Dancing Bear Inn

Had a great experience at Dancing Bear! Stellar location in safe, walking distance to downtown sights. I stayed Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. I was impressed by the quiet atmosphere created here, and the clean space. For the most part guests were respectful of quiet hours, and the shared spaces. As expected, towards Saturday night, there was a bit more noise coming later into the evening, and an older woman turning on her lamp early in the morning. May be nice to remind visitors of common curtesy in a shared space, where others might be sleeping at different hours upon check in. Staff were very attentive to the space and peoples needs though!

This is one of the cleanest hostels I have ever stayed in! I was so impressed - I have travelled all over the world and worked many housekeeping jobs so I know where to find the dirt and couldn't believe it. I made a comment to my friend staying with me (who has also worked in hotels) and they agreed it was one of the cleanest hostels ever! It was also nice and quiet, bed was comfy and in walking distance to some great restaurants. Highly recommend!

Staff are excellent, dorm rooms are cool (basement location) and clean, and there is ample living spaces to relax/recline for computer time or reading. One drawback is the communal cooler/refrigerator that leaks puddles of water due to frequent opening and closing of the doors. This unit should be replaced with a newer, efficient model. Despite this one improvement suggestion, I would stay again at this hostel. It’s a great location for a vacationer from out of town.

We stayed a week - 2 adults and a 5yr old. We enjoyed our hostel experience and saw several other families. Our room was quiet, clean and served our purposes. The kitchen had all the basics needed for simple meals. The hostel is walking distance to many amenities and local attractions! We found street parking or hostel parking every night and had no issues. Overall, the hostel was busy but quiet while we were there we didn’t have any issues with waiting for space to eat, sit outside or hangout in the lounge. There was some space for bikes to be locked inside and the area generally seemed quite safe. We would stay again. We did want to have lunch at the hostel but realized it would be locked for daily cleaning so ended up taking our lunches with us. The only thing we’d change is a small freezer for ice packs for the cooler!

My daughter turned 34, so we went to Nelson for our mother daughter weekend of Kokanee Zipline, Dancing Bear Inn (Moms favorite dorms) for 16+years, dinner and pool and amazing weekend. Dancing Bear has the comfiest beds, best vibes and meeting people from everywhere is the best. Will be back soon. Awesome staff and volunteers. So clean. 😍

The location is great, especially if you are attending any music events at the Royal as it is mere steps away. Check in after 4 pm and then park out back. Otherwise you will have to drag all your bags around the block as back entry is only available upon obtaining your room keys. Parking is very tight unless you have a smaller vehicle and other guests park appropriately. The hostel is clean (except under the beds as we found out when we dropped something). The washroom of 1 toilet and shower is shared with 10 rooms but there is one other shower room. Also, you are expected to put all your bedding and towels in the bags provided. Staff is not available before 4 pm or after 8 pm. Not sure of the morning schedule. No outdoor shoes inside which we totally respect as we do the same at home, even on our deck. We are sharing this so there are n surprises when you arrive. There was a private sink in our room for minor grooming convenience and the bed was comfortable. Sleep was broken as other guests were using the washroom at various hours and then up early but beyond the control of management. There are better hostel experiences out there for far less but unfortunately not in the Nelson BC area, especially in tourist season.

Great location allowing you to walk through the city center. The co-ed dorm was booked full but still clean with friendly occupants. The large fully stocked kitchen allows you to cook and store food on your stay. The hostel has an easy layout with multiple common areas to unwind and connect with others.

Our biking group rented out 1/2 of the dancing bear inn for our 2 nights in Nelson. Our stay was wonderful. Clean rooms. Lovely kitchen space for cooking. Great community space indoors and out. Cindi and Sydney were both great to work with. Would definitely stay again!!

I highly recommend this place, its central to just about everything in Nelson. I stayed in the 8 bed dorm rooom for the weekend, the staff was very kind and helpful.

We've stayed here a couple of times and think it's just great. It's in a great location and the staff are friendly. We usually get a private double room, which has everything we need. There are shared washrooms with decent shower hours. The shower's water pressure was weak, but still did the job. There's parking, which is good. No air conditioning in the rooms and the bugs and moths seemed to like hanging around outside the window screens. We stayed upstairs - there's no elevator so make sure you're able to carry your things up a flight of stairs. Overall, a welcoming, clean, quiet place. We would stay here again. PS - we've also stayed in other hotels in Nelson, and, honestly, for the value, I prefer the Dancing Bear - especially since we spent so little time in our room.

Great location and a great facility. We stayed in the bearhaus suite, which is plenty big enough and has an enormous kitchen. Beds are very good...we slept well. And it's close to everything downtown. Highly recommended.

We stayed here for 1 night on a road trip to Whitewater Mountain as Nelson is the closest town with accommodation. Dancing Bear Inn is a Hostel in the Hosteling International Group so if you have a membership you instantly get a discounted rate otherwise you have to pay $4 extra a night per person in a dorm room. The Hostel is on one of Nelson's main streets so its in the perfect location to go for a wander around town and close to plenty of bars and restaurants. Nelson is also a fairly eco friendly, alternative town so there is also lots of organic stores. The Hostel has mainly private rooms with a couple of single sex dorms. There is also a reasonably large kitchen and dining area. Wi-fi is also available through the whole hostel. There does seem to be a lack of bathrooms though as both dorms are on the basement level and there is only one bathroom otherwise you have to keep going up to another level to find an available one. Overall, it was a cheap stay in a nice, clean hostel and a very good option for anyone on a budget who wants to check out the area around Nelson.