The Clarence Park

Great Location, clean, Robin is a superstar really amazing, the staff is outstanding apart from Ceasar, he is impolite, rude, never smiles, and talk to guest in an inappropriate way

The receptionist César is disastrous, rude and not at all friendly. It seems like he's doing you a favor by answering the questions, he speaks Spanish but he speaks English to Latinos for everything, very racist.
Matias is excellent, he gets the 5 stars.

Reserved a room for two adults. Invoice said reservation was for 1 adult. When we tried upgrading to 2 adults we were unable to. Asked for a refund and received nothing. In the end I wasted $100.0/10 stars!

My original review follows below the current review, for reference (what a difference)!
Current review for ONE day: March 15 2023

I stayed at Clarence Park for 3 months in 2021 before leaving midyear to move to Miami.

The Clarence Park occupied a warm, fuzzy breezy section of my memory hole where I met great people who i kept in touch with for 1 year and even more (the kitchen being the scene of many a welcome random meetup). The staff at that time was mainly top notch and run by an Argentinian lady Maria who kept everything shipshape.
Imagine my disappointment on my return to the Clarence Park after two years to be discriminated against by the front desk person on staff.

As I waited on my last legs to be served (I had been up for 3 days nonstop at that point) this agent visibly curled her lip in my general direction and actively ignored me.

When I finally approached her to find out when I could be served (approx 9 to 9: 30am) she was aggressively rude and denied the ability to do anything check-in-wise until 3pm.

Right after doing this she proceeded to help some other guests pre-check-in their bags. She did this several times literally right next to me, after completely refusing to help me with anything before 3pm.

Oh, I forgot to mention my condition, which I explained to her.
I was, and still am, visibly bruised and battered, dirty and smelly. This is because i had just been rescued from a violent 3-day incident which required police intervention to free me.

I began to explain this to her but could see she was not listening to a single word. The judgement on her face had already congealed by that point.

This VERY SAME REP then coincidentally assigned me one of the worst rooms in the hostel (outside, up to the top flight of stairs, poor to inexistent wifi - my phone has been stolen so my laptop is my only means of communication). I happened to know this is one of the worst rooms from my previous time at the property.

Now, it could be coincidence that I was assigned this room.

But imagine emerging from literally the most violent confrontation ever in one's life, booking a hostel room to recover as instructed by the police, and having to contend with all this on checking in.

It's so egregious (some other things happened around this incident but for brevity I omit) that I STILL haven't slept, I needed to write this review first.

The owner in 2021 seemed a nice gentleman who wouldn't tolerate this type of representation - maybe ownership has changed but I needed to post this to counterbalance my previous glowing recco of Clarence Park (which was almost solely due to Maria's work)
_
(original review from May to July 2021

This is the best hostel in Toronto, for a number of reasons.
(I stayed here for 3 months before moving to Miami - I am from Toronto and have stayed in hostels here - and abroad - for many months)
1. Rooms/value - for the price, you get a lot. The rooms are large, clean, well appointed, with well thought-out layout, for a ridiculously reasonable price. In fact, on a monthly basis the Clarence Park compares well with average monthly rent in Toronto except that you're getting "maid service", a fully-equipped kitchen and furnished space, too
2. Service - the hostel is professionally-run. The only other hostel in Toronto with similarly professional management was the Canadiana and that's been closed for years. Friendly, accessible staff
3. Location - best neighborhood of any hostel in Toronto: right at King/Spadina with a beautiful park out front. King streetcar is steps away. Most tourist attractions and the downtown are a hop and a skip away. Great bar next door which goes late and attracts a pretty, upscale crowd
4. Overall value - quiet after 11. Late check-in/check out. Screens out undesirables pretty well. Cleaned daily, I've never seen it dirty. Reliable fast wifi. Fun guests - unlike other hostels I've been in, The Clarence Park overwhelmingly attracts good, good people

CANNOT RECOMMEND HIGHLY ENOUGH

Avis mitigé, l’auberge est bien placé, à côté des transports en communs et au cœur de Toronto. La chambre était propre.
Par contre le prix est clairement beaucoup trop élevée par rapport à la qualité de la chambre - salle de bain petite, chambre sombre et mal isolée.
De plus des personnes très mal élevés se sont permis de faire la fête toute la soirée au sein du bâtiment. (Hurlements, claquages de portes toute la nuit)
Ce n’est certes pas la faute de l’auberge mais en aucun cas quelqu’un aurait pu rétablir la situation et calmer ces gens qui n’ont aucun respects pour les autres apparement…
Nous avons donc passé une nuit horrible…

Very clean and accommodating. The staff is welcoming and the other guests were fun to be around.
The location is great as it is walking distance from CN tower, aquarium and is well connected to downtown and restaurants.

Room, place and kitchen is fine good. But I never seen this type terrible staff. They're behaving very rudely. Women Staff is very bad. All others ok

Je recommande bon rapport qualité/prix. Très bien situé, l’accueil est agréable, pour ma part j’ai dormi dans une chambre de femmes avec 8 lits: le lit confortable et assez grand, des rideaux pour garder notre intimité, une prise et une petite lampe de chevet au top!

‏ It's better to stay somewhere further, even if you’re looking for the cheapest price!
staff was nice and helpful. The location was pretty good.

‎‏bummer, there is no washing machine as they mention on the website.uncomfortable bed was absolutely horrible, the sheets were dirty too.

Decent affordable hostel in Toronto. The bed, rooms and sleep quality is good.
Some of the staff were friendly, while few were very cold and unwelcoming.
Also, not happy that some dorms did not have a locker in the room, so if you had any valuables you had to store it in the common rooms and lock it (Wth).

Stayed for 3 nights in total at this place. It’s in a nice location with an unconnected bar next door. The hostel staff are so lovely and accommodating. The shower was hot and powerful, and they provide towels. Unfortunately there is no lift/elevator! It was cold in the room, especially on the top bunks near the windows. I would recommend this place overall.

Stayed for two nights. No major complaints. I liked how it had privacy curtains around the bed and I had my own wall outlet. The whole hostel was clean and roomy. The wifi did not work in my room tho. Also my bed was harder than I’m used to at home. That’s ok tho. Small complaints.

Place seemed nice buy we had an issue with room not acceptable when checked I'm room was 88 degrees.air conditioner there buy was not on to accomidate guest.no resolution did not stay no money back now they won't answer phone or email since or messages left

Nice hostel! Very well located.
We booked a individual room that was big and bright.
Great barhroom with hairdryer!
There are some bread and fruits for free for breakfast.
Staff could be more friendly!