Ottawa Backpackers Inn

I originally booked a two-week stay but ended up volunteering for a full year, which says a lot about how positive my experience was. The location is excellent, with everything close by. The volunteers and staff are welcoming and make you feel like part of a community. Room prices are very reasonable, and the hospitality is consistently great. Even if you’re shy at first, they genuinely make an effort to help you feel comfortable and included. I highly recommend this hostel to anyone visiting Ottawa.

They are a truly amazing group of people. I didn't know what to expect going in but they quickly became top two favorite part of my introduction to Ottawa. The staff and the vibe they bring are 1000% pure concentrated awesomeness. The location to everything is incredible and the venue is beautiful, clean and just a pleasure. Even their guests are delightful. Thank guys for making my stay memorable. I will miss you all.

I'm a newcomer in Canada, and moving is hard in itself. Nonetheless, this was an oasis of peace where I not only found great staff and commodities, but friends and a great atmosphere. If you are looking for a temporary place where you can meet new friends, meet cool people, or just crash for a night, this is your go-to. The place was really clean, the atmosphere was quite chill, and the service was excellent. Thank you for having me!

These people are crooks. My gf made a reservation for 5 days to a different place the guy on the phone says there's no room but they have another hotel. Tells us we get a room and full kitchen. Sounded great. Asks our card number to reserve. He send a email of the place we booked and we check it out. It's a hostel not hotel. We have a 2 year old and this place doest look safe for a child. We tried to cancel it and this woman says it was done on booking.com. huh what? No we didn't. So now we can't cancel and booking.com has no clue of who we are. Seems like a damn scam. You take a reservation but can't cancel on your end.

Overall we had a good stay at the OBI, the location is walkable to many attractions and great places to eat and shop, if a little on the sketchy outskirts of the Byward market area. Staff and fellow guests were friendly and polite, and we appreciated amenities like shared kitchen space and laundry. We were also excited that our private room was attached to a little patio. However we did notice there was a budding cockroach issue (reported to staff— saw a few bugs overall in the kitchen, bathroom, and our room) and the lack of A/C was pretty challenging as the daytime temperature neared 30 degrees during our visit and the room did not cool off well at night. I think we would choose different accommodations next time, but it was fun to stay in a little old brick house in a bustling part of the city, like I had always wanted to do.

Lovely place with amazing staff. Thank you so much N- and S-. I had such a lovely trip. So helpful. Facilities were great and economical: backyard patio, parking (extra cost but reasonable), and bicycle cage. Everything was clean and lovely. Kitchen was clean. Bed was a bit too soft, however. Vibe of the people is one of exploration and adventure. I got to bike the Ottawa bike trail to Hogs Dam and see many other major sites because of the house's great location. Very awesome for a traveller with an adventurous mindset. A+.

Location is great, I must say as it is close to every amenity.... malls; stations, banks. The hostel itself isn't really clean and the workers are not polite. They tend to support themselves and never listen to corrections or suggestions. I won't be coming back ever again.

Lovely setup and a comforting and homey interior. The staff were incredibly helpful and I felt facility wise this hostel has everything you can expect for the price. The rooms were cosy and had AC but my only critique would be there was no storage for me on a top bunk (I ended up sleeping with water bottle, book etc in my bed) nor any cupboards for me on the ground

Was expecting to be similar to a Hi-Hostel, but this is a house! The place doesn't look like the pictures at all, the ambiance from the website is deceiving. There was a big group of people staying in the house and they were so loud the entire night! They were still talking loudly in spanish, cooking and making noise at midnight; so inconsiderate. And it doesn't help that the walls are thin and floors are creeky. They made noise again in the morning, making breakfast and yelling at 7am. They left a mess in the kitchen and I felt like I was living in their house instead of being guests and feeling welcomed. Everything is dirty and old. I hated how it's a rule that you have to take off your shoes once you enter the front door--the floors are so dirty! Good thing I brought my own flip flops. Even the couches in the basement are so filthy and stained. They have an old tiny antennae tv (like an 8" screen), and the screen is so fuzzy you can't see anything! The showers are in the basement, and the room is FREEZING, with no heater. Didn't dare to step on the bath math. The "white" mat is grey. They don't give you bath towels either! What a disappointment. There's no paper towels in the kitchen so you would need to use toilet papers. Yes there's free milk, but the fridge is so messy and there's no pitchers, so you're pouring from the bag tied in a knot--sketchy. There's only 3 parking spots behind the house, and it's $10 a day. The inn owns two houses side by side so we had to go to the other house to check in and pay. At the time, their internet was down for the day. The room is fine, squeaky bed, but looks decent. Everything else though, the hallways and common areas is almost gagging and appalling to look at. For a hundred dollars a night (triple room), you're better off staying at a hotel. This place is disgusting!

The best thing about this hostel is the social aspect! I hung out here one night with a friend who was staying here and the atmosphere was great! There are lots of common areas including the living room and my favorite the front porch with comfy couches for talking and watching people pass by. There is free WIFI here, so you can take your laptop out on the deck and check your email in the morning with you coffee(also free). The dormitories here aren't too cramped (a maximum of 10 beds...I have been in some that have closer to 20 on my travels). The cost is $25 per night, maybe a bit more than I've paid, but then again, I guess it is almost right in the Byward Market. This is a really convenient hostel to check out all of the tourist attractions downtown walking.

dozens of red itching spots all over your body - That's how you look like after a night at the backpackers inn! Yes the location is great, yes the guests and staff are nice BUT the sheets were dirty, hair on my blankets ! the slightly cheaper price is not worth that constant itching!

This is a rough hostel. Seems to be a mens shelter.Creepy guys staying there using profanity and making lewd remarks about women. One guy was following me outside on a few occasions. No physical distancing in this hostel. One guy kept coughing on everything. Hostel smelled bad. Very rude nasty staff with big chips on their shoulders. The owner wasn't around much. They charge $2 for a towel to use not keep. I felt very unsafe there. Not worth the price even if it was free.

I spent one amazing week in the Backpackers Inn Hostel. The stuff was always nice and ready to help. Beds and restrooms are clean. There is free coffee the whole day. But the best part are the community faculties: It offers great areas to hang out and meet people. The balcony and community room have a living-room-atmosphere which makes it super easy to meet new people. Every evening, you find people playing music and games or just communicate and chill :). I just started my studies in Ottawa but I've already found a lot of friends at the Backpackers Inn during the first week :).

This place is disgusting. Not only did a staff member joke with us that the downstairs bathroom had been overflowing with sewage the night before we arrived, our bed was infested with bed bugs. We were unaware of the source of our bites and chalked them up to the muggy summer. However, we carried these bugs with us through the rest of our road trip and even back to our homes in the United States. When we contacted the hostel to tell them we had gotten bed bugs from staying there, they told us that they figured out the bed was infested only a few days after our departure. It is criminally negligent that we were not contacted as soon as they realized there were bed bugs in the bed that we had been sleeping in and only admitted fault when we emailed them. As a tip, we recommend googling "Ottawa Backpackers Inn Bed Bugs" and you will find several other stories similar to ours. This is not the first time that patrons have noticed bed bugs either while staying there or shortly thereafter and the hostel has admitted that bed bugs are a recurring problem for them. The hostel continuously lets guests stay in rooms that are knowingly infested with these parasites. Avoid this place at all costs.

*1.5 stars* (and I'm being generous) We only wanted a place to rest our heads and wash, and this place sufficed for that. The bed was really comfortable and the bedroom, although a bit dusty and cobwebby, was sufficiently clean. Same with the bathroom. The location of the hostel is superb. The wifi was good, and we were given towels for free instead of being asked to pay the $2 rental fee. However, had we not left our booking so late (we booked less than a week in advance of our trip for Labour Day weekend), we never would have chosen to stay here. By the time we made our plans, everywhere else in downtown Ottawa was either booked up, or in the 250/300 a night range. It was fine for the basics, but the staff were pretty unwelcoming. The staff member who checked us in made it seem like we were inconveniencing her a lot. The entire building was smelly and damp, and the cleanliness of the kitchen left a bit to be desired (we didn't use it). What was most annoying was that we were woken up two of the mornings (at 8am) by knocks on our bedroom door. We later discovered that the knocks came from staff members who were trying to access the fuse box for the building, which was conveniently (note sarcasm) located in our bedroom. On our last night, the fire alarm went off about ten times in the space of an hour, between 5 and 6 am. We got out of bed to try find a member of staff to deal with the issue, but of course, there was no one there to help. So, despite the comfortable bed, the quality of sleep wasn't actually great, as we were involuntarily woken up every night/early every morning. I woke up on the Monday morning with a huge bite on my leg. It's now inflamed, possibly infected, and just generally gross. There's a chance it didn't come from the hostel, of course, but it's a huge coincidence, especially now that I've read Catherine B's review below. I understand that this is a party hostel, but that's no excuse for skimping on friendliness and staff presence. In fact, this is the last place I'd like to party in or wake up with a hangover in. I've stayed in budget student/backpacker hostels in Europe that were designed solely for partying, and have always had a great time, with excellent facilities and a generally friendly, fun vibe. So there's no excuses. Even if I was here with a huge group of my friends on a crazy weekend instead of on a quiet weekend trip away with my boyfriend, I would still be a bit disgusted by this place. Call me what you will. If you REALLY, REALLY want to visit Ottawa and have literally no other options, this place might be ok.

I had a great time visiting Ottawa and saw a lot of cool stuff, but this hostel is what made the trip truly memorable. This place is THE place to stay. Sure it's cheap and close to most fun things, but it's also such a welcoming place! Pretty much everyone I met here, the staff and the guests, were friendly and easy going. The people working here always seem happy to help in any way they can. There is parking for a 7$/day fee. Towel rental is 2$. When you check in you get a clean pillowcase and some clean sheets to put on your bed, there's no extra charge for that. There are plenty maps and things here. The family room is super comfy, there is a working TV, and free WiFi. There is a back and front porch, always a good place to meet someone new from the hostel. In the kitchen there is plenty of counter space, a huge fridge, AND every morning there's coffee! Enough showers not to have to wait in a long line! Pay phone in the lobby. Very comfortable place!

For a hostel this place is actually pretty great, I would say its better then most of the hotels I've been at, definitely better then the Hilton. Wifi is free, 10 beds somehow fit into one room without being cramped and as the other Yelpers forgot to mention, you are allowed to use the fridge to stock your food. So you could go to the market, buy some eggs, put it in the fridge and fry it up here. The social atmosphere is good but there isn't any pressure to socialize, so if you just want to stay in your room and not talk to anyone, then you can. The only way this place could be any better is if they had continental breakfast

This is literally the best hostel I've been so far. It's an independent, small hostel within walking distance of almost everything but the greyhound station. It's about 10 minutes from parliament hill. The staff I know so far are nice and helpful. It don't feels like in a hostel, sometimes it feels like when you're home at friends. The beds are the best hostel beds I had by now. The price is okay for what you get. They have an oooooooold cat called 'The Don't or 'Don Gato', he is 16 years old (or more) and loves you when you give him food. The neighbourhood is nice, but some people around there are working and therefore strongly dislike noise in the night. That I-have-a-flashlight-so-be-quiet-or-I-call-the-police type of guys. But I think that's they're right at one in the morning. The location is great. Almost in an area called 'Byward Marked'. And the free wifi works incredibly well, I won't believe it if I weren't using it on this review. Other hostel wifis (where I've been) quitted often or where sluggish.

It's incredibly friendly and cozy, but the dorm was quite stuffy and not ventilated enough. I kept banging my head on the upper bed, but that's on me. Really does feel like staying at friends house, especially with how cute the kitchen is. Would probably stay again.

Really depends on what you're looking for. If you're not looking to socialize, and just want to rest, you might be better elsewhere. If you are there to make travel buddies, it's probably a really good choice. Pros: -location -staff is very nice and helpful -nice that there is a balcony -they have a luggage room to leave your stuff after you check out -nice, renovated showers -people leave books for each other on bookshelf -free coffee/tea Cons: -kind of messy -hot without air con -can be loud -lots of hair in shower drain -mixed dorm can feel kind of hostile -shaky, cheap metal bunk beds Of the two mixed dorms, I initially thought the 8-bed would be quieter than the 10-bed, just because of math. It turned out that the 8-bed mixed dorm seemed largely populated with young guys who were here on working holidays, and had moved in for the long haul. That's totally fine, but it might be good to designate that room as the long-stay room, since it meant that there was stuff all over - laundry, canned foods, papers, etc. It was also a little bit uncomfortable being there as the only woman in the room, as when I was trying to sleep I could hear the other guys in the room calling other women "bitches" behind their backs, and talking about "some chick" they were meeting up with later etc. (I don't want to be too nitpicky, but when I went downstairs and saw that tired old novelty washroom sign of the male stick-figure peeking over the female stick-figure's stall was on the door, I couldn't help feeling like making all genders feel welcome wasn't their absolute top priority. Just kind of not the image you want in your mind, when travelling alone and sharing a room with strangers :( ... ) There is one female-only dorm, I believe, but it doesn't have very many beds and may not be available.