There are not a lot of budget accommodation options in Saskatoon. No hostels, and unless you try something like Couchsurfing or AirBnb (or you have friends or family to stay with) you're pretty much stuck paying $150+/night for a hotel. That is unless you stay at the Inn on College. I go to Saskatoon once a year or so, and usually I stay with family, but on my last visit I brought along a friend (who'd never been to Saskatoon) and we decided to book the Inn on College.
First this isn't a hotel. It's a guest house (which is sort of similar to a Bed and Breakfast, just minus an inclusive breakfast). The Inn is located right on College Drive just east of the river. It's right across from the University of Saskatchewan campus and by The Ronald McDonald House. I had a car, but there were some restaurants and coffee shops (Starbucks, DQ, and a local restaurant called Alexander's) down the street.
The room we booked had two twin beds. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was nice, clean, and comfortable. There were a dresser and closet (with hangers), as well as a small desk and chair, and a small nightstand on the wall between the two beds. The room had a small (probably 13 inch) flat screen tv and cable. There was free wifi, which worked pretty well throughout the hotel. Best of all the beds had a memory foam type of mattress and was super comfortable. Usually I have a hard time falling asleep if I'm not in my own bed, but not here. You get a towel, facecloth and bar of soap with your stay. There isn't daily housekeeping unless you request it (and then there's an extra charge).
There are no bathrooms within the guestrooms, instead there are two shared bathrooms (at least on the main level, I don't know whether there were any bathrooms in the basement). One of the bathrooms is by the office and living room and the other was down the hall. Both are full bathrooms with a bathtub/showerhead although I liked the bathroom down the hall best because the showerhead was massive and had different water settings. The bathroom down the hall also had a double sink. Maybe it's just because we were there during the middle of the week in March, but there were never any lineups for the bathroom. They were always clean and in good working order.
There's a kitchen for guest use with complimentary coffee and tea. There's food you can purchase (bagels, instant noodles, etc) if you need, but there are restaurants and grocery stores close by. The kitchen has labels and markers if you bring your own food. I made use of the complimentary tea. Being a guest house you're asked to wash your own dishes and clean up after yourself. Everything was pretty clean and orderly when I was there. There's also a living area with some couches, chairs, a tv, and books and magazines if you wanted to relax outside your room. On the one wall of the living room was covered with signatures and notes from guests who had stayed there before. There's also a map with pins of where past guests were from.
The hotel has free parking for guests (they'll give you a parking pass when you check in). My friend and I were here when it was -30C (I'm from Edmonton, so I'm used to those kinds of temperatures in March), and the parking stalls had plugins (just be sure to have an extension cord). The front parking lot just has a few stalls, but there are more stalls behind the back.
The room my friend and I had was $88/night with taxes included, which was the best price we could find in Saskatoon. I believe a room for just one person is $60/night and there are also rooms with Queen or double beds. I really liked The Inn on College. If you're looking for somewhere to stay in Saskatoon that's clean, safe, and a decent price give this place a try. read more