Kelowna Okanagan Lake Hostel

Worst place I've ever seen! I rented this place on Dec 2019 when I came from Maine, New York to Kelowna for travelling. I suddenly saw this again on my phone so I gave this terrible star! This is agurably the worst place I've ever seen and the Chinese female owner is REALLY RUDE. Trust me don't ever try to go here again! Anything that doesn't sastified her she used rude words like "get lost, you wasted my time (I paid the money)". Should be -1/5 for everything and the Chinese female is -10/5 stars. To the Chinese female owner, you have 0% criterion to run this buissiness. (My mistake, I mistakenly wrote 2020 then I fixed to 2019)

Good location. Host was kind and friendly. The bedroom I stayed in was very clean and tidy upon my check-in. I was a little hesitant at first upon reading other reviews but pleasantly surprised by the upkeep of the place. The kitchen was also spacious and provides lots of flexibility for homemade meals to save a few dimes. I would recommend to stay here as an alternative to a hotel.

This place is even worst then a homeless place outside! I'm from Finland and I went with my Hungarian friend on Dec 2019 and he has the same opinion as well! The Chinese owner is really REALLY TERRIBLE because she's rude. Would rather go for donation. Please if you come here, then you have made a stupid decision. Don't even think about it. The worst place I ever seen in my life. Change your buissiness that Chinese female. Don't waste your money, sleep homelessly. The room is really uncomfortable and dirty as hell!

In the wake of the current wildfire situation in BC with many displaced residents, this hostel better have its act together. It should be following all Covid safety protocols and maintaining a sanitized and clean environment for every new guest. If the lady running the hostel takes her responsibility to her visitors more serious than in the past, this place might be alright. It was not when I stayed there a month ago, but I have been told the hostel is being monitored now to follow proper accomodation procedures. Based on her attempt to respond sincerely to the recent reviews and in a way that people can understand; it does give the impression that there is more accountability. Response: No I am not a competitor, I am a concerned citizen looking out for my fellow travelers to ensure they do not experience what I experienced staying here; which was abysmal (everything already stated in all the other terrible reviews happened to me). I do think you should take a breath, and use proper sentences when respresenting your business. People would appreciate it and take you more seriously; and for the love of god, use spell check.

My boyfriend’s parents accidentally booked two nights here in July, for a room too small for three people (parents plus one family member). When we realized there was no AC in the booked room, we were concerned. Heat wave + elderly + crowding + heart problems = huge red flag and danger for them. I did not want his family getting a heat stroke during our wine tasting trip. After looking further into the hostel (maybe it wasn’t as bad as it seems, we were thinking, or we can work something safer out), everything we read and the pictures saw were not building confidence in safety not only for heat but for cleanliness and pandemic safety, nor was the phone conversation assuring. The person who answered the phone was not understanding and was exceedingly rude. She cut me off mid sentence and snapped “you listen”, though she was not giving the same courtesy. After a total of two hours on the phone over two days, we made a verbal agreement that, if someone else booked that room, she would refund us. If it was booked one night out of the two, she would only charge 150 instead of 300. On the first night, I called. She confirmed that the room had been booked, and that she would only charge one night. In the end, she charged both nights. We tried to contact and hold her to our verbal agreement. When we called her she claimed the agreement was that we would only be refunded if both nights were booked, which was not what I agreed to with her. I was unable to make the call myself due to schedule issues, so my boyfriend pursued the matter on my behalf and she made it clear she didn't want to "help" us anymore. With no real cancellation policy (which should be a must have to accommodate last minute cancellations for various reasons including the pandemic), this led to a conflict which could have been avoided with some proactive initiatives from the owner. The interactions were ultimately dishonest as she did not keep her word. It would be beneficial for the hostel to record their phone conversations and keep track of them so that they can look back and keep true to agreements. Additionally, I am unsure who was answering the phone precisely, but their attitude was unacceptable. Cutting people off and snapping rudely is not professional, and the individual should be addressed and educated in regards to phone and conversation etiquette. In advance to a reply I presume will come; I’ve noticed all replies to negative reviews resort to name calling or references to coming to account with God for dishonesty. Religion has little place in business, and name calling is not a professional or effective tool for problem solving or conflict resolution. Moreover, from my personal experience with this hostel, I find it ironic that every negative review is a lie when my own experience dealing with the hostel was dishonest, and just by rules of probability it is unlikely all negative reviewers are liars. Nor am I competition; I work as a RN in the lower mainland. Additionally, with such a high demand of accommodation in the summer for Kelowna, it is equally unlikely that competitors would review negatively. Everywhere at the time was completely booked, thus they wouldn’t feel the need to bring others down when they don’t need to try or do anything. TLDR / Summary for anyone else; only book here if you are 100% sure that is definitely where you want to stay and there is no chance you will need to change plans or places for any reason. I can’t speak personally for the state of the hostel as, per pandemic recommendations, we avoided going anywhere unnecessarily. What I did learn from this experience was that any negotiation will not be honoured unless it’s in writing.

Just stayed there for a few days and reading the reviews prior to, scared us a little. The place could use some work but the owner was quite lovely towards us and there was some paint work getting done to the house which shows the owner somewhat cares about her building! The location is great and parking was somewhat easy especially the weekend parking. Overall price is expensive for what it is but that’s Kelowna for ya! Hostels are hostels and I think this place deserves a little bit more than what it has. :) Thank you for the pleasant stay!

Would you like to see the video of how your worker treated my daughter? Because it borders on abusive. She actually slammed the door open into the room as she was screaming at my daughter. It would help greatly if she would slow down when she speaks so as to be undstood, instead of raising her voice and talking over everyone. I don't understand how an owner can let this kind of behavior go on continually. Absent owners should not rely on workers who lie to protect themselves. Your many, many horrible reviews should be evidence enough that this woman is unfit for her job. She screamed at me on the phone and continually interrupted while I was trying to speak. Your horrible reviews go back years which shows your unwillingness to improve your customer service. Why are you even in this business? It's truly disgraceful that you think it's ok to treat paying customers this way.

This isn't a five star hotel but it deserves a five star review. I came to Kelowna to explore the city, hit up some wineries and enjoy the outdoors, why would I spend my money on a hotel room when I don't plan to hang out in?! The woman who runs the place is firm, friendly and fair. My room was small, clean and secure. I didn't stay long enough to make use of the kitchen but it had everything I would need if I did. The shared spaces are simple, like an older house, but well maintained. I visited for the May Long weekend so it was still a little cold to hang out outside but the backyard patio space would be lovely on a warmer day. You're right downtown AND next to a grocery store... What more could you ask for?! This place is great.