Canmore Downtown Hostel — Hotel in Alberta

This hostel is amazing and I have stayed at a few in the area. This hostel is the newest in the region so everything is top of the line. They have put a lot of thought into the building and whereas others nearby have cut corners. You will enjoy your stay here.

Note: This review compares this hostel against the other hostel available downtown and does not include the HI Canmore.

There is staff to greet you and assist you when needed and this is a service that the other hostel cannot provide; it is often another guest guiding you through check in simply because they are in the kitchen & common area which new guests confuse for reception. There is a large common room and the kitchen is its own room down the hall.

There is table space to plan your day but also a TV and couch and chairs to unwind at the end of the day and there is seperate seating in the kitchen unlike the other hostel where there is limited seating. Their common room is located in one corner of the building so rooms down the other hallway will likely not hear anything from there (and they enforce a quiet time starting at 11PM)

By comparison, the other hostel is located above a bar so expect no quiet until after 2AM on Fridays or Saturdays but there is usually party going until the early morning hours every second day. And because their kitchen is located in the middle of the hostel and they have little for sound insulation expect little sleep (and the premium rooms are located right beside the kitchen).

The kitchen has all the implements you could possibly need and is also incredibly organized and clean. There are large commercial fridges here and trays to keep your items organized and seperated from the others. There is more than enough room for their capacity but, if not, there is plenty of food options downstairs or nearby.

The rooms at this Hostel are amazing. I have stayed in a private room and now a dorm room and they are well kept. In the private room I had my own private bathroom but an outlet right by the bed complete with USB ports and a switch for a personal light above the bed. And even a TV. At the other hostel there is no personal light or switch near the bed or even USB ports or even a TV. If you did have a plug in the room there was a power bar attached to the wall with a metal strap and I have had one or two slip and spark.

The private rooms are located down the other hallway away from the kitchen and the common room and reception which provides a buffer from the noise if there is any which there isn't really because they also enforce quiet hours whereas the other hostel seems to pride itself on being a nightclub that you might be able to sleep in with parties nearly every night (or live music or karaoke in the pub below).

Every room has a great view, even the common room.

Speaking from someone who has tried both hostels, you pay a bit more but you get so much more. With the other hostel what you save in the daily rate you pay for in ear plugs and/or sleeping pills and even that is not enough.

One item I would like to see is maybe a table that is positioned beside the bed and folds down from the wall (or slides under the bed) in case I want to use my laptop in my room instead of the common room (even just a TV tray to borrow would be fine). There is plenty of space in the common room and also in the shops below but I imagine that things can get a little cramped in the busy season. I also like to sleep with the window open but couldn't because The Shops of Canmore play music in the parking lot at all hours for...

Don't be fooled by this property's great ratings. Perhaps if you're a backpacker going for a more "rugged" experience, you'll have less "grand" expectations for accommodation, in which case you will probably be happy with the bare minimum this accommodation provides, and you'll probably give this property a good rating. I've stayed in other hostels before and this one does not compare well.

It seems in this case that because this property has become used to great ratings, they have started letting some things, including service, slide. Great ratings does not mean you can get away with poor service. I would have given the stay two stars, but the extremely poor response I received from the property manager when I emailed them after our stay has definitely made it a one star. It's unfortunate zero stars isn't possible.

We booked a private triple room, and the ad said that the room featured a stovetop, oven and kitchenware. Therefore, our group planned our meals for our stay accordingly. Upon arriving, however, we saw that this was not the case and that only a shared kitchen was available. We asked the receptionist about this, and all she offered to do was to change the information for the room online. No additional help or plans was offered to us to help make our stay more convenient following the incorrect room info, which caused some problems with the food for our vacation that we had planned originally.

I emailed the manager about this afterwards, and the manager was extremely rude, and not helpful at all and seemed more worried about me leaving a bad review and me causing them to "lose business" because of a bad review. After receiving a response from the manager, I replied again with more questions or comments and the manager flat out ignored my further communication.

Other notes about the accommodation:

The bathroom sink was very small and if you accidentally splashed some water in the space behind the sink, it would drip off to the floor, leaving a puddle. It was very hard not to splash water in the space behind the sink because the sink was so tiny. There was no place to put your soap or other cleaning products in the bathroom. I had to put my bar of soap on the shower's edge.

There was no cupboard in the room. There is a random chair in the corner of the room. It would have been nice if the property could use this space for a small cupboard instead.

The one plug point near the double bed didn't work, and the top bunk bed doesn't have its own night light like the other beds in the room have.

The private rooms offer no sound barrier to what goes on in the communal lounge and kitchen areas. It was super noisy until late at night with people yelling and laughing, playing music on instruments they brought with them.

I'm glad we didn't book more than two nights at this property, but I wish we...

The Canmore Downtown Hostel is my go-to place to stay when I visit Canmore on a yearly basis. I most recently stayed in September 2022 for 9 nights and this was my fourth stay at the hostel. I always stay in the 8-bed mixed gender dorm with private bathroom. Dorm H is my favourite as there are amazing mountains views from the large window!

The hostel is brand new (built in 2019), modern, clean and comfortable. It is located in the Shops of Canmore area on the second floor of one of the buildings along the Bow Valley Trail. There is a large parking lot and parking is free for hostel guests if you have a car (make sure to get a tag from the staff to put on your dash). The hostel is within a short walking distance from town and all services/restaurants/shops.

The hostel has a beautiful, cozy, spacious and welcoming lounge next to the lobby with a large couch, tables and bean bag chairs, along with a TV (with Netflix and cable). There are floor to ceiling windows on all sides with stunning views of the mountains! The Wi-Fi is fast and reliable. The guest kitchen was open from 5 am to 10:30 pm and has pots, cooking utentils, plates, cutlery, etc. There is also a large fridge for storing your food items and lockers for dry goods (make sure to label them). I loved the bulletin board that they have in the lounge where you can post notes about looking for hiking partners, buy and sell, etc.

The dorms are spacious, clean and cozy. I liked that each bed had a privacy curtain, light, shelf and outlets for charging. The lockers are large enough to fit multiple backpacks (bring your own lock). It was convenient to have a washroom and shower inside the dorm, but you can also book dorms for cheaper with shared washrooms/showers outside of the dorm.

The front desk staff are always friendly and helpful. You can purchase or rent bear spray for reduced prices at the hostel, which is recommended when hiking in the Banff and Kananaskis areas.

I always enjoy my stays at this hostel and it is starting to feel like a second home to me. Would highly recommend for budget-friendly...