Samesun Banff

I’ve stayed in a few hostels the past few years in various countries, this was definitely one of the better ones. Rooms and bathrooms were clean, has a kitchen to store food before your hike, food at the bar was also great for the price. Breakfast was also much appreciated. Would stay here again, as it’s one of the cheaper options in Banff.

Spent 6 nights here. The location won’t wow you, but it gets the job done—right near downtown. The free meals were simple but satisfying. What stood out was the clean, quiet room, even with the busy surroundings. Definitely a backpacker-friendly spot.

Great place to stay as a traveller. Comfy beds, great vibe, fun stuff… what more could you want!! Such a great night at music bingo on Friday in the beaver bar. Vibe was 10/10 and drinks so cheap! The front desk staff also had great recommendations

I stayed here for 3 nights, location was good, simple breakfast but at least you get something. I found the hostel really noisily, bed was old and uncomfortable, the hostel has a bad smell and looks old in general, not enough common areas, they were always crowded, staff was ok, they rent bear spray for some money, which is not a lot but in some other hostels they rent it for free.

Such a lovely hostel in Banff and great amenities. Beds are super comfy and breakfast was included and they had bottomless pancakes! Only a quick 10 minute walk from the shops. Would certainly stay here again. The front desk staff are so kind and helpful.

I moved from the UK to Calgary last summer and have stayed at the Samesun Banff about 10 times in the last couple of months, so I can enjoy evenings in Banff and the party scene without having to catch the last bus home! It feels like a second home and I couldn't recommend it enough.|Linzi on the front desk was absolutely delightful, Katy the manager was extremely kind and welcoming, and William behind the bar is fantastic. Exceptional service and such great value for money - I'd like to live here if I wasn't based in Calgary!!!||The rooms are so light and spacious, with storage lockers, clothing hangers, well-equipped private bathrooms and gorgeous plants and fireplaces in every room. Each bed has a fan, a lamp, a power socket and a privacy curtain.||Everything you need is a 5-minute from the hostel - come out, turn right, and you're on Banff Ave with all the bars, restaurants, bus stops and shops right there for you!||The hostel is super safe, with keycard entry needed to access the stairs and your dorm room.||Based on Banff Ave, the main street in Banff, Samesun is a 5-minute walk straight along from everything you need! Location could not be better.||The Beaver Bar, based in the hostel lobby, is a cosy bar with loads of drinks choices, a friendly vibe and a delicious food menu. The hostel stay includes a delicious breakfast (pancakes, fruit, toast and teas/coffees) and the dinner menu is huge!||Towels and linen are included in the stay and there is free storage downstairs for big bags and snowboard/ski gear. The staff are so warm and friendly and the kitchen and common room are perfect for being self-sufficient and sociable. I've made so many friends during my stays here!

this hostel was fairly messy. On my “new bunk” there was a used cup and spoon. In addition to that, many of the people in the room have stayed there for 4-5 months already. There were towels on the floor and the floors were not very clean. In addition, whenever someone burnt something the whole hallway would be filled with smoke. It was not worth the price range, if it was $20-$40 it would be more fair or reasonable. People were nice though but cleanliness and living standards were fairly low for the price that I was paying

I moved from the UK to Calgary last summer and have stayed at the Samesun Banff about 10 times in the last couple of months, so I can enjoy evenings in Banff and the party scene without having to catch the last bus home! It feels like a second home and I couldn't recommend it enough. Linzi on the front desk was absolutely delightful, Katy the manager was extremely kind and welcoming, and William behind the bar is fantastic. Exceptional service and such great value for money - I'd like to live here if I wasn't based in Calgary!!!

This is a decent hostel, kinda hit and miss. Pro: -location is perfect, right next to bus stop and walkable distance to Banff downtown. -their restaurant and bar open until midnight - staffs were extremely nice and they did the best to make things work for you. They are very responsive to your issue -it's clean and decent. They also have locker for your luggage storage - good wifi Cons: - they don't have elevator, so you must carry your luggage to 3th floor - it can be loud sometimes - quite pricey for hostel - we checked in and there were beds that weren't clean. We didn't even know which beds weren't occupied because some of them had belongings and some of them didn't but messy.

I've lived that hostel life many times, so when we booked a trip to beautiful (yet pricey) Banff National Park during peak season, we decided to save money by staying in a hostel. We chose this hostel because it's located right in the middle of downtown Banff. You can walk to all of the restaurants, bars and shops, all while having a view of the mountains when you walk outside. Comparing this spot with the peak seasons prices of the hotels, I'd choose this spot again thanks to location and convenience. We stayed in one of the biggest hostel rooms. There were about ten different bunk beds within our room, but then our bunk bed was one of two set aside in a smaller room within that room. I took top bunk, my husband took bottom bunk, and then a stranger was sleeping in the bunk bed next to us (he was asleep every time we saw him... never got to learn his name/story in true hostel style!). There was a downstairs bar that all of the local ERASMUS/international students and workers would hang out. It was cool to hear so many beautiful accents and channel our travel days of befriending everyone in our hostels. They had huge ragers almost every night, and all of the windows in our hostel room were open, meaning that we could hear the music while falling asleep several nights. I'm a deep sleeper and was exhausted each night from all of the hiking we did, so luckily never had a problem. If you're at all particular or a light sleeper, I do not recommend this spot. Or perhaps I recommend seeing if there's a private room where you can be in control of the windows. Ultimately, it was cheap and allowed us to adventure, which I loved. It wasn't close to being the nicest hostel we've stayed in, but they let us use their bear repellent for $5 a day and had a few parking spots reserved (not enough for everyone) and I can imagine it'd be an easy spot to make friends.

I recently stayed here on a quick trip to banff. I booked 5 bunks but unfortunately it was divided in to two rooms. Oh well. Parking was hard to find but it was also the day of the Santa Claus parade or whatever. Rooms were basic hostel room. My dorm had its own bathroom. I loved the fact that each bed had its own fan, lamp and outlets. The service was friendly and fast on check in and check out. Breakfast was included at the bar which consisted of make your own pancakes, toast, fruit slices, hard boiled eggs, coffee, tea and juice. Had a lounge on the second floor which was kind of neat depending on the crowd.

Recently stayed here while visiting the national parks and it was reasonably comfortable. The issue was you could hear the bar even from the 3rd floor until the early hours of the morning. There was also a room mix up that meant that a member of staff and 2 girls were talking loudly and coming in and out of our room at 2am. Literally speaking in a completely normal voice without trying to keep quiet for the room sleeping. I have stayed in hostels all over the world and feel that standards could have been better.

Sitting here begrudgingly wondering if I should drop this down to a 2-star... Here's the deal: I think that Samesun hostel is entirely hit or miss. I, unfortunately did it wrong and the whole thing was a miss. That said, it has some redeeming features and if you came here for the right reasons it might really hit the mark. Like everyone's favourite dive bar, it can be exactly what you need, or the severely wrong choice. GO HERE IF: You're travelling alone and need a cheap(ish) place ($49) to stay where you'll be able to make new friends and meet new people. The place is decently clean, and in AOK working condition. Bright murals and funky colours are everywhere. It seems like a fun and cool place to hang out. The attached "Beaver Bar" has excellent happy hour, $8 dinner specials and everything from a karaoke night to live music and a carnival style shot wheel. It looks like a great place to party with fellow travellers. They've got a chalk board with a host of fun activities everyday - hiking groups and the what not. If you're travelling alone, there would be some excellent opportunities to make new friends and try new activities. DO NOT GO HERE IF: You're just looking for an inexpensive spot to crash for a small group. We thought we had booked a 6 bed dorm room to ourselves and in September, a shoulder season, $250 for a hostel room for 5 people seems more than fair. Actually it seems downright ridiculously expensive. But to our surprise, we walked into the room to find a lady blowdrying her hair, who after the first awkward "Oh! Are we in the wrong place? Are you in the wrong place?" conversation never so much as made eye contact with any of us. I asked the girl at the front desk what was up to which she responded, "Oh, that one's actually a 6-person dorm, so..." Well, I guess that's that. Also learned that it's $8 to use one of their padlocks for the evening, that is if you want to lap top up while you leave your random surprise roomie alone in your room. Forget it. You can buy them from the local hardware for $6. For $250 bucks we could have easily got ourselves a bangin hotel room with 2 queen beds, (yeah, like REAL beds) and a pull-out couch... and probably a hot tub... and a mini bar... $50 bucks a person to sleep on a crappy foam tiny bunk bed with a random stranger in the room? Yup. I'll definitely pass up this opportunity next time. ...I do really want to try my luck at that shot wheel though.

Ive stayed at HI hostels in the past but picked Samesun because it had a bar. At the time I didn't realize what a tourist trap Banff was and that there were plenty of bars and a McDonald's and a Gap... Still the idea of a relaxing drink within walking distance of my bunk sounded great until I realized the drinking age here is 19 and I could hear the bass of the music (which didn't bother me) and the SCREAMING of drunk teenage toddlers (which did disturb me) three floors up. In fact, one of them fell on top of me in the middle of the night having forgotten which bed was hers. Although I do appreciate she at least tried to find her way in the dark where is most of them stumbled in, still carrying on mid conversation and flipping on the overhead light regardless of quiet hours. They had a nice albeit small kitchen although I didn't use it this trip. Nor did I partake of the free breakfast which was pancakes or gluten-free toast and hard-boiled eggs. The room set ups werent bad with 4-5 beds per room and a few extra doors in between (because 14 people snoring in one big space would be like boot camp barracks). The beds were squeaky but comfortable. And everyone had their own power strip by the bed which was convenient. What is NOT convenient is a single toilet/shower shared in a 14 room dorm. We didn't even have 14 people but every morning, I was running down three flights of stairs to use the toilet by the bar on the first floor because between 6-9am, both the bathroom in my dorm and the "extra" bathroom on the 2nd floor are occupied. And if I wanted to shower, I had to do it in the afternoon between my morning and evening hiking trips. $70/night is expensive for a hostel particularly when you are still taking "baby wipe baths". Samesun needs to gut one dorm on each floor and turn it into a multi stall shower and toilet like HI does. For this reason alone, I would have picked somewhere else to stay and will not be staying here again. If showers and morning pees are not a dealbreaker for you, then just remember to bring earplugs (HI stocks them in the rooms but this place does not) and something to cover your eyes because between the long daylit Summers and drunks stumbling in when you're getting up for a hike at dawn.

This was my first time staying in a Hostel and I loved it! They were very clean, friendly, great service, clean kitchen, clean bathrooms, nice lounge and a fun bar! I felt even at night when the bar got loud the rooms weren't because there was a door that divided the bar from the rooms. I stayed here for 5 nights and had a fantastic experience!

Cheap, and relatively clean. Party atmosphere. Bar downstairs. Younger rowdy crowd all three times I've been. I would stay again as a last resort, and met some really great people. Could definitely see the appeal if you like a lively atmosphere and some adventure...

Samesun is a hostel that will serve your convenient and inexpensive housing needs. We were able to easily make our reservation on the day we planned to arrive and were pleased that the hostel was in a central location. We didn't venture out to any bars the night that we stayed but heard from other guests that several were within walking distance. We stayed in a 6-bed female dorm and were really happy to see that each dorm room had its own washroom. Added amenities like free wi-fi, free towels, free parking, and free breakfast made our stay that much more enjoyable. The attached Beaver Bar is a really fun place to hang out, meet other travelers, and learn about all the events that are going on in Banff. The breakfast is standard - eggs, toast, pancakes, muffins, and fruit. Check-out is easy you just give them your name, deposit your linens in the hamper, and you're good to go.

I came here by myself, looking for a more quiet atmosphere, not realizing that the whole hostel is centered around the bar. I ended up on the first floor (about as close to the bar as you can be). It wasn't bad as far as other things go, beds were nice and everything was girly clean. Just don't go here unless you're looking for a party that begins at 5pm and ends at 5am..