HI Vancouver Downtown - Hostel

I have stayed at this hostel for years, 20 plus, at least. It underwent remodeling in 2023 and mostly it was successful. There are lockers under the beds for personal storage. Unfortunately, the room ventilation issues weren't addressed. The only 'ventilation' is a window. There is no air in the room if it's closed and the room is full. I will say the bathrooms are very clean and well-maintained as are the floors throughout. The kitchen is kept clean and picked up. Kudos for these management issues. I stayed in a room on the 3rd floor that was next to two rooms that had large groups every night. Unfortunately, one of these was some very young folks who screamed and shouted up and down the hall and in their room until 11 and beyond. I hadn't realized 'quiet time' was changed to 11 pm and when I complained to the night clerk I was apparently 15 minutes before 11 pm and she was not sympathetic about enforcing some kind of order when I asked her to speak to this group of people. She was unfriendly towards me thereafter as if I was some kind of forgive me, "noise Nazi". I'm not happy about her attitude. Please address noise issues with your staff and request they maintain respectful order on the floors 11 pm rule, irregardless. Finally, I would recommend bringing back at least a continental breakfast even for a fee - coffee/tea/juice, croissants/oatmeal, etc. It really does creates community and interaction something seriously missing now from this hostel; it used to be more inclusive but now everyone's on their own. Otherwise this continues to be a decent hostel to stay at. Thank you.

Definitely avoid this place! This is the worst hostel I've stayed at. I checked out within an hour of checking in to this hostel. On their conditions, it states that they will only charge deposit in the event of a cancellation but they instead charged me for all 3 nights. The staff at the front was very rude to me and basically ignoring me when I raised my concerns. In addition to that, I emailed management and they ignored my email.

I have stayed here many times and I am so disappointed in the way this hostel has gone downhill. There is open drinking allowed in all common areas. All night parties can be heard on different floors in rooms and in common areas. One of the nights a couple got into an argument that lasted over an hour and was heard from floors above and below. I was seriously scared to leave my room. There was no security and no cameras on the floors. I was there for three nights and left completely exhausted. The bed was lumpy and hard. Sagging in many different spot. Hi hosteling should look at pulling out their name from this one.

I've stayed here for at least 20 years. The biggest failure of the renovations is the room ventilation. As I and others have noted, there is no air in the rooms and when a room is full even with the small window full on open it is very stuffy and hot. The other problem was noise. Door noise, people noise after 10. For several nights there was a loud group of (I was told) French visitors partying close to Burnaby street - from the hostel, I suppose as the clerk knew who they were. This has to stop. I was in a room on the very opposite end of Burnaby and could hear them screaming and shouting way past 10. I agree with a former traveler who noted the lack of privacy in the shower stalls what with a gap in the partition. Also only two showers were working; the third was out of service the whole week I was there due to 'tiling and grouting' - does it take a week to do this?

This hostel was alright but I wouldn‘t recommend it to others. The dorm rooms did the job, there was a sink next to the door which I liked. However, I couldn’t properly charge my phone and powerbank because the socket didn’t provide enough power… Also, the showers in the bathroom didn‘t properly work. Especially in the evening, there was little to no water coming out of the shower - the water that came out was in fact cold. When I told a guy who worked there, he just shrugged and told me to shower at another time. I didn‘t like the kitchen and living room area either. I just found the light too bright, there were no windows and it was generally not a nice, cozy place to stay. The area was alright and very close to the beach. Also, the hostel hosted different activities. I took part in a free yoga class on the terrace which was fun and made it easy to get in touch with other travellers. If you’re travelling with friends this hostel could be ask alright option. However, as a female solo traveller this place made me feel very isolated and I was happy to leave.

Check-in: receptionist didn't tell anything about facilities in the hostel, didn't give me a towel (part of check-in in HI Canada hostels) and didn't tell me where to find my room. She misplaced me to a wrong room and bed. So when I came to complain about broken sockets, USB and locker the next morning, the new receptionist were not able to find me in a system and suggested to move to another room. Even though I asked to make sure during check-in that both of my bookings are united, I was asked to take my luggage of the room when 1st booking has ended. Front Desk agent Hannah was arguing and trying to convince me to move to another room. So I have missed a part of the paid tour, while writing emails and explaining that both of my bookings were confirmed during check-in. Cherry on a cake: My keycard didn't work when I was back to hostel in the evening. I have to explain all the story to receptionist again in order to get my card activated and get into my room. The most expensive and the most awful hostel of HI Canada. Pros: location

In general it's a very clean and hygienic hostel which is located in a pretty calm environment near the beach. But in the evenings and especially nights the rooms are wayyyyy too hot. Breathing and sleeping was very hard and I was always drained in sweat. Also the wifi is not really working and the bottom beds are uncomfortable because you can't sit properly. Additionally a big no-go for me was that when I booked the hostel (on hostelworld.com) they said there would be free breakfast but there wasn’t. If I would have known that I would have booked a different accommodation.