As a hostel, this is great. Great location, great common room, rooms reasonable, a bit short on bathrooms, spotlessly clean and with excellent outdoor sitting areas for sunny days. No problems with this at all.


BUT- it is a hostel. It is not a hotel. You meet all sorts of people here, some great, some good, some cool, some boring and some less than pleasant. But that is part of travelling.

The double rooms are in the basement, which is fine, clean etc, and I have no problem with this at all.

No breakfast- you have to make your own. but free coffee. and it is good. So that is a huge bonus. The canadian staff or pseudo staff who work here are superb and friendly. The european staff who work here vary. Some are knowledgable, and some are clearly here for the job. But I am in the hospitality game, so my standards are probably too high.

I stayed here as I was on a budget. It was fine for me. I would definately stay again if I needed the same facilities again and was on a budget. The atmosphere was fine.

Price wise I thought this was the only downer- it was a bit pricey for the quality of product, but the cheapest hotel was twice the price, so the whole of Ottawa is probably expensive.

The hostel itself was cute but in a shady area. Didn't feel too safe walking home once it got dark. Staff was quite friendly but too few bathrooms for the amount of people staying at the hostel. Didn't like having to pay extra for towels. And last but not least...I woke up one morning with 27 bites...turns out they were bed bugs! I have heard that others who stayed at this hostel also got bed bugs. I really don't think I would stay here again! They need to focus more on their hygiene!!!!!!!!!!!!

I stayed here for 7 nights in October. I was a bit worried, I haven't stayed in a hostel for 25 years but it was great. The location is downtown, very central, 10 minutes walk from the center. Some of the previous reviews have mentioned that it is not the best area, and yes, there are a couple of homeless shelters nearby but I never felt uncomfortable by this and Ottawa feels like a very safe city. The hostel is very friendly, clean, homely. I was pleasantly surprised by the facilities, the bathrooms where good, the kitchen was large and well stocked. I think some people expect far too much for their money. I had some great conversations with other travelers from all over the world. I didn't find it noisy or smelly and would definitely stay there again or recommend it to friends. This is a backpackers hostel not a smart hotel, and if you bear that in mind, it is a great place to stay.

Staffs are mean and irresponsible with no respect or sympathy, at all! It can never be a Canadian attitude!