Stayed at Samesun middle of July for a couple of nights. the hostels location rivals that of other more expensive hotels!! (its on the main drag on Banff Avenue) Yes the room was an 8 bed dorm, however it had lots of windows to let in air and light, plenty of plug sockets for everyones gadgets, and a bathroom in the dorm too, which meant no wandering down the corridor to the bathrooms in your PJ's!! it was $35 a night to stay but after being in Banff for some time now this is cheap!! The kitchen was always clean and tidy (for a backpackers) If you want privacy and more creature comforts spend the money and stay at a hotel, but if your looking for something cheap, and a bed for a couple of nights definately stay at Samesun!!

This place was awesome. Some of the nicest rooms I've come across! Spacious, clean and ensuite so you have a bit more privacy than in most hostels.

The bar downstairs was fun and an easy place to make friends. A group of swiss guys were nice enough to invite me to join their team for scattegories night!

They have a lot of claims which doesn't live up to the money it costed ($70 for two people per night):
Parking: only about 10 spots in total for about 100 people. 3 or 4 of those spots are always "reserved", meaning the guests have no access.

Pancake Breakfast: a bowl of pancake batter for you to make it yourself. The kitchen/cooking equipment is not enough to accommodate the people during rush hour.
We checked in 4 hours later than what we indicated, and for some reason they still didn't have beds ready. When I got in, we saw a guy changing his underwear on his bed (there is a bathroom for that!), and the place smelled terrible. I was shocked by how messy and dirty the room was as well. If my girlfriend didn't tell me that there are better hostels out there, I don't think I'll ever go live in a hostels again.

The room: We (a young couple) were put in a room with long term stayers, so the room was never cleaned. They have no maximum stay limit so there are many people who 'live' at the hostel. The long term stayers just leave their stuff anywhere in the room, which I didn't even have a place to sit.
The place is poorly lighted, and awkwardly designed. I sleep at the top bunk of a bed, and there was a light shining just 10 cm above my pillow. Worst thing is, the switch is about 2 meters away near the floor, so there's no way I can turn off the light while I am in bed.
The bed was uncomfortable and loud, as you literally feel you are sleeping on the springs, and every time someone turns in their sleep, the whole room can hear it.
The place is really loud as people like to party downstairs until very late in the bar downstairs. I can hear the music easily from third floor, even with the door closed.
The other people store their private belongings in the bathroom, so we didn't even have space to rest our toothpaste while brushing teeth. One girl left her money in the bathroom as well. One day, as my girlfriend was showering in the bathroom, the girl wanted to get her money from the bathroom to buy a drink. Apparently she needed a drink from the bar downstairs so bad that she even claimed, "I swear I feel like kicking the door down soon if your girlfriend doesn't open the bathroom door."
In my room, there isn't enough lockers for people to store their things. I just left most of the stuff in my car trunk, and hope people won't touch my stuff. All these things make my entire staying feeling very sketchy and insecure.

Lastly, the place only had air conditioning in the first floor. So second and third floor were poorly ventilated and it was like a furnace. While the temperature outside was in a comfortable 22 degrees Celsius, it was about 30 degrees inside. For some reason, the window couldn't be opened either, so the only thing you have is this old and loud fan in the room going all night.

So in summary:
this place is expensive, dirty/messy, and loud. The bed is uncomfortable and the whole place feels sketchy as hell. If you have a car, for the same money, I would just stay in Canmore or somewhere else.

This place is for you, if:
you like to party.
you are a backpacker and planning to stay here long term.
You don't have the car, so you can just walk to the town and work part time.

A great hostel! Everything was good. Free breakfast, cool bar to meet people, rooms spacious. I Had a room away from the bar, otherwise people said the music was loud on some nights. But was a great place in a great location and would highly recommend it to everyone of all ages