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Ocean Island Backpackers InnVancouver Island (Victoria) |
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 Location/Contact Details
Ratings & Comments
Cool, positive, attractive, progressive, well run establishment cool, positive, attractive, progressive, well run establishment.
Clean, fun, and well priced I have stayed here a few times and it has always been awesome! The staff are really nice and go out of their way to help you. There rooms come in all shapes and sizes -- their mini rooms really are mini but at $32 a night for one person in downtown Victoria you are getting amazing value for money! Since my last visit, they have painted the building and start renovating their bathrooms. They also have a licensed cafe on site and the food is actually really good! Try the chickpea and lentil curry. Ocean Island is by far the best budget accommodation in Victoria.
Seedy location I stayed at this hostel a few years ago. It's near downtown Victoria, but in a seedy and unsafe part of town. Lots of homeless and drug addicts around the area of the hostel. When I was there, there were too many long term residents there, who were not friendly. There was a lot of bathrooms, but the water in mine was either scalding hot or ice cold. The people in my coed dorm room were friendly, but clothing seemed to be optional day or night as the room was so hot and the windows barely opened. Some girls also were not aware they were in a coed room until they arrived. Not a big deal for them, but be sure to confirm what you want when you book.
Funky, friendly hostel I've been at Ocean Island for seven months because I came to Victoria to go
to school, but I'm still at Ocean Island even though I graduated last month. Here is the best place to live, that's why. I had never felt tired of staying here because Ocean Island is so nice, funky, and cool. Front desk staff are so friendly, kind, and cute! The bar is always crowded especially Wednesday night! There is open mic on Wednesdays, it's one of my favorite weekly events. I can talk to somebody anytime, never feel lonesome, that's awesome! so I definitely recommend Ocean Island if you visit Victoria. Then you can understand why I've stayed so long.
My home away from home This is a very good place, kept clean, and the staff were friendly (one gave me a piece of cake!) and helpful. It is a block away from the main street, and two from the grocery store. I really liked the vibe there. There was a lounge with real musicians. Lots of local artsy types came along and it was quite a positive experience overall. I would definitively come back!
Perfect -- especially for couples! My girlfriend and I have been staying at hostels all over Canada, and as soon as they told us we could get a private room cheaper than two dorm beds, we were like "say what?" You usually have to book way ahead of time to get your own room, but this place has so many, we just walked in and got ourselves hooked up in this awesome little room that looked out over the rooftops! Sunsets! Alone time! Sex! Thank you Ocean Island, for the Q time!
Good time for the money. Sounds like you either love OI or hate it. I didn't have any mix-ups with my room or anything, though it was smaller than I expected. Still it was great for the price. The bathrooms were perfectly decent, the kitchen was nice, and the bar was an unexpected bonus! I'd definitely go again.
Very cool lobby and bar. There was an open session the night that we arrived.
We were too mean to pay for a double room so we got the discounted SMALL room that was (in my eyes anyway) an old janitors room. We were warned that it was very small and had no window in advance but it was still unbelievable to pay 44 dollars for a cupboard with a fold down bed onto the floor. Makethe bed yourself and lie alongside the cabinets and fridge. We could only laugh as we were so tired.
Anyway we were lucky, another couple had to pay 44 dollars and wait until we finished watching telly so they could turn the sofa we were sitting on into their bed. They were mortified as the television room became their bedroom.
I am a forty-eight year old veteran of cheap travel. This old Victorian hotel reminded me of the hostels of my youth, complete with patchwork painted walls and fringe! There are lots of social areas -- to include a small café. The rooms, beds, and sheets were clean and the common areas are scrubbed in the early morning each day. I found the multi-bed rooms to be quieter than the smaller rooms. The Inn sits in the middle of a very exciting part of town where everything is within walking distance. They even have a secured parking area. Unfortunately, I opted not to pay the deposit and found myself scrambling for the meter every few hours! Next time.
if this hostel was a musician, it'd be keith richards.
right off the bat, we were given a key to a room that was already occupied, (we wanted private room) so I immediately questioned the safety of my belongings in the hostel. the bathrooms were gross, and we always had to wait to get in. The bedroom was tiny, though not nearly as tiny as the first bedroom we were granted access to accidentally. The staff (aside from one sweet bartender) was uninformative, and could not even give us answers to simple questions that we would expect the staff to know. The vending machine ate our money, and the staff was so busy (and understaffed in my opinion) that we could not even let them know. The internet access is very convenient, and private, so that was cool. On the flip side, we met some awesome people from all over the place.
Wow. I feel like I stayed at a completely different hostel than some of the people that have already rated Ocean Island. I've backpacked all over the world, and rarely have I ever felt so welcome, secure, and comfortable in a hostel. I stayed in a female only dorm and met some amazing girls from Japan, Australia, Korea, and the UK. They have a really neat program where you can pay for your dorm bed by doing some work. Since I'd already paid, I helped out with the laundry and got coupons for spending in the bar! How awesome is that? It was a really great night with a super busy open mic thing going on in the common areas. It was cool to see people I recognized as guests performing for all the other guests! Anyhow, I just don't understand all the negative comments on here... it almost makes me believe they've rated the wrong hostel or something...!
Having travelled the world for over two years now, this has to be the worst place we stayed in. Filthy bathrooms and showers. The small double room is a broom cupboard with cardboard walls! The staff made a noise throughout the night -- although we paying guests were under a noise curfew after midnight!! They were busy, abrupt, uninformative, and unhelpful on reception with little local knowledge of bus routes etc. None of the usual Canadian hospitality. Moneygrabbers who do not refund your money when you want to leave the place early, giving them more than 24hrs notice.
I seriously agree with all the negative comments posted here and wish I had looked at this site before I booked at Ocean Island. When you look at there website it looks fantastic, I was so excited. When we got there I was devastated. No joke, it was that bad I cried for half an hour.
I booked a double room and it was filthy. AND I MEAN REALLY FILTHY. These rooms are not cleaned and the photos on the internet must have been taken like 20 years ago and that was the last time they cleaned the place.
The sheets had not been changed, and the rooms smelt like stale pot smoke. I've never felt more insecure in a place in my life and I've stayed in red light districts all over the world and felt like my person and belongings were safer there.
If you like slumming it, filth, rudeness, incompetantcy and the like then sure stay here but when you're travelling/backpacking and you're tired, hungry, dirty, irritable you dont want to stay in a sh*thole like this. Lucky I really enjoyed Victoria because I spent so much time away from the hostel for the reason that I couldn't stand being there.
I'm fairly surprised to see such harsh comments about this hostel on here. I stayed here for about a week in July. I got a super cheap room, almost as cheap as if I had stayed in the dorm. There were tons of friendly people, guests and staff, many of which I already miss! The staff at the front desk was really helpful with suggesting places to eat or go out or whatever. I met the owner on my last day... he actually helped me carry my bags to the Tofino Bus (which stops right at the front door!!). This is one of my favourite Canadian hostels... I felt like part of a family for the week that I was there. I would recommend it to anyone. Have you visited this Hostel? Post your comments here.
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3.6 Average from 23 Ratings
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