HI Lake Louise Alpine Centre - Hostel

It's been many years since we've stayed in a hostel but this place shows just how much they've come on. We had our own room - it was small and the bed was basic but the toilet/sink was literally outside our room shared with an adjacent room and the shower just along the hallway. The facilities here are excellent. They have a restaurant providing a decent range of food and drinks which gets very busy. We had to put our names on a waiting list but they run a very efficient operation and had to wait no more than 20 mins each night we stayed. There also a large, well stocked kitchen area if you want to cook your own food. The staff are super helpful. We had a back country hike to Lake O'Hara for which they provided us with bear spray. There's nice grounds outside the hostel to relax in and watch the phenomenally long freight trains go by. You need a car to get to Lake Louise or the shuttle service 10 mins drive north.

Great value for the money (for Lake louise). We had a family/private room, and it was very hard to cool off. There's no A/C, and the sun beats down all day thru the windows. Even with the drapes shut, it's hot. And since it's a two-storey room, it's even hotter in the upper level. Cafe is really good, and location is great. But be prepared to have an uncomfortable sleep!

The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable. The rooms were comfortable and clean as were the showers. Everything was great. The upstairs living room had plenty of books, puzzles, and games. The restaurant there was also wonderful with vegetarian options and local beer.

The hostel looked newly renovated and the beds were excellent. There was a shared washroom in each dorm, with a separate shared shower room along the corridor. Downside was that during summer, the rooms will heat up so it can feel like a sauna. Would also suggest having more hanging racks with hangers - the existing wall racks are not enough for a 4-bed shared dorm. The location was excellent - only a 7 min walk to Samson Mall, which was perfect. The Roam bus stop for service 11 is also right outside the hostel. This bus takes you to Lake Louise, but the timings are quite limited (from 9 plus AM to not later than 4 pm) if you plan to start off early and return late. The kitchen is slightly smaller than HI Banff, but fully equipped and I'm very happy with it. I was also told that the hostel restaurant has excellent food, although I only got my morning coffee from there (which was great)! Would definitely stay here again!

Spent 2 nights in a private room without private facilities Firstly - we had to walk through a building site to get to our room. The shower units on our floor are being refurbished - big up to the builder/supervisor who took our bags from us and carried them to our room Room was fine, if somewhat sparse. Steam heating worked fine. Bedding was OK. Just the 1, small, towel each. Wife somewhat disappointed by shower arrangements - went to level 2, shower had no toiletries so had to wash hair with bar soap. It wasn't until later that I found that level 3 showers had shampoo & body wash but presumably not yet fixed into level 2. But no shower unit had any hooks for clothes, which therefore had to sit on the wet floor, nor any mirror Staff sign in was friendly and helpful. Guess the price was good for the area, but at $200+ per night out feels very expensive for a hostel. Kitchen facilities mostly adequate - plenty of pots, pans , crockery etc. But, only one electric kettle that never seemed to work, and just 1 microwave.

The rooms were dirty, especially the bedding which was covered in hair and the showers were disgusting and also stunk. The shower curtains definitely needed washing. Also building work on my floor whilst I was there. The kitchen was well equipped and kept tidy.

We stayed two nights here in one of the private rooms. Positives of course were the price relative to other Lake Louise properties (but at 180 per night, is still way outta bounds for HI!), location for us to get to the ski hill and out exploring the area's amazing winter trails. And as always, the restaurant was amazing. Negatives would be that we found staff service to be adequate, but not overly memorable and most of our fellow hostel-goers being quite stuffy and not much for conversation. Late night cleaning staff also "evicted" our daughter from the unlocked common area while she was there quitely reading at 10pm. Seems a bit heavy handed for what is meant to be a very informal place to stay (just a hostel!). A little odd of an experience. I think HI can do better. And just because the neighbourhood costs an arm and a leg doesn't mean you need to "keep up".