Great Community Vibes and Thoughtful Hospitality We stayed in a double room with a shared bathroom. While the building is older—with creaky wooden floors and doors—it’s full of simplicity and charm. There are plenty of shared bathrooms available, cleaned daily, and towel service is offered (with just a $10 deposit). The hostel amenities: a spacious, organized kitchen, a bar with daily events and one free drink per guest, and even a free daily breakfast and dinner (hearty soups and noodles). The 24-hour reception is staffed by incredibly kind and attentive people who clearly care about the guests and foster a welcoming environment. Although it’s located near an area with a high concentration of homelessness, we never felt unsafe. The hostel is close to main streets, attractions, and public transportation. Rooms don’t have air conditioning, but they do have a minibar and a fan, which made the stay comfortable. I loved the experience and would absolutely return—especially because of the outstanding customer service from everyone involved and the strong sense of community and inclusion. Highly recommended.

Overall I really enjoyed my stay and would stay again. Super safe in the hostel with locked front door, second floor and bedroom with good sized lockable closets, bed was comfy, super clean and always saw cleaning happening, staff were so kind and helpful, noise level was ok at times can get loud but that is to be expected in a shared space. Really nice to have a free tea and coffee, breakfast, evening drink and dinner provided with your stay. Female dorms are a great plus for a solo female traveler and made me feel safer.

I do think the price per night is a bit high in my opinion.

Thoughtful amenities in the rooms (fridge, extension chord, food container, lots of hooks; very clean; window and fan for fresh air; yummy and filling dinner and breakfast included. I liked being in downtown area.

The fridge was noisy, so we unplugged it at night and there were lots of sirens at night Saturday.

Located in the heart of the city and within walkable distance to all the Tourist attraction like the Inner Harbor and Fairmont Empress hotel, Royal BC Museum and Parliament Building. Excellent for Solo and Budget Travelers. Bus stop right around the corner to bring you from outside the Ferry stop and drop you. Bus will also take you to Butchart Garden (Must Try their AFTERNOON TEA for 50 bucks rate is double in EMPRESS HOTEL for the same) from here just get the Day pass for the Bus. Visit Victoria Public Market nearby for a great Indian Vegetarian Restaurant called Shashwat Indian. Visit Lunch Buffet Indian Restaurant called Curry Club walkable to Royal BC Museum. Walk on the GOVERNMENT STREET, nice gift and chocolate shops. Walk on Government Street to reach CHINATOWN and visit the FAN TAN ALLEY (Narrowest Alley), Try soup, dumplings from one of the local Chinese Restaurant, Take pics of the CHINATOWN gate. Fairmont Empress hotel needs to be visited in the day and looks different at night with all the lights. Enter the EMPRESS HOTEL from the SIDE ENTRANCE to go to the LOBBY for the photos and restroom. Take the Ferry in front of the EMPRESS HOTEL from the Harbor area. The tours and Hop on Hop off bus depart in front of the Empress hotel. The property has Excellent buffet style Breakfast and good homely dinner. Bar area is great with free drinks everyday and for purchase. Strongly recommend. Will Return.

NA. ALL IS GOOD

The Ocean island is a great place to stay whilst in Victoria. It's central location makes it very convenient to walk to many of the cities highlights. I've never been in a hostel that offers such tasty dinners as part of your payment. Free breakfast and dinner is welcomed as well as a free nightly drink from the bar. This place truly feels homely. The staff are helpful and friendly. The rooms are clean and comfortable. The nightly activities make for a companionable evening. Free tea, coffee and hot chocolate all day are such a nice extra service. I don't think I can rate this hostel highly enough. My two nights turned into four then five. Magic place for the budget traveller.

The travellers all on their devices and not communicating with other travellers.

Second stay at this lovely hostel. The first time was in a private room (solo), this time was in a private room with a bunk bed which I shared with a friend (room #43). Bunk bed was super comfortable, very stable, high ceilings so despite it being a mere 75 sq ft it didn't feel claustrophobic, and I really appreciated that there were two fans in the room which worked great on the shelf for breeze on the top bunk. Great location walkable and bikeable to everything. Friendly staff, great breakfast, and arriving after 130km bike ride, complementary cold beer was icing on the cake. By far the most affordable option in Victoria, especially splitting the room with a friend.

It's so wonderful they have ample, dedicated bike storage in the basement. That said, the only thing I can see that could be improved is to have bike storage on the main floor so cyclists don't have to haul heavy bikes up and down stairs. But not that big of a deal, all things considered.

I had a private room on the 4th floor. You can look the door two ways from the inside which might make you feel more safe (I felt safe anyways) the room was small but there were many options to store your things, a fridge and a big mirror on the wall. It had no ac but a fan in the window which provided fresh air and another fan (which I never used) the bed was comfortable, the sheets clean. You can borrow a towel and lock for $10 each (which you get back when you return it) and you can borrow a hair dryer. The bathroom was right outside my room and almost always available when I needed it. If not, I think there were 4 more bathrooms per floor. There is soap but no handdryer provided in the bathrooms so bring just your towel. The shower was clean, always had hot water and good pressure. The hostel provides breakfast and dinner which is basic but I was happy to have it and every dinner was vegan which was great for me! Also you get a free drink at the bar every night. And there is unlimited coffee or tea all day long. You can also store and prepare food in the shared kitchen. The staff was very nice and helpful. There where nice people of all ages staying there when I stayed. The area is good to walk everywhere.

This is nothing about the hostel itself just a heads up there are many homeless people in this area. Noone ever bothered me personally but if you don’t like that just fyi. It does get noisy, just bring earplugs. But really I have nothing to complain about personally.

The staff are always friendly and helpful. The bed (I always request a lower bunk because of my age) was very comfortable. Always enjoy both my glass of wine at night and the fun breakfast in the morning. It is always just enough. Interesting to meet travelers from everywhere. My only problem has been the City of Victoria's parking rules. I have solved it by finding less popular / off the main streets to park overnight......requires a walk of several blocks to hostel Dinner is always something to look forward to because never know what interesting meal may show up. I always enjoy my stay and really hope you can keep the location, the building, the routine, the price, the staff for a very long time

I know it is a big problem and a city problem, but the rules and price for parking overnight are annoying. as I explained, I have found several side streets and walk to Ocean Island Inn

Amazing location for easy access to the city, good security measures, ample storage in a double-bed room with shared bathroom, rooms and bathrooms were very clean, great benefits for staying with them like breakfasts, dinners and drinks. Overall, a very comfortable, inexpensive, and friendly experience.

Room temp control is inconvenient at times, between a boiler water space heater and a fan on a window sill, it's an art more than a science. Pandora Ave is currently experiencing many challenges, NOT the inn's fault at all, but the area can be sort of sketchy at night (the inn is secured and feels safe).

The breakfast and dinner that was included in my stay was very good and nutritional! The bunkbed I slept in had a really firm mattress and slept well! The washrooms were plenty too and very clean! The staff were very friendly and helpful. The laundry facilities were very useful too.

Only pet peavey I have is the bunkbed ladder was very steep and narrow to climb! It outweighed the amount of stairs to get to and from areas of the building. OveralI enjoyed my stay here!