Green Tortoise Hostel

The location was great — super convenient. The price was reasonable for the area. The facilities were fine, although not very accessible. The place seemed clean. There were lots of bathrooms that were semi-​private, single stall with toilet, sink, and shower. Water pressure in the showers was pretty terrible, so it took forever to rinse off, and the water wasn’t always very hot. I only partook in one of the free meals — the food was good, but there was not enough seating and the line for food was horrendous.
To be honest, it had kind of a frat-​house/​college dorm feel… so if you’re into that, great. If not, well… lets just say that even with ear plugs, I was kept up into the wee hours of the morning multiple nights due to loud, drunken folks returning from pub crawls, and music blasting in the common room. I get that they try to provide a unique, social hostel experience, but it was a bit excessive and disrespectful at times of those who are trying to sleep.
I also found it really unnerving that housekeeping staff would make rounds multiple times a day and would just knock once then open the door right away. At least twice, I had a staff member barge into the room after I said «No» or «Just a minute». After the first couple nights, I started putting the chair under the door handle when I was in the room. I paid extra for a private room because I wanted privacy. When there is no was to secondary lock the doors from the inside and no «Do Not Disturb» signs, its impossible to truly have privacy. And I know, I shouldn’t really expect much better at a hostel… but I’ve been to hostels that have alternate options for maintaining privacy in private rooms.

I can’t really find any fault with this awesome hostel. I stayed three nights and it was great. The rooms and bathrooms were really clean, they offer free WI Fi and breakfast is included. I guess some cereal wouldn’t go astray but how many hostel offer eggs, pancakes, toast and fruit? Every single staff member I encountered was helpful and friendly. It’s also in a great location for sightseeing and going out at night.

Why didn’t I think about staying at a hostel sooner?
I LOVED my stay here and wouldn’t do anything different! All the staff are SUPER nice!
I found out about this place 2 weeks before I was coming to Seattle. I called and spoke to Nicholas. I asked about more information about the hostel experience and he had no problem sharing. I booked a night and to have my own room was $ 84 a night! What a steal deal baybee!
Hotels in the area of Pike Market is madd expensive so I was super surprised to hear this good price.
Once I got there I knew what to expect from reading the reviews. The hostel is a little hidden as the sign is small. It’s in a perfect location and right across the street from Pike Markets and 5 mins away from Seattle Aquarium. I was able to walk to EVERYTHING!
I got the hostel at 730am and of course rooms weren’t ready yet. Check– in time is 11AM and NO they don’t do early check-in’s so don’t be alarmed. They do have bag check off so I was able to store my bags as I walked and explored the area.
Once I got checked in I noticed they didn’t have elevators! OMG. I have to admit that is the only downfall. My suitcase weighed 57 pounds and trusts me it was HEAVY! So to imagine taking this up stairs was appalling.
I was so lucky to be able to get help from staff: James and Nicholas! Big shout out to these two men! They were so thoughtful and respectful!
Bathrooms are shared in the hallway and I loved the glass showers! BIG + for that!
Bathrooms were kept clean for the most part as they are cleaned throughout the day. I never had a problem with bathrooms being all booked. There were about 4 bathrooms on the floor.
Many of the people of the floors were quiet and did their own thing. There is the downstairs area were you are able to go on the computer hang out in the living room and my all-​time favorite was the «lounge area».
The beds are comfortable and come with a fan if you need it. The rooms had a sink inside which was really convenient.
Some of the rules in the hostel are: No food and drinks in the room and no guest. Simple and straight to the point, right?
They have a kitchen so you are able to cook if you want and they have a refrigerator so you can store your food if you do bring some in.
During check out time I was asking questions in regards to the cheapest way to the airport and the lovely staff: Kaycee and Tris were nice enough to tell me about the light rail (transportation) to the airport for only $ 3.00. It’s totally easy and walking distance from the Hostel.
I couldn’t choose a better place to stay! I met tons of great people in the hostel from many different locations. When I come back to Seattle this will definitely be the place that I stay at!

Great location by Pike Place Market and easily walkable to downtown, Chinatown, etc. It’s also close to the light rail terminals which will take you to the airport. The hostel itself was nice and clean, with a great common area. I definitely appreciated the private bathrooms, which were surprisingly nice, as well as the curtains around the bunk beds in the dorm rooms (wish all hostels would provide these). The hostel activities, also seemed great. I went on the Fremont brewpub tour and had a great time seeing some of the local color in Fremont and met a lot of great folks staying at the hostel. Couldn’t recommend Green Tortoise enough.

Can’t beat the location! You get the downtown Seattle experience. Comfy bunks and private separate updated bathrooms. Each bunk has curtains, lamp, plug ins, locker, and fan. Great common area with smoking lounge. Free breakfast, activities, and my favorite part– a Massage chair! It can be hot cuz no A/​C but it’s an old building so that’s expected. All in all a great hostel experience!

I spent 5 nights at Green Tortoise Hostel, and was so happy with my experience there! I stayed in a co-​ed room of 8 (there are multiple room options — I just went with the cheapest available). It was a great deal, everything was comfortable, and I met lots of fantastic people.
Each bed comes with a space underneath the bed where you can lock away your bag (make sure to bring a lock), a fan, a lamp, and a couple extra outlets. The bed was comfortable and I felt like I had my own private space. If you have trouble sleeping with so many people, they have free ear plugs at the front desk, and you may want to consider bringing an eye mask.
The bathrooms are single stall rooms with showers, and there are several bathrooms shared among a group of rooms. The bathrooms always seemed to be well-​maintained and clean, and I never had to wait at all to use a bathroom. Make sure to bring your own towel, as they charge for towel rentals.
There are communal spaces to meet others, including tables and seats for eating (free make-​your-​own breakfast each morning, and free dinner a few nights a week), a foosball table, a couple computers with internet, and a smoking room (where smoking weed is allowed — there are shared grinders and bongs). The environment made it easy to meet new people, and fun!
The location is PERFECT. It’s highly accessible to other areas in town, it’s a block from the market, and it’s right in the middle of downtown Seattle. Can’t beat a price like this in such a good location!

I only stayed one night and wish I had more time in the city because Seattle is a fantastic place. To cut to the chase,
PROS:
— The location is pretty damn perfect. Tourist Seattle is walkable and Green Tortoise puts you right in the middle of the action. It was a 0.4 mile walk to the underground bus system (um, yes. underground buses) which took me straight to the airport for somewhere around $ 2
— Cheap beds. This is relatively speaking because you can stay in hostels in other cities for half the price but cheap is relative to the Seattle accommodation market. I am dumbfounded that the average hotel downtown is $ 400 per night.
— Fans, outlets and curtains over each bed. It’s an awesome perk. Enough said.
— Individual showers and toilets. Though there is a wait during the morning rush, it’s nice to be able to take care of my entire morning routine in one place without worrying about modesty.
CONS:
— The room I stayed in had the lockers underneath the bottom bunks. I am sure I annoyed the hell out of the guy who slept under me while I was trying to get ready in the morning.
— $ 20 cash deposit for room keys. Seriously?
— Storage room madness. I left my bag after I checked out to do some nearby exploration. I went back to the hostel to get my bag and they wouldn’t release it to me because I didn’t have a tag on it. I had to tell the girl what was in the bag and then show her which could have been completely avoided if they stated that bag tags were mandatory at the time I left it.

The green tortoise hostel is a special place– for less than 40 dollars– dorm bed you have a safe haven in the middle of Seattle. Also, if you are traveling alone there are all sorts of events and discounts for you to get to know the city. I stayed for a week and I encountered almost every type of traveler imaginable— an exdoctor bicycling across the entire U.S., some families (kids are welcome), a la cordon bleh trained chef (who happens to cook some of the FREE group meals.
There is also a free pancake and egg breakfast every morning which makes your time in the city a lot cheaper.

This is a great hostel, in a fantastic location. Extremely clean and organized. Tons of storage space for your luggage, privacy curtains around the beds, private showers, personal reading lights, and full sized mirrors. Lots of outlets, and free wifi. Free breakfast. Literally steps to Pike Place Market.
Really friendly and helpful staff. The Asian dude working at night time was awesome-​very chill and nice to talk to.
At $ 31/​night, the value of staying at this hostel cannot be beat. I would recommend it for travelers who don’t mind sacrificing some of the luxuries of a hotel, but still like being comfortable. I will definitely stay here again the next time I am in Seattle.

I stayed here for 2 nights on a recent trip in an 8-​person dorm room and had a great time.
The Pros: super comfortable beds, privacy curtains for each bunk, reading light and outlet on each bunk, spacious storage lockers, individual bathrooms down the hall, excellent breakfast spread included.
The Cons: Expensive parking, kinda hard to find the first time despite the big sign, and I’m not certain that all the guests weren’t local homeless people.
Would I go back? Absolutely!

My father and I headed out west to Seattle for a week (several years ago), and I never remembered to write a review. So here’s my chance! Fantastic hostel! I absolutely loved staying here, while visiting Seattle for Bumbershoot.
The hostel is comprised of coed and male/​female only rooms; anywhere from 6-​person to 16-​person dorm rooms, assuming it hasn’t changed over the years… We reserved their only private room: one set of bunk beds and our own private bathroom. My father had never done the hostel thing before this trip, so he was a tad hesitant to sleep in a room with other travels of varying origin.
However, the exceptional location — the Market, free busing, city attractions, the views, the nightlife, great restaurants — The hostel is a several-​floor space, a super short jaunt away from Pike’s Market. Down the steps and your looking at the water. Prime spot? Survey says YES!
To top it, the laid-​back atmosphere of the hostel, made the trip 100% success. This hostel had lots of things going on for their guests. Walking tours. Dancing outings. Comedy and karaōke nights. Their movie room. Or we could simply lounge around and chat with fellow travelers. So many wonderful stories! I definitely recommend this hostel :)

Excellent experience at Green Tortoise!
Friendly, helpful staff. The front desk line can get long during busy hours, but it’s because they focus on great service for each visitor and take time to answer all questions. Can’t beat the location – the hostel is directly across the street from the market.
Rooms here are stellar – each bed has privacy curtains, power outlets, an adapter and a fan. Very large lockers under the beds are large enough to hold large suitcase plus misc. extra bits. The bunks are large and sturdy – there’s no weird creaking sounds as your bunk mate shifts around in the night.
Bathrooms and showers are spacious and clean. Bathrooms didn’t have a table or flat surface of any kind to place stuff while I was showering and dressing, but the hooks were helpful. There were plenty of bathrooms/​showers in each hall – I didn’t have to wait in line at all.
Free internet throughout the hostel, along with several computers free for use in the common area. Plenty of tables and a foosball table to hang out. Nice free breakfast – toast, eggs, pancakes.
Overall very positive experience – would stay again and highly recommend to others.

Awesome, sociable atmosphere at this hostel. Great for solo travellers looking to meet people, especially on the hostel-​run outings/​excursions that they have every day. Compared to the dozens of other hostels I’ve been in, even the facilities and cleanliness are pretty up there

So you’re overnighting in Seattle. You’re going to get ripped off just about anywhere you stay in the downtown tourist trap. You could stay at the AHA hostel in the International District, but getting mugged by a tweaker just doesn’t sound like much fun. Where can you stay on the cheap without a great big hassle?
Well, this isn’t a hotel. They’ll charge you a dollar to borrow a towel. There’s a $ 20 cash deposit on top of your bill, which you get back if you return the room key. When you get up to take a shower the next morning, it’ll be cold water only. You’ve got to field strip your own bedding before you leave, and make your own breakfast. They do provide you with the raw materials and a kitchen to cook it in, but you’re your own chef. And after hours, Pike Place Market is a freak show.
There’s free wifi and desktops. They organize tours and bar crawls, which is why they get high ratings in spite of the above paragraph. And they’re cheap by Seattle standards. Its twice what you’ll pay at a hostel or B&B in Olympia, but this is Seattle after all. The staff are nice. And it does beat fighting I-​5 traffic during the morning rush if you have to be in town at some awful hour.

It’s great so far! Staff has been very accommodating, rooms are clean, and the restrooms are very nice and also clean. You cannot beat the price for a place right in the heart of Seattle!!! The views are nice and there’s no shortage of things to do. They even host their own daily tours! I’ll be back!!!

As far as a Hostel goes and this being my first time staying at one I have to say it was a stellar experience. The GT is so close to everything downtown and is in proximity to some major attractions.
Staying there was fun. Front Desk was very helpful, Room condition was sub par but beds where always clean with clean sheets. Wifi was available in rooms so that was a bummer but the living area was a great place to meet new people and just chill out from a day of doing touristy stuff.
Bathrooms were nice and clean, and free breakfast in the morning was helpful if your traveling on a budget. Area gets a little shady past 8 p.m. so keep that in mind.
Would definitely stay there again.
Some tips for fellow travelers:
— Bring your own towel if you can — $ 1 to rent
— Bring your own combo/​key lock so that you can padlock your locker
— You can ask front desk for some amenities like a blow dryer
— Do mingle with others
— Do ask front desk for tours they offer and free food nights
— Be mindful of other persons staying in your room, I was in an 8-​bed co-​ed room and no real problems except one guy stunk. If you would like more privacy def. opt for a smaller person occupancy room
— First thursday of the month is great for visiting museums that offer free admission on that day (Seattle Art Museum is only a block away!)
— Starbucks across the street would be a nice place to access internet from if you don’t want to be in the GT to do so
— ???
— Profit
Would def stay here again.

I had an amazing time at the Green Tortoise Hostel. Arrived at 3 AM from a 800-​mile road trip from San Francisco, and someone still kindly helped me out. I stayed with a few other people in a six-​bunk dorm — it was quite the experience!
Really cool things to look forward to:
* Meeting people from all over the world, especially young’uns.
* A smoking room in the back, with cool artwork from van Gogh.
* Great breakfast you can make yourself (so quaint!)
* Dinner party nights and events like bar hopping. It was around Halloween when I arrived — we had Mexican food and enjoyed each others’ costumes, real sense of community here.
* Great, spacious hot showers.
* The Public Market is right there, and Target is conveniently next door too.
* WiFi and plenty of access to PCs.
Be mindful of your stuff (they do have locks available for you). They have a deal with the local parking lot, but I saved money by parking FREE a bus ride away on Capitol Hill.
Aside from that this is a great place to launch into some real adventures in Seattle. Some people you meet might be obnoxious, but the facility, staff, and services are top-​notch (especially for the price!)
I would have gladly been able to stay here for a month (in fact, I met a life coach/​entrepreneur who was just doing just that).
So many stories and memories from the Green Tortoise, and the perfect place to stay in Seattle — A+++

The location gives this the 5 stars really. Our window looked directly down on the public market sign there is no getting closer! I loved that all beds had a lamp, fan, and plug within arms reach. Bathrooms were good. Also the staff was really helpfull with storing luggage.
We also did a free pub crawl they provided, who doesn’t love a good pub crawl! Met a ton of fun people :)
I will defiantly be back.

My first experience at a hostel. I think it’s great here!
Yes, most things are self serve, however I cannot complain with such a good price. They have everything that you could ask for! It felt a lot like a college dorm… Except better.
— a kitchen stocked with knives, refrigerator, free snacks, sink
— free do it yourself breakfast… I had eggs, toast with jam, and juice
— you share the bathroom… However, it’s used one-​at-​a-​time. And it’s very clean. There were usually no wait… If there was (sometimes in the morning) I was the only one in line.
— each bed has curtains, light, and fan
— big storage place below bed (bring a lock)
— they let me store my bags after my check out for a few hours for free
So the hostel itself is great… However, if you have never been to a hostel before, know that your experience also depends a lot on your roommates! My bed was right next to the door, bottom bunk, which kinda sucked cause every time someone came in, my curtains would sway and I was met with full light and wind on my face. Thankfully I had a sleeping bag with me, and used that as an extra layer of «curtain». Also, it’s a good idea once it’s like 11pm to ask your roommates if it’s okay to turn off the main light of the room, politely… This way, when the ppl who stay out late come in (and the lights are off), they tend to be more polite and whisper instead of just straight out talking. (They have their own lights, so they shouldn’t have any problem getting ready to sleep).

My gf and I were on a «budget trip» and couldn’t find a descent priced room in a good location (walking distance to the Clipper Ferry) in Seattle that we decided to stay at this hostel. It was only my 2^nd hosteling experience, my first was about 11 years ago in San Diego! My gf never stayed at a hostel before so we were a little bit worry! The price, stellar reviews online and the strategic location (right across the street from Pike Place Market, walking distance to Clipper Ferry and lots of other places) were certainly what drew us to take the chance at staying in a hostel vs hotel.
We got the 4 beds female dorm room for one night (on July 4^th), $ 38/​person and it came with a FREE dinner (spaghetti with ground meat, garlic bread, salad) and FREE breakfast (you cook your own eggs and pancakes). WHAT A STEAL!
The front desk people were super helpful. They gave us a free seattle map, information about FREE attractions and there were even FREE tours offered (we didn’t take the tours though). They also allowed us to leave our luggage the morning that we arrived there (prior to check in time) and the day that we didn’t stay at the hostel (we were just transiting for a few hours before our flight back to SF). SUPERB!
The bathrooms were pretty clean and the bed and the room was comfortable even though we did share the room with 2 other female travelers (we actually didn’t get to meet them, our schedule didn’t match, so they weren’t back when we went to bed and they were still asleep when we left). I really like how there were curtains surrounding each bed for privacy! It was AWESOME! There was also a sink in the room and a locker to store your luggage under the bed.
I definitely recommend Green Tortoise Hostel if you’re traveling on a budget in Seattle. GREAT DEAL!

L’auberge presque parfaite!
Bien placée (vue sur le célèbre Market), à 20 min à pied du Seattle Center! L’auberge est vraiment très propre, les salles de bain sont toutes privées, quand vous être dedans cela devient votre salle de bain! Et il y en a pas mal, donc très dur de devoir attendre pour y accéder!
Cuisine grande mais qui à un petit soucis niveau hygièné, car ils ont un lave vaisselle (ce qui est très pratique en soit), mais laver les ustencils comme poeles et casseroles dedans et bien ca né lave pas super, et après plusieurs années et bien ce n’est pas très apréciable de cuisiner dedans…
Les chambres sont spacieuses, j’étais dans une chambre à 6 lits, 2 simples et 4 superposés et on né se marche pas sur les pieds. Des casiers immenses (j’y mettais ma valise et mon gros sac à dos) sont sous les lit du bas et on peut y mettre des cadenas.
Le point négatif (pour ma part) sont les rideaux aux lits, donc oui il y a plus d’intimité mais pendant 3 jours je n’ai pas vu mes coloc de chambre, pour faire des rencontres c’est moyen.
Diner gratuit 3 fois par semaines et ils né se moquent pas de nous: le 1er a été Mexicain, et le 2e spaghetti bolognaise, et tout ça fait maison! le petit déj est offert tous les matins.
L’auberge regorge d’activités, tous les jours vous pouvez faire quelque chose, cela va de la promenade à vélo jusqu’à la tournée des bars, et pour né rien rater un planning géant de la semaine se trouve sur le mur.
Accès aux ordis avec internet gratuit, donc très pratique.
Le personnel de l’auberge est toujours là pour nous servir, toujours aimable et souriant, accueil ouvert 24h/​24h.
je pense que j’ai fais le tour de cette auberge qui a presque tout pour plaire!

Tras pasar 4 días en el City Hostel hemos venido al Green Tortoise a pasar otras cuatro noches. Nada que ver. El City es aburrido y caro. El Green Tortoise, sin embargo, está muy situado, está bien de precio y es animado. No tengáis dudas. En Seattle, Green Tortoise. Por cierto, no penséis que somos dos jóvenes con ganas de marcha… somos una pareja de 45 años!
We came here after 4 days in City Hostel and no doubt, Tortoise is much better hostel than city. It has an ideal location, the staff is very friendly and the hostel itself is clean and confortable. City hostel is sad and boring, defitively we prefer Green tortoise to City. Great Hostel. By the way, we are not teenager travellers, we are both 45 years old, so…