My 6 Favorite Hostels in Vancouver

Posted: 12/28/2019 | December 28th, 2019

Vancouver is one of my favorite cities in the world. It’s filled with delicious food (there’s lots of amazing sushi here), spacious parks (don’t miss Stanley Park), and is close to both the mountains and the ocean. The city consistently ranks in the top five best places to live in the world — and it’s no surprise why. It’s a wonderful, wonderful city that I’ve loved ever since I first visited in 2004 with my family.

Since then, I’ve come back a handful of times to explore it on my own. I’ve seen the city change a lot of the last fifteen years — and one of the things that has changed for the benefit of us travelers is that there are a lot more hostels. Vancouver now has one of the best hostel scenes in Canada, and you won’t be disappointed with what you find here.

Below are my favorite hostels in Vancouver. They offer incredible value and have all the facilities you’ll need too!

1. Cambie Hostel Seymour

Cambie Hostel Seymour is located in Gastown, a hip area of Vancouver loaded with bars and restaurants. This hostel is pretty basic and small (dorms are two or four beds), and the hostel itself doesn’t have much ambience: expect bare rooms and bathrooms in need of a refresh. But guests don’t stay here because of the property; they stay because of its prime location and easy access to other destinations in the city and to the airport. But there is a common area and a “chill room,” which comes complete with its very own hostel cat.

If you’re cooking, the kitchen isn’t huge and seating is limited, but the hostel also makes it easy to go out and dine. They offer $5 off breakfast at the popular Cambie Bar, a part of the Gastown sister hostel a quick walk down the road (see below). Below the hostel is the popular Malone’s Social Lounge & Tap (the reason for the late-night noise) and Chihuahuas Mexican Grill, so you can eat and drink without going far. Because of its proximity to the bars, it gets loud at night. If you want a lively hostel, stay here.

Beds from $25 USD, privates from $55 USD for the night

—> Book your stay at Cambie Hostel Seymour!

2. Cambie Hostel Gastown

This Gastown hostel offers comfortable beds, a small common room to meet and mingle in, and access to Gastown’s restaurants and bars. This includes The Cambie, the hostel’s bar, which draws in crowds of locals. It can get incredibly loud, so bring some noise-cancelling headphones because basic earplugs won’t cut it. Like its sister hostel a few blocks away, there’s also housecat to keep you company (if you’re allergic to cars, bring allergy meds).

Housed in a building dating back to the late 1800s, it’s in need of a little renovation. The hostel has a small kitchen and the showers are close to the toilets, which makes it cramped. Its location is its main selling point, though, so if you’re not expecting anything special other than direct access to Gastown and all it has to offer, this is a good place for you.

Beds from $23 USD, rooms from $53 USD a night

—> Book your stay at Cambie Hostel Gastown!

3. HI Vancouver Central

Like many of the other hostels in town, HI Vancouver Central is an old building, which means the property could use a little love. Fortunately, the rooms here offer comfortable beds and every room has a ensuite bathroom. Choose from two-bed or four-bed dorms or private four-bed rooms. Located on Granville Street, it’s in the heart of the action, with many pubs and clubs around, making it noisy at night (but lively and fun too).

The hostel has a free breakfast serving bagels and other baked goods, as well as some fruit and cereal. It has a small common room and basic kitchen with only a toaster, microwave, and kettle. HI also offers tours daily, to destinations around town as well as a pub crawl.

Beds from $29 USD a night, rooms from $52 USD a night

—> Book your stay at HI Vancouver Central!

4. HI Vancouver Downtown

Tucked into a quieter part of the city, HI Vancouver Downtown is a good spot for heading out to explore popular Granville and Davie Streets, which offer plenty of cafés, restaurants, and shopping. It’s also a quick walk to the beach and ferries to Granville Island (where you’ll find lots of shopping), as well as walking distance to the beautiful Stanley Park.

The hostel itself isn’t all that impressive: the dorms don’t have enough outlets to accommodate every bed, the bathrooms are old and can be a bit musty, and the Wi-Fi doesn’t work very well. But the hostel does have a free continental breakfast, a game room with foosball and pool, a library, and a TV room. It also runs tours and has bike rentals so you can easily explore more of the city.

Beds from $29 USD, rooms from $71 USD a night

—> Book your stay at HI Vancouver Downtown!

5. Samesun Vancouver

The Samesun chain of hostels consistently rank as some of the best in the cities where they are located. Samesun Vancouver is no exception. My favorite feature of this hostel is in the six-bed dorms, which offer cozy pod beds and give you a bit more privacy than normal bunks, as well as your own light, shelf, and outlets. The bathrooms are clean, and there are plenty of them, so you’re not left waiting in line.

There’s a lot to love at this hostel. It’s has a decent free breakfast including eggs and hot cereal, a full kitchen, common areas for meeting people and relaxing, daily hikes, and even the Beaver Bar, a lounge serving food and beer with a daily happy hour.

The only real downsides of Samesun are the small rooms (it’s hard to maneuver in the four-bed dorm), the lack of elevators (so you’ve got to haul your belongings up flights of stairs), and Wi-Fi that doesn’t work well, if at all.

Its location is excellent, however: it’s in the Granville district, which is loaded with bars and restaurants, and near historic Gastown. Like most other hostels in the city, it’s located in an area where the bars are open late, so if you’re sensitive to noise, bring earplugs.

Beds from $27 USD, rooms from $75 USD a night

—> Book your stay at Samesun Vancouver!

6. Vancouver Backpacker House

The Vancouver Backpacker House is about as barebones as it can get — it has only a self-check-in so you have to contact the staff in advance, it does not accept credit cards without a huge fee, the rooms don’t have enough lockers, and its location is not in the city proper. It also has some interesting house rules, like not all of the bathrooms are open to use all of the time. The 10-bed dorm room is in the basement, and, oddly, the private rooms have interior windows. Depending on the room you book, you may have to walk to another building once you’ve checked in.

But if you’re on a tight budget and the other hostels are packed, this place works. It’s near public transit that takes you into the city in about 15 minutes.

Beds from $23 USD, rooms from $41 USD a night

—> Book your stay at Vancouver Backpacker House!

***

While the hostel scene in Vancouver may not be as extensive as other parts of the world, you’ll still find lots of suitable options here. In an expensive city like Vancouver, hostels are your best option if you’re on a budget — especially if you’re looking to enjoy the city’s rambunctious nightlife.

Just make sure you have some good earplugs or noise-canceling headphones if you’re a light sleeper. This is a lively city, after all!

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