HI Victoria
- September 21, 2002
- Rated 3 of 5 by
tiffany_82 from Brisbane
The HI Victoria, is one of the nicest inner city hostels i have been too. It is large, modern and clean, and is in the middle of the city, just a few blocks from the inner harbour. I arrived in Victoria with the PCL Bus, and the hostel is a five blocks walk from the main bus depot, so not really that big of a walk.
The staff there are really friendly, and are happy to help you with any of your questions about the place. They also give out change - which is really helpful for when you need to use the phone or internet. The main reception area is covered in tourist information, bus timetables, brochures etc etc, and there is also a mini 'tourist information centre', where during the day there's tourism representative you can go and talk to about stuff you want to see.
Like i said this is a large hostel and the kitchen is no exception. It is huge!!! With lots of cooking space and there is a large dinning area too. Often throughout the day there is free food i.e. cinnamon rolls and donuts, provided by the hostel.
There are also lot of thing to do organised by the hostel. On Thursdays (i think) they do a tour of the Embassy and the Museum which cost the same as entry into them normally - so you score a free guide. Also on Monday and Fridays, there is a native lady (her name escapes me at the moment) who for $10 will show you how to make your own dream catcher - its not as easy as it is seems but it is heaps of fun, and you get to keep it in the end.
Upstairs, there is a common lounge area with some books and mags to look at, and there is also a large TV room, and you can borrow videos from reception.
From what my guy friend said, the male dorm in huge compared to the female dorms. There is one large dorm with about 20 bunks (40 beds), then there are several smaller rooms with 3 bunks in each. There are also lockers for each person.
The showers and toilets were also really clean. I don't remember seeing at laundry but that doesn't mean there isn't one.
The one drawback is that it can get quite noisy at night as there are quite a few pubs and restaurants around the area. I am told that the front desk does sell earplugs if it gets that bad.
From journal A week on Vancouver Island