Samesun Toronto - Hostel

The common areas were often cold, so they didn't really make me want to hang around. They do have activities, but not much was going on during my stay. I spent 10 days here and really loved the location in Kensington Market, with vintage shops and lots of restaurants all around. Union Station is about a 20-minute streetcar ride away, which made it easy to get around. I was in a four-bed female dorm. The beds have curtains for privacy, an outlet to charge your phone, and a personal locker. Shared bathrooms on the floor were mostly clean, though the stalls could be more spacious. The showers had hot water and good pressure. Breakfast came with bagels, fruit, cereal, coffee, and tea. There was also a large shared fridge, a freezer, and little cubbies for dry food, handy for a longer stay. Reception has free earplugs, towels, and extra blankets available 24/7, which was a nice touch.

The staff were super friendly, breakfast was excellent, and the location felt safe and secure. I had a great stay in the girls' six-bed dorm. The room was clean and the beds comfortable, but they squeaked loudly whenever anyone turned over. That made the dorm noisy, so I'd recommend fixing the beds. I highly recommend the place.

I spent five nights at the hostel and met wonderful people from all over the world. Everyone has a different story, so this place is for people who like talking and discovering the lovely people around them, not really for introverts. The location is perfect, near chinatown and lots of international restaurants. The shared room was fairly decent, and the bed was comfortable, though that depends on who else is staying in the bedroom. I'd recommend staying here for up to a week.

The location is fantastic for the price, $25 USD a night, right in Kensington Square, close to downtown and next to U Toronto. If you're a heavy sleeper and can handle noise and heat, it could be good value. I couldn't. I had to leave after two days without sleep, and I got sick for the rest of my trip. I wouldn't recommend staying more than one night unless you can sleep through it. The metal bed frames creak loudly with every small movement, waking people up, and it gets worse as others wake too. The walls are paper thin, so coughing, alarms, and talking from nearby rooms carry through. The entrance door slams whenever someone leaves or comes back, which was enough to wake me. The hostel also gets very hot. Even in the dead of winter, my room was so warm I was sweating and couldn't fall asleep for most of the night. There isn't much bathroom capacity for the number of people on each floor: one toilet, two showers, and three sinks. I often had to go to another floor to use the restroom. The shower itself was fine, but privacy was limited to two curtains for changing. The room had a decent amount of luggage space and lockers for extra storage. The bathroom is at the end of a long, narrow, brightly lit hallway, so going there in the middle of the night disrupted my sleep even more.