HI Vancouver Jericho Beach - Hostel

Location and Accessibility: The hostel is situated near Jericho Beach, offering easy access to the beach, nearby transit stops, and a peaceful, safe neighborhood. Its proximity to the beach and short walking distance to bus routes enhance its appeal for travelers seeking a relaxed environment.

The worst hostel of my trip! Having just come from HI Jasper, which was fantastic, this place is a dump. No free towels, which all the other HI places have had. The dorms and bathrooms are just large and “historic”, they seemed fine. But the kitchen was dirty and messy, with the fridges and food storage areas totally full (so I had to jam my food in the fridge and keep cupboard stuff in the dorm). It’s probably fine if you don’t want to cook but this place isn’t for me. I was supposed to be coming back again but have cancelled and booked elsewhere.

The good: 1. Very very very friendly and extremely helpful, patient and knowledgeable front desk. I've stayed in so many hostels around the world and I don't think I've ever had such an amazing consistent experience. They have great day trips, movie nights, nice things planned for the visitors. 2. The beds are comfy, have exhaustive charging points and I love how the provided cupboards have lock option.... provides great security for your belongings 3. Lovely area - the beach is a stone's throw away and it's just amazing to unwind and watch sunset after a tiring long day. 4. Hostel and neighbourhood truly feels amazing, ambient, peaceful and most importantly- safe. I saw single women hanging out past sunset by the beach by themselves (which is like 10pm in the summer!) without fear of any dodgy characters around. Such a blessing in today's world. I don't even think downtown Van feels this safe! 5. Nice building with history. It has a certain old world charm (of course, with mod-cons). 6. Ample ample ample parking place for those driving in. No parking by the side roads or anything.. just remember there's a CAD 14 fee per night. The not-so-good: Where to begin?! The efficiency and "soft product" experience ruins an otherwise solid "hard product" experience. 1. Extremely badly managed bathrooms - first off, they choose to do their daily cleaning during the hours of 9a-10a which is kind of when the hostel is at its busiest. One of the 2 big men's was being cleaned at the time, we were directed to the other one except that the shower area in that bathroom has been cordoned off. Result - loads of us stuck with towels in hand. I heard everything about how folks here are working on a voluntary basis blah blah...honestly it's a lame excuse. Try getting the volunteers or pay someone to actually clean it during off peak hours (like a 12p/1p) which is when most hostels clean up 2. No toilet paper in some of the toilets right after the cleaners left! I ran behind one of them to remind them and they said they forgot. How can you not stock toilet paper in a toilet? When I told the reception, I was told "it happens". LOL! 3. Poor wifi all over except in the noisiest part of the building: the reception. 4. Poor kitchen amenities - for example: this is the first hostel where there was a made queue for the coffee cups! Yes.... for such a large kitchen, they had less than a dozen. It was kind of sad seeing folks queueing up by the sink just to wait for someone else to wash their coffee up so we could grab it. Coffee mugs don't cost a lot at Ikea guys....buy some more! I wish I'd brought my own cups. 5. I had my own car but I heard from others that the public transport options were limited (although, in all fairness, it is called out clearly on the HI website) 6. I'm listing this as #6 even though it's not important to me personally: not the kind of hostel to socialise. It's so big a lot of people kept to themselves.