AJC - yes it's one of the private rooms with it's own bathroom. I'm not too good in hostels - I hate having my space cramped!! I don't mind staying in them as long as they have a private bathroom and double bed. I figure the more we can save on accommodation the more money we can spend doing things!

I just did a quick tally of expenses (flights, accommodation, car hire (for one leg of our trip - San Fran to our friends Lake House), activities and food/shopping) - it's probably going to hit the $10K mark for the whole trip. I think that's pretty good for two people over 20 days and four cities...