Halifax Backpackers Hostel

Personable and friendly front desk staff. Felt welcomed on day 1. Rooms and building is quite stuffy and small, space is pretty clean.

Want to thank the young staff working again. Wanted to ask their names and stay in touch but I forgot coz trip got busy. -pranol.

In my opinion, the Backpackers Hostel in Halifax is definitely one of the worst hostels in Canada. Backpackers are deliberately being deceived here.

1. The website shows pictures of newly renovated bathrooms. In my opinion this is absolute deception. The bathrooms are dirty, the tiles are broken and it smells incredibly musty.

2. The money will be collected in full upon booking. This doesn't happen at any other hostel I've ever been to.

It was very dirty, the kitchen was filled with flies and everywhere was used kitchen stuff.

If you can afford it, stay somewhere else.

I’ve been there in 2022. I love this youth hostel! The stairs up to the second floor is a bit tricky (I’m disabled) but the staff was very nice

Everything is relatively clean for a youth hostel, the staff are accommodating and above all there's a café downstairs open to all.
Good thing about the shower: there's a shampoo holder.
Negative point about the shower: during rush hour, the water falls not on your head but on the shower tray.

Way too expensive for what you get. You can get hotels in the area often cheaper. Other hostels in NS are half the price,

C est franchement POURRIE comme endroit. Jamais vu rien comme ça. Les draps pue l'humidité, les toilettes dans la chambres sont inaccessible, on nous dirige dans des balcons pleins de bosses où on se plante alors que juste à côté il y a une rampe correcte. Les lits au 2e sont dangereux car aucau garde fou. Aucun casier offert à l arrivé contrairement à ce qui est vendu. Et j'en passe.non, ne venez pas ici. C est dégoûtant

Very nice people, nice café. Beds are not very comfortable though, mattress too soft, no support.

I was booked here to stay a week and left after one night, I will be upfront and say that I did receive a refund for my stay with no issues and the front desk staff were very nice and helpful when I raised my concerns.

However, I feel that the pictures online aren't representative of all of the rooms and hostel quality. I was in a room on the top floor and it had peeling/cracked walls and ceilings, there were only 2 sockets in the room so I had to charge my phone from someone else's bed, it was the most unfomfortable mattress I've ever slept on - I could feel every spring. The pictures online show plants, coffee tables and chairs in the bedrooms but there was none of that. Just 3 bunks in a tiny room. Additionally, there was mould in the bathroom and worst of all was the mouse droppings and traps that I found in the Kitchen.

I cannot say anything about the hostel, since I unfortunately had to make a same day cancellation. The staff was very friendly and offered to refund the last night since that was more than a 48h notice. It already went through.

The hostel is a mess. Dirty most of the time, untidy, and the rooms are pretty small, always humid and warm, and the beds are terrible. I know that the cleanliness depends on the people using the hostel, but honestly, I don’t think it’s the case for this hostel. Everywhere I went there were flies and dust. The only good thing about the hostel is the personnel, they’re very charming and helpful, but you don’t really depend only on this when you’re at a hostel. Yes the area is a bit sketchy in the evening. Unfortunately this is the only hostel in the city, otherwise I’d have avoided it.

No parking for the duration of the stay. According to the staff, there is free parking behind the hostel, but that's wrong. Here, too, tickets for illegal parking are diligently distributed.
For me, there is also a lack of one or the other cozy seating area in the hostel.
Rooms are clean, but there are cozier hostels out there.

The photos of this hostel are entirely deceiving, entirely different from the website - akin to fraud.

The facilities are in dire need or fixing. Bolts and nuts are missing.

Worst stay ever

I really enjoyed my stay and will definitely comeback. The staff was very professional and the clientele was really friendly.

100$ for a private room (tax included) will provide you:
- room with no AC and minimum comfort
- double bed with a bunk bed on top of it (?)
- window facing a wall and a loud backyard
- dangerously outdated sockets
- shared showers with black mold, which you lock inside using almost "rotate a nail in the wall" method
- bathroom mirrors placed on the level of your belly button
- suspicious device on the shower cabin ceiling which may or may not be a camera
- location in the middle of ghetto
- probably because of the previous fact, main doors are locked after 10, so you need to use a back door to enter. It is not 24h reception
- you are required to do a house keeper job and remove all sheets and pillow cases and drop in the laundry basket.

You decide if it is worth it.

Mixed feelings

Positives:
- Location
- Room was cute and well equipped (mini fridge, cold water, glasses, towels, desk lamp)
- Kitchen is well equipped
- Self check in very efficient (arrived around midnight and instructions sent by email were clear)
- Little café is convenient and charming

Negatives:
- bathrooms and kitchen are filled with mold (shower curtains, spots on the ceiling, ceiling lamps)
- kitchen is dusty
- safety concerns (mostly because of drug use from other guests - I was in a private room so I didn't care so much but for people in dorms, might be scarier) (also, management did not seem to care about these guests going on full lsd / crack mode)
- 10$ fee for storing bags after check out time in the middle of a common living room, unlocked and accessible to everyone
- fan in the room, very nice for the hot weather we had, but did not work properly so it was kind of useless
- fan in the kitchen had a lot of old dust stuck to it (A LOT)
- staff was friendly but do not seem to have the proper ressources to handle this place

Overall we loved our stay in Halifax, but it was not because of this backpacker. We only came back to it to sleep so it was alright. It was inexpensive for the season but the health and safety of guests should be the priority of any hospitality manager, regardless of the price point.
For those reasons, I do not recommend and I will not go back.

The photos of this hostel are entirely deceiving. When comparing with my stay, I had to question if I was on the right website when looking at the business’ photos -I didn’t recognize them. The place is in need of a renovation, is old, creaky and in an unsafe area of town. Every Uber driver gave me a warning when I was getting dropped off here. It gets good ratings for location due to its proximity to downtown. As a woman staying there on my own I did not feel safe. The staff keep it clean and are friendly, but be aware it is not as depicted.

We arrived late after 20 hours on the train and did the self check-in (check-in data had been provided beforehand per email), which presented no problem. But when we got into our room, there weren’t enough free beds for us. After contacting the manager, we were told that the hostel‘s booking program had messed up our reservation and there weren‘t any available beds left in the hostel. So two of us had to sleep in one bed. At least we got a refund for that one bed and the manager was quick to answer our messages.

Apart from that, the hostel was quite good. The rooms and baths were clean, the kitchen had everything we needed and the lady at the front desk was nice. The location is good as well.

Je vous déconseille vraiment cet établissement. J’ai effectué une réservation en avril pour le mois de juin.j’ai demandé une annulation de ma réservation et un remboursement des frais en mai. Impossible de communiquer par téléphone et communication par mail très difficile.cela fait 1 mois que j’ai annulé ma réservation et je n’ai toujours pas eu le retour complet des frais!

Clean and nice staff. Food at the cafe out front was good too! Will stay again in the future.

Bedroom need refreshment but everything works well and the staff is amazing.
You will have to walk for 20 minutes to reach most of the city's highlights.

I stayed there a few months ago (sorry for the delay). Michelle was very welcoming and considerate. She is working very hard to keep this place affordable and is open to constructive suggestion to improve the place, she even acted on it and bought more kitchen supply when we suggested to. I don't think you'll meet a lot of hostel managers that are as involved and caring as she is. The hosel is a little bit old but does the job, you have everything you need and the staff is very helpful. I think that the last few negative comments are really unfair and probably written by people not used to travelling and going to backpackers. This place isn't horrible, quite the contrary
I had a great time there, people where friendly and I'm grateful for Michelle to have fought to keep an affordable place to stay.

Rooms are spotless. Well maintained hostel at the price point. The instructions to late check in was easy.

This is for the management. The only issue we faced was in the Private Double Room.
Because of the loose bolts, the Metal beds are too noisy. Please look into it.

Staff is very friednly too.
Apart from that, this place will be me and my friends 1st choice for accomdation.

I will definitely come back when I have the opportunity. Very tasty espresso. Good team, good location.