BEST HOSTEL IN CANADA (Youth Hostels in Vancouver in general)

Member Name: GNU BOY

Product:	Youth Hostels in Vancouver in general
Date:	07/02/01 (915 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent facilities and location. Great help from staff. Very affordable.

Disadvantages: No bar!

Hostelling International: Vancouver Downtown is one of the best hostels in Canada. In fact, anywhere. Forgive me for starting with such a sweeping statement, but I stayed there, and met many people who have stayed there, and we all agreed on one thing: if it had a bar it would be perfect.

Located in the Western downtown area, the hostel is perfectly placed for anyone visiting Vancouver. All the major attractions of the city are within easy walking distance, from Gastown to BC Place Stadium, meaning the extra (cheap) expense of public transport is only necessary for a few destinations.

The hostel was opened several years ago, since the other Hostelling International residence in the area (Jerricho Beach) was becoming overcrowded and too far from the places travellers wanted to go. Be warned too, the Jerricho Beach hostel is said to be particularly rough.

The cost for a bed in a ‘quad’ (two bunk beds) room is approximately twelve pounds per night. That’s it. There are over two hundred beds available for use, so even in busy periods (I was there the week before Christmas) you should have no trouble finding a place to stay. Private double rooms are available, at about thirty pounds a night for the pair of you. No service charge, or twenty percent tip expected. This is a few pounds to stay in the equivalent of a good hotel, and in the most exciting part of possibly the nicest city in Canada. Vancouver is a beautiful place. It is clean; everything works; you are surrounded by the Rocky Mountains; the only problem is the absolute abundance of homelessness. The authorities do not appear to be doing enough to solve this problem, and be prepared to be asked for money on the way from your hostel to the shops.

Facilities within the hostel are as good as those found in a decent English hotel. Bathrooms are not private, but there are one male and one or two female bathrooms to a floor of only ten rooms. Therefore there is
rarely a queue for a shower! The showers themselves are excellent, the temperature is controlled not by luck, but by you. A hot shower will stay hot for its duration. The toilets do not look like they were imported from a sewer, they are clean and working.

Throughout the hostel are facilities for the traveller to maintain and enjoy a high standard of living. Washing machines and dryers are avilable, although only five to the entire hostel, so be prepared to wait or venture out to a Launderette. A games room with pool table and (very dated, including Ms.Pacman) arcade games is present. There are a number of internet consoles throughout the building, so keeping in touch with people by e-mail is easy. Payphones are also in abundance, so complete segregation from home is unlikely. There is a large kitchen in the hostel, so you do not have to eat at restaurants every night. It should be emphasised that food is NOT included in the price, so be prepared to go out and buy some. This should not be a major problem, since supermarkets are two minutes’ walk down the road. Food in Canada is, as a general rule, half the price of that in Britain.

This hostel needs one more thing: a bar. However, I have done some rsearch and none of the Hostelling International hostels in Canada have them. This can be a blessing, of course, no throwing your money down the toilet (literally!!). However, even if you do not drink, there is a wonderful social element that goes with being in a bar full of travellers, and be prepared to go more out of your way to meet people than if there was one. This is, of course, all part of the challenge and thrill, and the hostel arranges different social events every day, from pub crawls to visits to the local tourist sites. These are excellent opportunities to hear from the locals of Vancouver who really know the city.

The highlight of the hostel for myself was the overuse of the word ‘can’. Rather than being a pe
tty recycling request, or reference to the toilet, it was the emphasis everywhere that you CAN do things. You CAN ask the reception staff to receive or pass on messages for you. You CAN borrow bed linen, or a towel, or pretty much anything within reason. The staff are friendly, knowledgable and efficient. In fact, to call them staff is disrespectful. They are people, human beings. They love to talk and share your experiences with you. They are volunteers, helping this excellent chain of hostels (did I mention Hostelling International is a non-profit making organisation? You really do get what you pay for at this hostel) to allow travellers the experience of a lifetime. There is no petty list of rules, like ‘no entering after nine o’clock’, or ‘leave the building during the day’. The cleaners do not even enter your room and go through your things. They poke an arm round the door and change the bin lining. That’s it. No invasion of privacy. In this hostel you are free to come and go as you please, and enjoy this wonderful city at your own pace. There is even a file on which you can write any taxi destinations you may have during the day, so fellow travellers can share the taxi, and, of course, the cost.

This hostel is good enough to live in all year round. If you are planning to visit Vancouver, you really should stay here. It is an excellent hostel in a fine city. Even the lack of a bar is superseded by a wonderful environment for travellers. You won’t be disappointed.

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