YWCA Banff

The WORST hotel ever. Room is similar to a prison cell. It provides shelter to homeless people so you will see strange people wandering around at late night. It uses key to enter the room without a method to lock from inside. No anything in the room, except for a bed, a desk and an extremely small shower stall. No TV, no coffee maker and no anything. Not sure why it is 2-STAR?? (The hotel manager said they never claimed it is 2-STAR.) The toilet is not clean and can congest easily. Booked for 2 nights but stayed only for one night since it was very late. The hotel refused to cancel the booking. Left the early morning next day and the hotel is not willing to refund one night no matter what (I bet the hotel sold our room to others). If you don't want to ruin your holiday in beautiful Banff, don't book this hotel since it is not a hotel at all. It feels like a prison cell and a concentration camp.!!

Location is superb. Easy to get to Banff AVE by foot in a couple of minutes. The room is super basic. It's a bed for the night & nothing more. No carpet in room. No TV. No basic extras that you'd expect in a room like a hairdryer. Like another reviewer mentioned similar to a prison cell. Bed mites are a problem here. see pictures. Bed sheets and room cleaning was done every two days. Share bathroom was smelly. The hotel feels a bit weird/errie, especially in middle of the night, going to the shared washroom/toilet via the corridors. Strange sounds. Maybe it's haunted, I don't know! I've taken pictures so judge for yourself! In terms of guest services, it is very poor & I found staff to be clueless and never interacted with their guests. YWCA is deceiving, it's not a hotel and should never advertise as a hotel on accommodation booking sites. Banff is beautiful! However, I can't say the the same for YWCA Banff hotel.

What a unique and amazing facility. The staff are great, kind, caring and genuine people. The service offered are tailored to the local community needs. The hotel is a brilliant social enterprise. Great place to stay, visit or support.

The service was excellent. The room was clean and quiet. The only thing is that you can not control the heating. Has a kitchen where you can easily can prepare some meals

First time staying, impressed! Very clean! Former hospital so has that look. Perfect location. Excellent staff. Good price option in Banff.

Great location for a fair price, when booking I received 20% for booking 3+ evenings with my stay. Location was a quick 5min walk to the main Banff Ave for shopping. Kitchen available in the basement for guest use, which is great for tourists to avoid paying the tourist prices for restaurants in the city. The heat was unable to be controlled by the staff in the hotel for some reason. The windows had to be left open to sleep and we had to ask the staff for a fan as well to cool ourselves off.

Missed Opportunity is probably the right way to define this hotel. Needs a lot of investment to be called a hotel at all. Felt like carry over from its hostel past. Room was clean but very basic. Even the light was provided via a table lamp which hogs 1 power port of 2 available. Shower was so small that even as a petit person I had to bend head to get under shower. Only reasons for giving 2 star is 1. helpful staff 2. Hotel claims to be social enterprise

*Please read the reviews before you book* I stayed here for two nights with my family and we were surprised that this facility was being used for tourists with a mix of families in need of supported housing / supporting women from domestic violence. While I think it's a great cause, I believe the staff could've been a lot more transparent and honest about what this places includes. The room is basic with thin walls, which makes it easier to hear other people in there rooms. The facility also looks like a former hospital and is quite spooky at times. However, the staff are lovely and friendly, they even upgraded us to another room free of charge!

I wasn't sure what to expect and thought I could tolerate anything for a few days... and happily discovered that this place did not disappoint. Private room/bath was small, clean, simple, great views and even better location! We kept the windows open and used a fan which kept the room comfortable day and night. The YWCA was a short walk to the Art in Nature Walk by the Bow River, and center of town, and a short drive to the Banff Hot Springs, Staff were friendly, helpful, and we used their local suggestions on several occasions! They have a great mission and service to those in need, which makes this place even more special!

This non-profit hotel was a welcome surprise. Never know what to expect at hostel/hotels and this one didnt disappoint. We booked a one night private room. Walked in and we had two beds, a great view of the mountains, plenty of towels for two people, soap and shampoo all provided. The bathroom had huge windows that opened to allow the air in and the steam out. The shower and vanity looked newly installed or renovated. The bed was comfortable but a bit worn. They had lamps which added outlets to the desktop area and a place to hang coats. The elevator worked quickly and everyone from front desk staff to the guy mopping the floors was nice. For a hostel they had many welcome amenities that you wont find at more expensive hotels. They had a reading room, ice machine, kitchen and TV room on level one. The huge kitchen area had 4 fridges lined up so you can store your perishables as well as oven and stoves to cook on. This place is a 6 min walk to the bustling downtown area and the Dancing Sasquatch. You see two or 3 brew pubs and McDs before getting to the Dancing Sasquatch. We thought about driving but its a headache parking in Banff so we just walked. Glad we did bc it was closer than we thought. Not sure what other people paid, but for $99 CAD it was a deal.

For a simple place to rest your head, I would definitely recommend the YWCA Banff Hotel. It's certainly not your typical luxurious vacation hotel but not quite a hostel either. My husband and I stayed in a single room with a private bathroom, but there are also shared dormitories and shared bathrooms - depending on your preferences and budget. Prices are very reasonable for the area. We loved the convenient location overlooking the gorgeous Bow River and the pedestrian-friendly bridge connecting to shops and restaurants! Parking is first-come, first-served but they do provide a permit for cars to park in the few designated spots if you're lucky enough to snag one (which we were!). The room had only the necessities: bed, shower, wifi, toiletries but lacked aesthetic appeal and anything superfluous. No television or coffee maker. The shower was tiny, juuuust big enough for its primary purpose. Even with that said, we would stay at the YWCA again for the affordability and closeness to outdoor activity that we were in Banff to enjoy anyway! Plus your stay funds the YWCA's mission to support local community services and empower women. Right on!

Rooms/bathrooms were tiny with no air conditioning or working wifi( not a big deal but that's not what we were promised). Also because there was no air conditioning we always had to leave our windows open and there is a daycare with toddlers five feet away. The majority of staff were extremely helpful however one man working the night shift is the reason I'm giving one star. I would definitely say spend the extra money and get something a little bit nicer than this; it's worth it. Also my sunglasses mysteriously disappeared from the table in our room...hmm

Put in position of founding a place within 2 weeks traveling - difficult to found 3 nights, but this place had 1 room that covered my dates! Yeah! I was truly happy to find something and then at a reasonable price. I had checked both hotels along with B&Bs. We had room 315 that faced the court yard with 2 of the 3 windows that opened, had bed with private bath. Note that there is no TV or refrigerator but there is a phone. The room appears to have been remodeled within the last few years. Bedding has 2 white sheets that cover the comforter, this is great! No dirty bedspreads. Location cannot be bet. Main restaurants and shops across the bridge, no need to move your vehicle. Never stayed at a YMCA but was open since the pictures appeared nice and the front desk person was wonderful in sharing information about the YMCA. I have recommended this place already to a few people - can't see how hotels in the area would be that much better for the prices that are ask, that is if you can find one!

Looking for the local prison? Look no further! You're in luck. It has everything a prison has to offer, minus the bars and cavity checks. YWCA is worse than staying in military barracks. At least they get MRE's. This place is advertised as a "hotel" with queen beds and private rooms. We walked into eight bunk beds, one shower/toilet and nasty floors. The sink didn't drain, the shower flooded out onto the floor and the beds were beyond squeaky. You would have hoped someone was getting lucky with the level of squeaking that went on in that room. 8 girls, one bathroom? Convenient. Needless to say we didn't last more than one night here. We ended up checking out and going to stay at Mount Royal Hotel (SO worth the money). Also, no they would not refund us at YWCA. The front desk staff had the flattest affect and were as helpful as the sloth from the Zootopia scene at the DMV. Obviously won't be back. Take you're money elsewhere my friends.