I am sitting on the bed in room 22B, and I'll tell you...I am pleased as punch. It is clean, and…read moretastefully, sparcely decorated with an IKEA meets World Market vibe. Now if you know me at all, you KNOW I love fresh air. At many hotels, I 100% loathe the act of desperately sucking my "fresh air" through some dusty window air conditioner thingy, but in 22B, glory be! I can open fully an old-wood-framed window and lay here gazing at the green leaves of a tree swaying in the breeze as I inhale copious lungfuls of the oxygen I love so much. In addition to free air, free breakfast is also promised, which is pretty normal in hotels, but get this...drumroll...FREE DINNER and a drink! We, unfortunately went out and wasted our money on bad food at a restaurant (Dosa Paragon...read the review), so don't know how the free dinner was here. My expectations are reasonable, so if they have coffee and bread at breakfast, we are good! If they have a waffle spinner,that would be typical but surprising here. Yes, it's a little noisy, but not as much as I feared for being in the heart of a bustling downtown. Stay here and get room 22B! Update: Excellent breakfast and there is a communal kitchen! No waffle spinner.

*BED BUGS* Stayed in Room 17K and left early because the…read moreroom was gross -- hairs in the bed, dirty counters, and a small red bug in the sheets that I *hoped* wasn't a bed bug. Spoiler alert: it was. The air freshener under the sink was so strong it made me nauseous. When I tried to check out early, instead of asking "How was your stay?" or trying to help, the front desk just said, "No refund for you!" -- which is a great way to make a guest feel unwelcome, not valued. They say they don't want to greet guests that way, but that's exactly what happened. Management says they "need to be advised at the time" to fix issues, but how was I supposed to report bugs at check-in when I hadn't even been in the room yet? And when I tried to raise concerns at checkout, I was cut off. So, no chance to fix things on site -- which they say is why they won't refund me. They admit their "high standards of quality" weren't met -- the hairs and dirty counters prove that -- and that the "nauseating air freshener" is a love-it-or-hate-it thing they could have removed or even moved me to another room, but none of that happened. They claim they found no evidence of bed bugs but will "treat it as such" because it's a serious complaint. I have photos of the bites I woke up with at home, and I saw a similar bug in my own apartment later. Seems pretty connected to me. Finally, they say they won't refund me because I "threatened" to leave negative reviews -- except I'm just sharing my honest experience, which any traveler deserves to hear. They offered a discount for a future stay, but after this, I won't be going back. If you want a clean, safe place with guest service that actually listens, look elsewhere.

Incredibly affordable and convenient place to stay when visiting Victoria! It's right downtown and…read morewalking distance from anywhere you could hope to go. I stayed in a private room, which was small, but very clean and cozy! We had control over our own heating, which was wonderful for visiting in November. There are both private and multi person bathrooms, all of which are very clean and pleasant. The staff here are very welcoming and kind! I highly recommend staying here if you are traveling on a budget!

Don't really care if I am closer to 40 than 30, I still enjoy staying at hostels. Love the…read morecommunity/communal spirit and being able to talk with travelers from around the world. Plus, we were in Victoria to see the city, not lounge in the room. Decent bed and warm shower is really all that was needed. We stayed at this location for two night while doing a whirlwind BC trip. We got a private room which was really clean and tidy. The kitchen is well-stocked with all sorts of dishes and cooking supplies. Staff was very friendly too, which was appreciated. Great location just a block from the Inner Harbor and a great price for about $60 Canadian for a private room. I see some posters had issues with the dorm accommodations, but I can't speak to that, as we stayed in a private room.

Here it is, folks, the only game in town. Short of spending $80 or camping out in someone's back…read moreyard, here's your only other option. And boy does it have last resort written in big block letters across it.. None of the rooms are "rooms" per se, they have doors, sure, they have beds in them, no doubt, but none of them have four walls. That is, in order to get to the bathroom, outside, laundry machine, you will have people walking through your "room". I've stayed in shitty hostels. But for the most part, they all had walls. And do you like to have internet in your hostel? Great, sit by the window and hope to catch a stray bit of bandwidth from the owners' house. Truth is, the place is pretty comfortable and it's a lot cheaper than staying a hotel. It just seems to suffer from a bad case of only-game-in-town.

I will always remember my time at the ToadLily House fondly. The communal style is perfect for…read moremeeting and getting to know the many wonderful people who come through here. The owners are genuinely kind, gracious people who will make sure you're comfortable and taken care of. I would stay here over a hotel any day.

My boyfriend and I traveled to the area so I could start a giant tattoo by @annmarietattoo and this…read morehotel was the most fun ever!! Loved all the vibes and great amenities! Especially the restaurant right on the property. We are there quite a few times and the food was always picture perfect and delicious. The room was amazing and super unique which matches exactly the kind of place we were looking for!! Highly recommend a stay here!

Hotel Zed was really a fun hotel to stay at! It's a hotel themed from the 1970's and it the decor…read moreand atmosphere lives up to that quite nicely! Our room was very good and I slept quite well... perhaps even better than I was at home prior to the trip which is pretty wild. There is a 70's themed basement room to take in and enjoy. You can hang out there if you want and play pool and such. While it was an excellent room it was a bit stuffy in there on the ventilation part so we didn't stay long. This room is located in the front office building. The front desk also has a swag section. I was super close to getting a sweater but alas none were in my size. There was also a pool and hot tub we took advantage of and really enjoyed. They even have a curvy slide to go on. Nobody in my party went on it except for Steve. That wild child. Hotel Zed has other locations in British Columbia and I'd love to check them out. I get the impression each one is a bit different to keep things unique.

We stayed here for 3 nights in a private family room for 4 of us, and overall, it was a good stay…read more On the plus side, it was a great location right in Friday Harbor, liked the common room w/ pool table, games, TVs and community kitchen. Cons: only one key for a room that slept 6, no closets, dressers or shelves; we had a sitting room, but if you turned lights on, they were also on in the bedroom; the bunks were fairly rickety, and every time my daughter above me rolled over, the bed shook and I woke up. I also misunderstood that we had a private toilet, shower, but all rooms share community bathrooms. Not super cheap for a hostel ($250/night for our room), but on an island w/ extremely limited, was nice to have a place to stay!

The two of us stayed at the hostel in late June 2022. It was VERY expensive for a hostel, but…read moreheck--it's summer--and we were glad to have a place to stay that night. The only room we could get was one with two bunkbeds, with a very slim double on the bottom of one. That's the one we used. No one else shared the room. The showers down the hall were hot, and one of them had a hair dryer. Later I found that the very large and nice kitchen / lounge / pool ball area also had additional, larger bathrooms. It would have been nice for Manager Min to show that to us when we checked in, but on the other hand, he clearly had a lot of responsibilities. Next time we'll ask for a little tour! :) As another reviewer noted, patrons were polite and quiet. Min was helpful at all times, as was the young woman whose name I didn't catch but who filled in for him at times. She provided us with additional bath towels at no cost.

This hotel was accommodating and friendly. Most affordable stay in the city. The bed was clean. My…read morebiggest complaint is the bathrooms were not clean and smelled bad. There was buildup of dirt in the showers.

It's a very nice hostel in a very nice location. But badly…read morethere weren't many people around. Badly, when you want to charge your devices, you also have to turn the light on (at least in the b dorm), what is quite annoying, especially for overnight. This hostel is not suitable for big and heavy suitcases, because there's no elevator, but when you're with a backpack/ smaller suitcase it works just fine. For your convenience there is a bar right around the corner, and the super market and a drugstore/ banks are just about a 10 minute walk away.

This hotel is in the heart of the city. We did not have a car and it was the perfect location to…read moreexperience the city walking. The convenience of being close to every restaurant you could imagine. We took the clipper over from Seattle for our stay and it was only a 15-20 minute walk to the terminal. Great Great hotel. Linens and pillows were very comfortable and the the front desk staff was attentive. We absolutely will be back for a return stay. Here is the view from room 303

Great location. Includes kitchen with cooking gear. Best part is the staff are so friendly and…read morehelpful. They really go out of their way to make guests feel like guests.

Very nice property located in the middle of downtown…read more Room has huge, clean and well appointed. Fitness center was also large and had plenty of equipment. Breakfast choices were great and the staff in the restaurant were all very friendly.

This is the downtown location, which is perfect as it's 5 minutes if that walk to the wharf, and…read moremost tour buses like Malabar shuttle is right around the corner, Butchart Gardens bus is same leaving from the front of the Empress which is before the wharf. Plenty of easy walking distance to restaurants, Chinatown. Rooms is nice, the only issue is the elevators extremely slow and they only have three with one down. With that said I would return as there's no need for a vehicle in this area

Claustrophobia enthusiasts or those looking to relive their college dorm room days (minus the beer…read morekegs) take note: the Orca Inn is available to indulge your fantasies. Harsh? Hardly. I know they say they're 'no-frills' and ...they are all that. But that doesn't mean this multi-building single-story complex can't do better. Pros: -An awesome desk person, check in was delightful, helpful and very informative -Water/ice/ coffee station. Very cool. -Decent air conditioning -Close to CoOp market and San Juan Bakery -Lots of parking. -Fridge and microwave included. Cons; -Paltry room size. You can barely walk around the bed, and the shower is no bigger than a coffin. As a bonus, ours came with a bee carcass in it. -Bathroom door barely had room to close. Sounds were emanating from toilet randomly at night. -Lighting is horrid -Bedding is from last century -Paper-thin walls - you can hear every footstep outside your door. -Outrageous pricing for what was a closet. I know it's summer. Still. I wonder: Was this an old army barracks not-so successfully repurposed to serve civilians? Seems likely. Oh well. I realize it's probably the cheapest accommodation on San Juan Island in high season, but, nope, never again. A good night's sleep: is It too much to ask for?

For all the haters out there, I'm going to have to disagree with the negative comments. First of…read moreall the office gals are super friendly and helpful and the room was very clean. I'm talking cleaner than all of the Hilton hotels I've stayed in for the last 10 years, clean. So, kudos to housekeeping! This hotel doesn't purport to be anything other than what it is: an affordable, no frills accommodation in a naturally beautiful place. Nobody comes here to just sit around all day at a hotel anyway. I've stayed at several places in Friday Harbor and honestly this was exactly what I needed. They have a water cooler with ice right by the office, too! I thought it was super convenient - location was near a grocery store/pizza place/bowling (walkable) and parking was plentiful. I'd stay here again for sure.