We stayed 2 nights at the HI in Penticton.
I have to mention we booked a dorm room as a private. If you're more than 2people it's really worth it! The room was big enough and nicely decorated.
We had 2 nice and quiet nights in the HI Penticton, though it was a little cold. They have a big kitchen and common area that is well equipped.
The staff is friendly and the washrooms are allright. Though there was one that was very small.
The hostel is close to the city centre and what we found really nice is that there's a board on which you can find recommendations of the staff as far as restaurants and cafesare concerned.

We stayed here for 1 night and there were some rough looking characters staying there. Staff told us that one guy has been living there for 4 months. He looked like he just got out of jail. We think he was following us because he kept showing up suddenly whenever we went to use the bathroom or when we went into the kitchen. We couldn't stand using the kitchen. The staff was not honest with us. They should have told us these kind of people were living there. Hostelling International has certain standards and people are not supposed to be living there, especially people that make others feel unsafe. They were happy to take our money though. Hostel was otherwise clean but cold. They could have turned up the heat. The impression we first got of it is that is a rooming house for derelicts. We left with that impression too.

I stayed at this hostel for one night while travelling with my husband and 4 year old daughter. They made us feel very welcome. When we mad our reservation they told us that the family room was already booked but that the 3 of us could have a room designed for 4 people to ourselves. The room was perfect.

And though we were the only family (with young children) that we saw we were made to feel very welcome. There was a wide variety of travelers: of all ages, singles, couples, local and international travelers.

This is a renovated heritage home. Which means (similiar to other hostels which are renovated historic buildings) that all the rooms are different and can vary greatly in shape and design. It looked to me as all the "bunkrooms" had 2 bunks in them.

The bedrooms and common areas were clean. Lots of information about local attractions were available. I liked the location - it was walking distance to the beach but in a quiet are of penticton. The hostel itself was very quiet at night. Penticton is hot in the summer and though we were told there was air conditioning it didn't seem to kick on until about 3am.

There is limited free parking available. But we lucked out as the meter parking out front wasn't in effect during the evening nor on Sundays and were staying on a Saturday night.

I was in a bad mood when I arrived here, staying in kelowna and kamloops just before for a few nights, I was overloaded and glad for a break, the check in was simple and easy to find my way around after a welcome from the staff and orientation.
Plus the staff were very helpful, arranging my orientation and helping to check in for my vancouver stay later,,
It was a very good price considering the price of some other HI in Canada..


Unique Qualities: FREE internet station(with donations)
Unique staff members
Great nights out at the hockey matches of the penticton vee's..
Bike hire
Nice tv room underneath and quiet nights on occasion,