the Thorntree.lonelyplanet.com forum, which is for backpackers on a budget.