A little Russian Turtoise walked up the road in Los Angeles...

I stayed at the USA Hostel in Hollywood for a total of four days. My opinion of it certainly improved over the course of the stay, especially because I met a lot of really friendly people and I severely enjoyed partying in the bar. At first, when I arrived, I didn't really feel welcome. Most were travelling in groups and, therefore, were more interested in seeing the Los Angeles area. I'm not blaming them, my entire trip in Washington D.C. was basically only to see the place and not really getting to know people. However, the parties greatly improved my impression because people got a lot more connected, and thanks to perhaps half of the staff (because the other half were not that helpful and considerably rude and crude), they managed to attract a lot of people to their parties and I might be repeating myself, but that made the stay so much more worth it.

I was sad to leave, especially with all the opportunities to party there, but then I arrived at Loftstel L.A., a newly made hostel in the Loftstel 'chain'. And I cannot believe how welcome I felt here when I arrived. During the day and the night, I got a warm welcome from everyone and I have yet to experience the feeling of just being right at home on the day of my arrival. So, I am very impressed by this place and the people, and I expect this stay to be just as pleasant as most of the other hostels.

And the random anecdote of the day begins with me just going outside the door to my dorm room and getting called upon to go outside to help with something. Because the washing machine is broken, I figured I was supposed to help them take that in, so I gladly agreed to. However, it turned out that a turtle the size of my fist was walking in the grass right outside our hostel. We took it in and actually found an aquarium tank in the yard (and what are the odds of finding a random aquarium tank in the backyard?) and put it in there, yet sadly it couldn't stay as no pets were allowed in the hostel. We did, however, discover that it was a Russian Turtoise, and it stayed most of the day. But it has to be the most random event of the day.