YWCA Banff — Hotel in Banff

*lived here as part of staff accommodation

The rooms are a good size w a roommate, I’ve stayed in smaller ones for sure. There’s one long desk, 2 wardrobes, and a space to hang clothing. You and your roommate share a bathroom. It’s a bit expensive considering you’re with a roommate and share a kitchen with a whole floor, but at least all utilities are included. The cons are there is no air conditioning and it can get brutally hot on the fourth floor in the summer. Definitely being a fan. At the moment there is only warm water 50% of the time. The staff are nice but can be way too strict. They threw away several pots, pans, plates, cutlery, and cups I had just bought (still in packaging) because it wasn’t labeled in the kitchen, even though they had never assigned me a spot to put my things. Said they would get back to me and never did. Cost me lots of money. A bunch of peoples food was thrown out even though it was labeled, but on the wrong shelf (there was no one living there for that space so we all used it. Never got notice to move things.) i do appreciate that they change out the sponges and t towels in the kitchen regularly. We could definitely use some paper towel in there though. The wifi was good when I first came here, but the last few weeks nothing loads so everybody has been using their data or going to cafes. They provide you with bedding (no duvet just blanket) and it’s not bad, apart from the squeaky and sinking mattresses. Also there’s coin laundry in the building which is really nice, but it has eaten like 15$ worth of coins that don’t register on the machine. This place could be so much better if they just fixed a few things. Please stop throwing peoples stuff out. At least have a lost and found bin you keep for a week or something. That’s everyone’s biggest issue here. If you need maintenance they are super timely and get stuff done right away. The building is super close to everything. There are a few sketchy people here (there’s a portion of the building that acts as a shelter) but they mostly just ignore you. There are worse...

This ‘hotel’ was very deceiving and misleading in how it is advertised. I stayed here for 5 nights and I was pleased to be leaving by the last night. Upon entering and walking around on the first night, it became very clear to me that the ‘hotel’ was indeed also a shelter for homeless individuals and women fleeing domestic violence. I do not have an issue with businesses/enterprises supporting these groups (I think they are wonderful causes), although never at any point for the staff or prior to the stay, was I informed about the shared accomodation space. Had I had known prior to booking or upon check in that this space was equally offered to homeless individuals and domestic violence victims, I would’ve much preferred to stay at another location. Again, my issue is the lack of information on this and I was led to discover this across the days of my stay. On different occasions I was followed into the hotel and asked for cigarettes and money, tried to shut the door behind me for safety, and the person entered starlight behind me as they had access (presumably staying in the homeless accomodation). This made me feel unsafe and fearful in my room and walking the hallways. This sort of behaviour was not uncommon and happened the entire stay. There is no security and the receptionists are often not at the counter to call for help. As a female, I was not comfortable walking into this building late at night and this is certainly not a place for families, or singles to be honest. The location was ideal and the rooms were ok, although housekeeping needed to be requested several times and often wasn’t done even...

YWCA is an extremely overpriced, dirty and outdated hotel with awful customer service. Stayed here in August and had multiple bad experiences. From the U.S. so we barely had cell service (not a big deal but would have liked to talk to family/friends while away) and the wifi didn't work at all. We had a private room with a private bathroom. Both were tiny and dirty with no appliances or even a dresser. There was no air flow at all and with august heat, it was extremely stuffy. There's also a daycare directly behind the building that lets the kids outside early in the morning. We came back from a night out with two friends and after five minutes of them being in our room, we had the night worker pounding on our door screaming at us to kick them out. Bald, 30ish and kept repeating "I can kick you out and you'll have one hell of a time trying to find a room right now I can guarantee that" while we were in the process of getting their things together to leave. I asked him if we got a noise complaint or anything and he said "nope just watched you guys walk in". He was extremely threatening about the entire situation and not professional at all especially considering we are young, small and would've been more than happy to do so without the screaming. The following day we came back from a hiking trip and my rayban sunglasses I had left out on the nightstand mysteriously disappeared after our room had been cleaned. The only thing this place has going for it is the location and the blonde younger woman who works at the desk. Couldn't recommend...