In a mostly quiet neighborhood of older homes and small apartment buildings, some residents have drawn their own no-go zones around what might sound like a crash pad for traveling backpackers: hostels.

At least two of them have popped up on West View Street in Mid-City Heights in the past few years, with more in surrounding neighborhoods.

Residents say they’ve seen strangers smoke marijuana and drink alcohol outside the newly built buildings. They say the properties draw drug deals and a frequent police presence. A few months ago, a woman ranted in the street outside one of the properties for hours, at times alleging someone stole something from her.

Adriana Marcial said one night her husband caught two men having sex in front of the home they share with their two children. When he startled the men, she said they left and entered one of the hostels.

In a mostly quiet neighborhood of older homes and small apartment buildings, some residents have drawn their own no-go zones around what might sound like a crash pad for traveling backpackers: hostels.

At least two of them have popped up on West View Street in Mid-City Heights in the past few years, with more in surrounding neighborhoods.

Residents say they’ve seen strangers smoke marijuana and drink alcohol outside the newly built buildings. They say the properties draw drug deals and a frequent police presence. A few months ago, a woman ranted in the street outside one of the properties for hours, at times alleging someone stole something from her.

Adriana Marcial said one night her husband caught two men having sex in front of the home they share with their two children. When he startled the men, she said they left and entered one of the hostels.

“About a year ago, we stopped walking through there,” said Marcial, 38. “You get that vibe of feeling unsafe.”

Long associated with backpackers and young travelers, hostels typically offer cheap dorm-style beds and a shared kitchen. They can be a social place to meet people from around the world and, at times, the start of an alcohol- or drug-fueled night.

In Europe, such facilities often are located in bustling corners of the city. But in Los Angeles, hostels are opening for business within residential neighborhoods they’re not allowed in, drawing the ire of some Angelenos who say a revolving cast of characters has brought an increase in noise and crime.

With beds as cheap as $25 a night, the properties also serve as an option for people struggling to make ends meet, providing a relief valve in an expensive city where thousands sleep on the streets.

According to the Department of City Planning, hostels are banned in low-density residential neighborhoods like Mid-City Heights. The budget-stay properties can operate in high-density residential neighborhoods like parts of Koreatown, but need a special permit to do so.

A recent Times search of an online booking site found seven Los Angeles hostels advertised in low-density residential areas where the planning department says the facilities aren’t allowed.

The numbers could be greater. According to an October motion from Councilwoman Heather Hutt, there were at least 28 illegal hostels operating in Council District 10 alone. The district includes Koreatown and parts of South L.A., as well as Mid-City Heights and the larger Mid-City neighborhood.

Some people who stayed at one hostel described it as a quiet, affordable place as they traveled L.A. or sought a full-time job. Others were students or had low-wage work.

“Everyone here is trying to get by,” said Chris Smoot, who had been staying in a West View Street hostel for three weeks. The 44-year-old was trying to find work and establish permanent housing so he could bring his family out from Florida.

Hutt’s motion paints a more ominous picture, saying neighbors have complained that a variety of crimes are “radiating from these properties,” including battery and drug use and that the police department has experience “heightened” calls for service.

In approving the motion in December, the City Council ordered multiple departments to create a plan to crack down on illegal hostels, which the motion said two departments have been unable to do so, in part because of jurisdictional issues.

The council also established an enforcement task force specifically for Mid-City.

Devyn Bakewell, a spokeswoman for Hutt, said the task force’s work is ongoing and that the city attorney has issued “citations to certain addresses and has put several locations on notice about illegal land use.”

In Mid-City Heights, residents say officials should have — and still need to — act faster, noting at least one hostel still appears in operation.

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