Hostelling International Vancouver Central

The hostel is Located in downtown where there are plenty of places to eat. Three blocks from the sky train to the hostel. The washrooms are really clean. The staff is very helpful. The breakfast is good. The rooms are either 2 bed or 4 bed or private rooms. The hostel is wonderful.

Such a beautiful experience. Everyone in staff was so helpful and kind. Having open access to a kitchen at all hours was so helpful!

Staying at HI Vancouver Central was my first ever hostel experience, and I get the feeling this is about as «hostel-​y» as it can get!
The rooms were small, and quaint. Nothing special. But the beds brought easy relief for my weary bones. There was a sink and mirror in my room which was greatly appreciated.
I also enjoyed being able to select an all female room… With the crowd that I saw at HI I honestly wouldn’t have been comfortable with the possibility of staying in a room with males. While most seemed kind, there were a few older men who erred on the creepy side. That made me a bit uncomfortable.
The bathrooms were well kept and I never had to wait for one to open up.
The kitchen was great to have, and the complimentary breakfasts were excellent, although the hours for it were only 8a-​10a. I would have liked it to open up a bit earlier.
HI was bustling at all hours, so I would definitely recommend ear plugs.
This hostel is right in the center of everything in Vancouver. A great location for travelers with easy access to public transport.
The employees were excellent and helpful. They even brought me some extra blankets
Will stay again!

First time staying at a hostel, and it was a great experience! Front desk staff were all fairly young and all super friendly. We told the girl at the front that we were there celebrating a birthday and she immediately discounted our room for us!
The rooms had two bunk beds, and luckily we were a group of four so we got the room to ourselves. It’s a great and cheap place to stay, especially if you plan on exploring and you’re only looking for a place to sleep.
There are four bathrooms shared among the entire floor. And impressively, they were super clean. I’m pretty picky with public restrooms but these were kept very well.
Location wise. You couldn’t get any better than Granville street. There are restaurants, pubs, and clubs all along the same street. We went out all night and everything was walking distance which was super convenient.
Great place to stay, especially for younger people traveling. Met a few other people staying there that same weekend. All super young and coming from all around the world.

We stayed four nights in a private room with shared bathroom. I’m not a fan of hostels but with the ridiculous prices for hotels in Vancouver, we had to compromise. Have to say it by far wasn’t as bad as I had imagined it. Our room was very nice and clean, so was the washroom right next door. The mattress was very comfortable and it was quiet! Slept like a baby. Staff at reception was very friendly and helpful. Breakfast was simple but OK. Mostly we only had a coffee and a bit of cornflakes, not being fans of toast and muffins for breakfast.

Sooooo glad I decided to stay here.
I had not stayed at a hostel in a few years & I am not a kid anymore. This wasn’t my first rodeo & other cliches about age & experience. Naturally, I was worried about being the creepy old dude (36) at the hostel. It may have less to do with age & more to with not acting creepy. There were a lot of younger people, but also a couple of families and a few people older than me.
The staff were extremely helpful. Friendly too, but helpful when I really needed it. The reception is 24 hours. You can stow your heavy bags for the day before you check in or after you check out.
It’s in a great location close to Vancouver’s city center, the subway and a night bus stop. Plenty of restaurants, bars, clothing stores, people watching, shops of kitschy crap to buy for the folks back home, etc.
This is a fairly laid-​back hostel. It’s not crazy-​party-​time-​24-​hours. I’m sure there are guests staying there partying like any hostel. Vancouver Central is definitely a place you can rest that is peaceful without drunken animal noises at 3:30 am.
Bunk bed set-​up, which is pretty standard. Bedrooms were clean. Common areas & kitchen were clean. Bathrooms were clean.
*****Always had hot water*****
Wifi? Shit! I didn’t get on a place for 8 hours to look at a computer screen! That said, it worked fine in the common area.
After a delayed flight & being bumped on my connecting flight, I was worried that my room might be gone & I would need to beg to sleep in the common area for a few hours.
Got to the hostel at 3 am. Terri (sic?) at the front desk said the room was still there and she even put me in a 2-​person dorm I had booked where it was just me. Aaaaahhh. I was very grateful for that after the long journey.
When I left I had a flight leaving at the ass-​crack of dawn. Laurie (sic?) called a cab to be there for me at 4 am. Even gave me a wake up call and hustled my ass out so I wouldn’t miss the cab, which is the the only way to get to the airport that time of day. People, don’t book no 6 am flights.
It was definitely the great people working here that make this hostel a place I’ll remember.
THE…END

I stayed here for five nights while touring through BC. The staff was really friendly, (then again, it’s Canada… Everyone is really nice). They’re round the clock to help out and good people.
The room was decent size, especially if you’re just planning on sleeping. Lockers and sink in the rooms too. The beds we’re clean and pretty comfy.
Overall the place was very clean. The staff does rounds a few times a day for maintenance and are quick and attentive if problems arise
Free breakfast in the mornings until 10am and they have some cool hostel activities for everyone there.
Age range was between 19 and mid 30’s on average. I think same sun backpackers across the street was mostly a younger crowd so if you’re looking for that check them out.
Only thing is the AC unit was a little wonky but it wasn’t too bad.
I definitely recommend this place if you’re planning a cheap but comfortable stay. It was exactly what I needed it to be. Check it out!

this is your typical hostel in an old building. what impressed me though is the customer service provided by their staff. We had a wonderful time during our stay in the hostel. Our host surely knows how to entertain, he lead us to a wonderful bar in the gastown district and we really had a lot of fun.

Hostelling International (HI) has a solid reputation in the hostel industry. I was a fan of several HI hostels in the US, so I recently booked HI again, this time in downtown Vancouver for one night. It is directly across the street from the SameSun Backpacker Lodge. Both hostels are popular amongst travelers because of their desirable location — in close proximity to Granville Street’s nightlife district, Robson Street’s shopping area, and only a 2 mile drive to Stanley Park. The nearest SkyTrain station is only a 5 minute walk away.
A week prior to arrival, I reserved a two bed dorm on
, but when I checked in late at night, the confused receptionist assigned me to a four bed dorm. Their reservation system appeared to be useless and disorganized. It was probably first come first serve and my «reserved» two bed room was already taken. Bad impression, but at least the four bed room is a bit cheaper ($ 37 vs. $ 45).
There were four co-​ed floors of bedrooms. I was fortunate to be assigned to the least noisy region — fourth floor facing away from Granville Street. My room was equipped with an individual locker, sink, closet for storage, and 2 sets of bunk beds. You can turn on the A/​C but it is extremely noisy. The ambiance was basic like a motel or dorm room, but most important to me, the bed was more comfortable than the one at St. Clair Hostel. I was able to sleep for 7 hours interrupted. One interesting aspect is that restroom access requires a keycard to be swiped before entering, just like a dorm. The shower inside was clean and functional. WIFI is fair, not good enough for a Facetime call but OK for checking email. The WIFI password is ridiculously long.
HI-​Vancouver Central is a hostel that I would recommend for anyone staying in Vancouver on a budget, and is simply looking for a comfortable night of sleep plus a place to shower. Why stay at a hotel and pay over $ 100 per night when you’ll be traveling and sightseeing most of the day? Book this hostel instead, and save your money to spend on food or souvenirs in Vancouver. If you’re young and into the nightlife scene, the hostel is only 1 to 2 blocks away from dozens of popular clubs and bars.

The location was great, as my friend and I were easily able to get to places like Granville Island, Robson St, Davie St., and a nice long leisurely walk to Stanley park on a sunny day.
The staff members were very friendly and welcoming, despite the not so inviting façade of the building.
Wi-​Fi unfortunately was not very good. I ended up resorting to not using the internet during my trip. Also, the shower drain would back up every time I took a shower. I’d end up standing in a pool of water when I was done. All in all however, I enjoyed my stay.

I am quite surprised by all those good review for that hostel.
Usually I dont write bad comments but this hostel is such a crap.
We had a private room with ensuite.
It was ugly, old, dirty, cold (even with that crappy weak heater), towels were small and aweful. The window was facing a restaurant’s roof and we could smell, through the closed window, food and especially fat and oil from outside. The ‘bed’ wasnt even a real bed (it had weels under so I think it was what you call can an «extra bed») and was very uncomfortable and noisy. Linen were old and full of dust.
The kitchen wasnt even a real kitchen as there only was a couple of microwaves, you can’t even cook some pasta!
The place isn’t safe as everyone can enter and hangout in the hostel from 7AM to 11PM: we even saw a dealer visiting guys!
Free wifi is such a crap and works barely.
However, it is well located.
Considering you can have a good hotel for the same price, and an awesome room plus great breakfast for 15 dollars more in an hotel from the area, I would recommand you HIGHLY to book another hostel/​hotel rather than this one.

I am a fan of HI hostels and when I needed a place to stay, there was no question that HI would be my first choice. I would have liked to stay at the Jericho Beach location but I need to be in the West End. So the Vancouver Central location was perfect.
I reserved a private room with a bathroom attached for about $ 80+tax and it was a great price for downtown I think. The room was very clean but a bit on the older side. It felt like I was staying at a dim looking dingy motel. Aesthetics aside, it was truly a great deal. Price of room comes with make-​your-​own-​breakfast with plenty of options from bagels to toasts to cereal. No bacon and eggs though.
Their service was super courteous and the front desk was very helpful when it comes to suggesting things to do in the city. The location was also great. It’s a few minutes walk away to Robson and Skytrains and it’s close to Granville Island, the beaches and shops at Granville Street and Pacific Mall. There’s even a bus stop right in front of the hostel! The location is prime.
I would highly recommend this place for those budget minded people looking for a place to stay in expensive Vancouver. Save your money here and spend it on something else better. Why pay a premium on fancy hotels when you should be out all day enjoying the beautiful BC outdoors? =)

great convenient location, right in the heart of the entertainment district (Granville street) downtown. its about 1 block down from the busiest noisiest part of the street. i would have a problem with a room facing the street because of the noise, so i requested a room away from the street and it was perfectly fine. service is friendly. cheap. they offer some tours which are a pretty good deal. obviously, the digs are bare bones. building is old but everything is clean. breakfast includes cereals, breads, muffins, bagels, fruit, juices.
my only complaints are spotty internet in the rooms (you need to go out into the hallway to get a strong signal) and lack of soap in certain places. each floor has a full bathroom with shower and toilet. each floor also has one separate toilet by itself, which only has hand sanitizer. so, if you want to wash your hands in your room, or after using the individual toilet, you have to walk down to the full bathroom to get soap. i recommend just buying a bar.
overall, a very good experience.

This was a great hostel. The staff was super nice and helpful. It was clean enough and I liked the private bathrooms. I stayed in a 4 person room, which was ok but very crammed. It is acceptable if you just need a place to sleep and shower. They have huge lockers in the room and the beds are pretty comfortable. However if I were to come back and had a little more money I would pay for a private room.
The location was really great, close to everything and I liked that Grandville street is closed during weekend nights. The breakfast is actually really good, they have a huge selection, however not much room to sit. They have free wifi too, but it didn’t work too well on the 4^th floor.

My friend and I decided to venture into Vancouver for some «international» adventures and were on a scarce budget. We’d never stayed at a hostel before but decided to give it a try. We booked the four bed room and were prepared to have to share the room with others.
The Hostel was easy to find upon arrival, however parking was a bit more difficult to navigate as it was all metered or pay parking. My friend ended up going inside to check in and ask about parking as I waited in the car at some pay lot down the street. Upon check in, we were upgraded to our own private room with private bath… sweet! The people at the front desk recommended we park at the Holiday Inn covered and gated garage for $ 20 a night. A way better deal than $ 4.50 an hour at the meters.
Or room was on the first floor (but really second) and I was a little weary of the potential noise from the clubs at night. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find how quiet our room was given that we could see Granville from our window. The hostel was located in the center of most attractions and within walking distance. Once we parked and gained an idea of where everything was, it was more convenient and economical to walk. Besides, taking a stroll down the streets provides a better way to get acquainted with any city.
The staff were friendly and available to answer questions ranging from where the bar/​dance scene was to what areas to stay out of (unless seeing people defecate and shoot up is your type of hood). Towels are given out at the front desk and they had a pretty decent selection for a free breakfast. Love that they had fruit. Surprisingly, their coffee was respectable. Tasted fresh and full bodied… didn’t taste cheap and watered down.
One of my favorite things about this hostel was seeing people from different cultures and backgrounds share communal space and interacting. Listening to the different languages, especially in the morning at breakfast, was like a symphony!

this place had all u could look for in a hostel:
–prime location — you are literally right in the middle of everything. at night the streets close down and everyone walks up and down the street doing the nightlife thing.
— sink in the bedroom
–private single bathroom with shower
— living room, tv room
— free wi-​fi
— planned outings
–safety. after 11pm, the building is closed and you have to show your room key to get back in by ringing the doorbell.
— free breakfast
–and does storage for your bigger luggage items
*does get hot and stuff in there when it’s hot out
staff are friendly. we had one staff guy who gave us all the wrong information, including the wrong place to park but the other guy gave us the scoop on where to park for free. this is downtown so they recommended parking in a hotel parking lot for 17/​day but then we were told where to go for the free street parking, a 15 minute walk from the hostel.

I’ve never stayed in a hostel before so maybe I’m going to be a little spoiled after this experience. First off, great location especially if you wanna party (which I of course did). Bars, clubs, and young people from all over the world roaming around. Second, the staff was very friendly. The guy checking us in made us promise to trash our room and get in a fight with someone on the street and told us not to let him down. We did neither, i’m sure he was of course joking, but it made us laugh. The elevator was tiny but it worked and if your going to complain about a tiny elevator then you might need to pull that huge stick out of your ass and get a life! (Their were people that were complaining about that) The hall ways were clean as well as our room. There were clean linens, blankets, & pillows on the beds. Also there were lockers in our room but make sure you bring your own lock. And you really should use your lock, especially if your new roomie, that you’ve never met, assures you that you don’t need to bc you can trust her (this really happened!) Clean bathrooms with showers and a sink in the hallway, also a sink in your bedroom room. We didn’t have any trouble with the a/​c unit. I was also very thankful that when I tried to get upstairs without a key they weren’t havin it. All I had to do was give them my room number & show them my ID. That made me feel pretty safe. For breakfast there were bagels, toast, pastries, cereal, etc. Can’t complain about free food. Free WIFI that worked just fine from our room. It wasn’t fun waiting in line for a shower the next day but, HELLO I was staying in a hostel. And it’s not their fault the french guy in the bathroom was randomly cursing very loud every ten seconds. All this to say I’d stay there again and again. There’s also an Irish Pub next door called Johnnie Fox’s. SO fun. Go there, but watch out for that crazy Canadian liquor tax-​YIKES! Vancouver is amazing, everyone should go there! And this hostel is the best, seriously :)

I’ve stayed here twice and the second time, I was there for a conference. This is a top-​notch hostel. I’ve stayed in hostels in Japan, Greece, the U.S., Italy, Thailand, and other countries. This hostel was very clean and operated efficiently while the front counter staff were friendly and helpful when you need their assistance.
There are 4 people in a room, several private bathrooms (showers, no tubs) in the hallway, lockers in the rooms, free wi-​fi, full kitchen (although not as big and industrial looking as in other hostels), free breakfast (it’s pretty good), and the usual towel & linens.
Also, the location is great, just steps away from Granville station, lots of shops, and a nice walk to the water. It feels safe and at night, there are a lot of young people milling around because there are quite a few night clubs and restaurants open very late.
Finally, there is a bar on the ground floor that has loud music but the people booking your room over the phone are quite open and honest about it and will warn you about it if the only room left is a room on the second floor. I was nearly booked on the second floor the first time I stayed here but they managed to get me a room on a higher floor by the time I checked in. Oh yeah, make sure you book the room and don’t gamble on just walking in and hoping you’ll get a spot.

Our radiator didn’t work and our windows leaked cold air, which was hard in January right after a snow storm. That was the only thing that kept it from getting the fifth star.
The breakfast includes bagels, peanut butter, a variety of cereals, and more.
The location is amazing and the hostel provides lots of information sheets about cool things to do and how to get there.
We were on the fourth floor, so we didn’t hear the club that is in the same building, but I could understand it being audible on the 1^st or 2^nd floor. It definitely brings a more club friendly scene into the hostel and the neighborhood (there are atleast six clubs within a block).
Wi-​fi was spotty, but worked about ²⁄₃ of the time.
I would do it again if I were in town.

Okay, So I’ve stayed at a few Hostels in Vancouver now and know a bit more about the scene.
Location:
This Hostel is downtown on Grainville St. It is within walking distance of most everything; Grainville Market, Stanley Park, Canada Place, Gastown, Robson, Davie. It is also very convenient for taking the bus (anywhere in Vancouver, including UBC, Tsawassen ferries & airport) or the Skytrain or Seabus.
The Scene:
Here is basically your college club scene, with dance music blasting from all the clubs until at least 4am. Loads of drunk girls wearing next to nothing, and yuppie guys trying to take them home.
The facilities:
I was in a 4bed Female Dorm, which was nice and clean. Very stuffy and hot during the heatwave though. Bathrooms were readily available and clean, private single occupancy toilet & showers. Free towels, no deposit on key card, computers with internet, and a free breakfast every morning.
(toast, muffins, fruit, coffee)
Hope this helps you in your search for the right hostel, whatever you do DONT stay down near Cambie/​Hastings I don’t care how cheap the hostel is. Yikes!