Cambie Hostel - Nanaimo

Awful -- stay away!
Tempting due to its low cost, but spending a bit more for a better place is well worth your money! This place is so gross that I can't believe we decided to stay there. To begin with, the room was a windowless box, devoid of AC, or even a fan. Fortunately it wasn't hot outside when we stayed there. The mattress was one of the worst we'd ever slept on, like sleeping directly on a box spring. The sheets had hair on them (to be fair, the bartender got us fresh sheets after we pointed this out). The bathroom floor was dirty. The toilet was leaky, so it alternately trickled and filled continuously, all night long. The lighting was dim. The kitchen was broken-down and dingy. And there was loud music till midnight. Really, the bartenders were as nice as could be, but they couldn't save this place from being disgusting and a really poor choice for even the budget-minded traveler.

i fell in love with the waitress there! it's rock n' roll.

That is the worst hostel I've ever been. It smelled, the toilet was out of order, the heater didn't work (in January), and the music from downstairs was shaking my bed until 1 a.m. And nobody told me something when I checked in. Stay away from this place!

My room had no ventilation so it was uncomfortably warm. We were not warned about the loud music that would be emanating from the bar and rattling our walls. Upon our first complaint we were promised it would end at 1 am. It didn't end until 1:30 and the bar noise lasted until around 2. The check out time is also ironically earlier than any other hostel I've stayed at (10 a.m.). The assistant manager was nice but wasn't there till morning. The night bar staff were basically clueless and unhelpful. It was not clean and a little smelly. The sheets had stains and holes. When asked for replacements, more of the same. The graffiti on the beds said more of these same type of comments.

The staff person confirmed the fact that weekends are noisy due to the band downstairs. My partner is 42 and I am 60. I am presently seeking to cancel my reservation. They did not clarify their cancellation policy at the time the reservation was made. (Mine was a telephone reservation made to 877-754-5323. No cancellation policy was cited. Their Web site cites a $10 cancellation fee if the cancellation is made 24 hours in advance of the booked dates.) This transaction will be contested through my credit card issuer.

There are lots of problems with this hostel. Our room smelled very mildewy and was dirty. The walls rattled till one a.m. from the live band downstairs, and the room was quite hot with NO ventilation. The staff were friendly and the location is good if you want to stay in Nanaimo.