Sacramento's Llewellyn Williams mansion – with its ornate chandeliers, sweeping staircase and painted-glass skylight – is such an exclusive bed-and-breakfast that nobody from Sacramento can even get in.

Each year, hundreds of guests from as far away as Thailand are offered a pillow and seat by the fireplace in the 13,000-square-foot mansion, but Sacramentans are personae non gratae, a.k.a. unwelcome.

Truth be told, the Hosteling International site rejects locals out of fear that the low rate offered to travelers would lure folks in need of social services they're not equipped to offer. For travelers, it offers a glimpse of what life was like as a wealthy 1800s business owner – at a discount price.

For less than $30 a night, guests get a bunk within an 1885 Italianate stick-style Victorian smack-dab in the heart of California's capital.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Hosteling International and the 75th anniversary of the American network of affiliated sites. It also marks the 15th year the mansion has been in the possession of the hosteling nonprofit, which opened its doors for guests in 1995.

Sisters Mari and Kristin Skinnes from Norway arrived at the mansion Thursday. Earlier stops included Australia, Fiji, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Yosemite. They'd driven by the "big white building" (the Capitol) but had yet to see what Sacramento had to offer, said Mari Skinnes, 21.

As she sat in what was once a formal dining room for Llewellyn Williams, a part owner of the old Pioneer Milling Co., she said she often stays at hostels, which are cheaper and offer a shared kitchen and common areas.

Most of the four-story hostel's 80 beds are in dorm-style bunks, a handful in private rooms.

"This is our stock in trade," general manager Steve Haynes said as he showed off one of the rooms. "Dormitory beds provide cheap, clean accommodations."

He said he added the private rooms – priced comparably with budget hotels – for couples.

Haynes sounds a bit like a salesman as he talks about Sacramento and his facility with Internet access, a large-screen television, video games, a foosball table, darts and board games.

"Traveling is work," and Sacramento offers a vacation from your travels with its laid-back pace, Haynes said.

"Everything that is worth seeing is walking distance from here," he said of the 925 H St. site.

Years ago, the Hosteling International dropped references to "youth." Today, people older than 30 can be spotted as frequently as teens.

With its proximity to the Capitol, Old Sacramento and Sutter's Fort, Haynes said, the operation is kept afloat by schoolchildren.

"Last year, we had a fantastic year. The dollar was weak, and it was a good time to visit America," he said.

"This year attendance is off," he continued. "Whether it's the economy or swine flu, it's hard to say."

The price was Will Damon's motivation for staying at the mansion. "I needed a place to stay and didn't want to pay for a hotel," said Damon, a 21-year-old University of Washington student who was in the area to present a paper at the University of California, Davis.

Terry French, 60, from the Bay Area, said the hostel offers price, convenience and aesthetics. "This is a beautiful building. It's just so comfortable."

Over the years, the building has been moved three times. The first time – in the early 1900s – it traveled all of 40 feet to what had been the mansion's garden after an investment company bought it. It then served as funeral parlor, a society club house and a restaurant before being sold to a developer who wanted it removed from the site.

So in 1994, the 350-ton building was moved to city property at Ninth and H Streets. It later was moved back to its original location at 10th and H streets when City Hall wanted to expand.

To Illa Collin, a Sacramento County Historical Society board member, it's a premier hostel. "You just have to enter it; you feel like you are in another world," said the former Sacramento County supervisor. "It was an elegant-type mansion. It was very special. I'm glad it got saved."

Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.