HI – Ottawa Jail Hostel

Vraiment un TRÈS MAUVAISE EXPÉRIENCE!
Tout d’abord le contexte :
J’organise un événement dans la région et nous avons besoin de loger environ une quarantaine de personnes. Une auberge de jeunesse est l’idéal car les prix sont bien souvent peu élevés pour loger autant de personnes pendant une fin de semaine. Nous sommes entrés en contact avec la responsable des réservations de groupe qui nous envoi un premier prix pour réserver un étage complet. Finalement, un deuxième prix ré-​évalué à la hausse nous est envoyé car nos dates correspondent à un autre événement à Ottawa-​Gatineau (le bal de neige)… Bref, on a l’impression de se faire enfler et d’être des vaches à lait. Le lieu est le seul de ce type dans la région donc pas d’autres choix possibles et on sent que les responsables en joue beaucoup.
Arrivée sur les lieux: l’accueil est mauvais (la personne au comptoir est complètement perdue et donnent des informations contradictoires concernant le stationnement), le confort est basique. On découvre que l’espace de douche de notre étage est hors service… Nos invités doivent naviguer entre différents étages de la résidence pour se doucher, vraiment nul.
Mais finalement la palme de la mauvaise expérience revient à la découverte de punaises de lit (BED PUGS) dans une des chambres. Oui c’est un risqué dans une auberge de jeunesse où il y a beaucoup de passage mais j’avais osé espéré (à tord apparemment) que vu le prix payé, le service aurait été assez efficace pour prévenir ce type de désagrément. Bien sûr une nouvelle chambre a été offerte pour les personnes de la chambre infestée (normal) et elles ont pu utiliser une sécheuse pour éliminer les bestioles.
Bref, le seul point positif que je leur conçois est le suivant :
— le déjeuner est de qualité.

Ça aurait pu être sympa, dormir dans l’ancienne prison de la ville, mais mon expérience dans cette auberge de jeunesse né l’a pas été tant que ça.
J’y ai séjourné dans une chambre privée pour deux personnes (double jail cell). Les prix sont bon marché pour les chambres partagées (jusqu’à 8 lits, certaines sont mixtes, les prix commencent à 34 dollars HT) mais pour les chambres privées, je les trouve trop élevés par rapport à la prestation fournie (pour ma chambre, cela m’a coûtait 89 dollars HT).
En effet, la chambre est assez petite (vous allez faire du Tetris si, comme nous, vous avez 2 grosses valises et une valise cabine). Le matelas était correct. J’ai bien aimé le décor, assez préservé de la prison.
En outré, si vous avez le sommeil léger comme moi, ou beaucoup moins léger comme mon compagnon, ce n’est pas ici que vous trouverez le sommeil :
— il n’y a pas de système de cloisonnement complet de la porte: donc vous entendez tout ce qu’il se passé dans les autres chambres (des personnes qui regardent des films ou séries sur leur ordi ou écoutent de la musique par exemple) et dans le couloir (des personnes qui parlent).
— même dans la chambre, le système d’aération/de chauffage (je né sais pas) fait beaucoup de bruit.
Mieux voir avoir un sommeil bien lourd, ou être bien bien fatiguée pour pouvoir vous y reposer.
A l’accueil le personnel était assez sympa. En revanche pour le petit-​déjeuner, cela n’était pas du tout le cas: aucun mot d’explication, si on voulait une information il fallait couper leur conversation et le personnel nous faisait clairement comprendre qu’on gênait.
Concernant le petit-​déjeuner, il y avait peu de choix: deux types de céréales (des Cherrios et des corn flakes), du lait chaud ou froid, du thé, du café, du jus d’orange et de pomme, des bagels et pains de mie que l’on peut faire griller (ça c’est chouette comme tout !) et côté salé: des œufs, du jambon et des tomates et des concombres (en plein mois de décembre, RIP le concept de saisonnalité des légumes). Rien de foufou, même si j’avoue que cela correspond assez bien à mes petits déjeuners classiques (qui sont sucrés).
Reste quand même le cadre que j’ai bien apprécié. L’auberge de jeunesse dispose d’une grande cuisine fonctionnelle en sous-​sol. Quelques casiers sont également présents (même si je les trouve un peu étroits). Les toilettes et douches sont propres. Et l’auberge est très bien située dans Ottawa. A vrai dire, je suis juste déçue par rapport aux prix de la chambre, et au non-​repos que nous y avons trouvé, mais si vous êtes un groupe ou que cela né vous dérange pas de partager une chambre avec des inconnus: foncez, cette auberge est faite pour vous et est bon marché.
PS: Wifi gratuit mais pas très stable. Une visite gratuite des lieux se déroule tous les jours à 11h: si vous avez l’occasion, cela peut être sympa.

Stayed 2 nights in a private cell. A very unique experience indeed! Good for students and backpackers that visits the capital as other reviews mentioned.
The staffs were welcoming and helpful at answering questions you have around the area. The location is great, right across from the mall and within walking distance to the Parliament building, byward market, and also uOttawa.
This is a hostel so don’t expect environment of a 4 or 5 star hotel. But the shared bathrooms and the showers are clean and I had no problems with those. And it is good for the hostel price range as well.
The first night was very good, but the second I had a was not good because the fellow beside my cell was snoring extremely loud. And because of the original design of the prison was meant to resonance the sounds from each cell, it made that night impossible to sleep. :(there were signs around about this knowledge so I couldn’t help but complaint about that fellow for kind of inconsiderate. But no rantings, my advice would be only stay in a private cell in weekdays, where there’s less people (and less chance of bad experience), and perhaps switch to a dorm style room during weekends.
Overall my stay was good, it gave me convenient access to all the places I want to go see, and the expectations meet the price. Would recommend the place for budget travellers.

Perfect lodging for students, backpackers, and other fearless travelers who seek experiences out of the ordinary. Clean, centrally located and incredibly budget-​friendly (around $ 30 a night), this particular lHI Hostel location is set in an old jail! So yes, for one night, you get your own «cell» in a historic building just steps away (walking distance) from downtown and the University of Ottawa. The staff, friendly, also has a lots of recommendations about the city life. There is an on-​site bar, Mugshots, that is a no frills open bar in the backyard of the hostel, complete with a few tables for a casual makeshift patio. Stand-​up showers are lean as usual, and breakfast is complimentary (yay!). Don’t forget to get the HI membership for a 15% discount, all the time, at any HI Hostel location across the world!

It was cozier than I expected it to be. The front desk staffs were extremely helpful and friendly. I stayed in a double jail cell, and it was very basic, as I had imagined. The bed was surprisingly comfortable! The girls’ showers were spacious and decently clean, I did not have any problems with getting a shower stall whenever I needed one. The location was fantastic! Walking distance to just about everything you need. The complimentary breakfast was very healthy and I was happy with the selection of food and beverages.
I was a little disappointed with how «realistic» the jail would be. Although we were situated in a former jail house, other than the brick walls and the metal jail door, there was no real jail like atmosphere. I thought the whole experience would have been better if we were given jump suits when we checked in, had a guard «escort» us to our cells, had PA announcements indicating when curfew was (no actual curfew necessary), etc.

I’ve been staying in hostels quite a bit the last couple years while doing some budget travelling and I’ve had amazing experiences. I knew the lucky streak wouldn’t last forever. So here’s my first negative hostel experience. The actual cell I booked was great. The bed was comfy enough, the price was right ($ 30 for a private cell), and it was just enough space for me and my bags. The staff on check-​in were very friendly and very helpful. My problems revolve around noise concerns. The other guests were among the most inconsiderate people I’ve witnessed in my travels. Loud talking at all hours, blaring music in the rooms without headphones, passing out on the furniture, it was really something else. It’s not like they were drunk teenagers getting their frustrations out, either, most of them were grown adults.
The biggest annoyance was that there are signs everywhere reminding guests it is a shared social environment so to be respectful and that quiet hours are after 11 PM. I’d read online that the hostel bar can make things loud until 1 AM so I stayed out until 1 AM just in case. When I got back it was still incredibly loud. I called and asked the front desk when we could expect a little quiet. They said 2:30 AM. I asked to be moved and they said it wasn’t a possibility. They offered ear plugs. I went and picked up the ear plugs. They didn’t help at all. It may not have been so bad if they had confined the noise to the bar in the basement but they had the party in the courtyard which is directly in front of the windows for the rooms. I found this incredibly disrespectful.
I showered a couple times a day at different times. The water never got hot. A couple times I thought it got slightly warm but as soon as I’d stick my head under to wash my hair I’d realize it was still cold and I’d just adjusted to it.
At 10 AM they make announcements over a P.A. system for some unknown reason. It’s a bit obnoxious.
The bar was supposed to be open at 7:30 PM. I went at 8 PM to get a drink and there was no bartender to be found. This would have been fine and I would have just had a drink in my room but there are signs forbidding that as well. I’ve never had that issue in a private room at other hostels.
The wifi doesn’t work in most of the hostel. Luckily I had my own data plan. There are also a lot of stairs and no elevator. This doesn’t bother me at all as I hate elevators and prefer stairs, but if you have any kind of mobility concerns be prepared for that as there are eight floors. There are also several ghost walk tour groups roaming the halls in the evenings so make sure you aren’t walking around in your underpants if you are shy.
The property has a ton of potential. I’m really sorry that it fails in execution.

We booked a 4 bed male dorm and stayed in a beautiful room with two bunk beds, one of them with a queen size bed on the lower level. We even had a sink and two armchairs in our room. The shared bathroom was old but very clean. Breakfast was very good; good bagels and fresh fruits were provided. Parking was 11 $ per night. I would definitely recommend this hostel to everyone who is looking for a central location and a nice atmosphere.

cool opinion!!! A real jail looked a little bit scary but the concept was awesome!!!

Pros
— Historical building with some cool history.
— Supposedly haunted — there’s free daily ghost tours for anyone staying in the hostel. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s fun to check out.
— Safe. I was traveling alone (stayed in a 4 bed dorm) and felt completely safe (ghosts or otherworldly spirits notwithstanding).
— Free breakfast included.
— Free wifi, although it did cut out a bit.
— Good location. Only a few blocks from Byward Market and other attractions are nearby.
— Friendly staff.
Cons
— Beds. Look I’ve done hostels before, quite a bit, and I’ve done bunk beds. I knew it wouldn’t be the most comfortable bed ever, but could we spring (pun intended) for bunks with ladders? I shouldn’t have to hoist myself up to the top bunk, and attempt to get down from the top bunk without a ladder, especially in the middle of the night. It’s a pain in the ass.
— Noisy. This is often a given at the hostels. It’s a bit of a party hostel which is fine. What I found really odd was the fact there seemed to be groups of school kids (like 10 year-​olds) running around or in the breakfast area. I’m used to hostels where everyone is at least 18. These were like High School school groups. It was weird.
— Bathrooms. At least the one by my floor had a shower that was a little icky looking. It’s an older building — I get that — but this shower looked like it had mold or something. It smelled kind of funky. Perhaps the other showers were fine, but that one was weird.
Overall I didn’t mind my stay here, and I think it was fun to check out a «haunted» hostel for a couple of nights (although nothing scary or weird happened while I was there). That being said I had the experience and next time I’m in Ottawa I’ll probably look to stay somewhere else.

Definitely 100 points for the experience of sleeping in a single cell on ‘death row’, but not quite so many points for comfort.
One night interrupted by the clatter of chains, snoring and other nightly noises was an experience — two would have been an inconvenience. The cells are built with vaulted ceilings to amplify sound. While this certainly made life easier for the past guards, present guests are not exactly lulled to sleep by the nightly snor-​gasbord. Zzzzzzzz. Bring earplugs!
Otherwise I was a little disappointed by the hostel. I usually love HI, and stay at their hostels whenever possible to feel the spirit and enjoy the activities. This hostel felt a little neglected — possibly because I visited in late November. The info on notice boards was out of date, and staff seemed generally unenthusiastic. It was not bad by all means, but there was just no trace of that HI spirit. Furthermore, a lot of the guest seemed to be single male long term residents. I am not a squeamish or fearful female traveller, but I start to feel a little uncomfortable when outnumbered by male prison benchwarmers at a ratio of about 10 to 1.
But I guess it all adds to the inmate experience. So stay for a night in a single cell, get in touch with your inner badass, and let yourself out next morning with a clear criminal record!

I hear all other comments of this place. Yes, stay one night for the novelty of the place. Be prepare that the jail room is small, bed squeaky, shower further away. I thought that I went there at bad timing, because I thought that the management was very careless. There were garbage everywhere, uncollected, kitchen left dirty either by visitors or management team (I couldn’t tell), late night noise party. It may be because I was there during long weekend, but I’m sensing that it’s more like cumulated negligence on management’s behalf. I have seen better hostels, so this experience was a disappointment. I would still go back to see if there’s improvement or not. However, next time I wouldn’t bring my friends to suffer. If I travel alone, then I’m up for the experience. If you plan to visit hostels, heads-​up.

I stayed during the fall season for five nights and one ot two beds were always unoccupied so booking was not heavy. In regard to some of the prior reviews, the beds are metal framed and the mattress suited my comfort demands; I was not bothered by the history of the building or the fact that convicts died in the bldg, hell the stairways are protected by an anti-​suicide grating. My only comment is that the dorm had a window facing Nicholas St. and during the morning hours, the traffic noise will wake the undead but that didn’t bother me since I sleep with ear-​plugs. The hostel is located off the OC Transport bus lines 94, 95 from the Via Canada Ottawa train station and across the street from the Rideau Mall. Everything you could need is located close by including a Metro 24 hr. grocery store. One other note, the breakfast is cereal, bagels, hard boiled eggs, fresh fruit, orange juice and coffee/​tea.

Staying here is all about the novelty of the place. It is really fun to stay in the original cells complete with bars. However, the hard beds and super creepy haunted feeling kind of sucks. Let’s just say I didn’t exactly sleep well. I would not recommend this as a place for multiple nights just for the creep out factor, but I highly recommend it as a cool experience for a night if you are in town. We stayed here on a road trip pit stop and it was definitely the most interesting place we crashed out…

If you find yourself in our fine nation’s capital on a modest budget and value clean rooms, a convenient location, friendly and knowledgeable staff and aren’t weary of spending a night or two with the agreeable spirits of condemned murderers, arsonists ET AL. then the old Nicholas Street Gaol, or what is now known as HI Ottawa Hostel is for you.
When the jail closed in 1972, Hostelling International purchased and converted the building, but left much of the structure intact, allowing guests to experience spending a night «in jail». But rest assured you will not be inflicted to the oft inhumane conditions that awaited other less fortunate souls during their stays.
We stayed on the top floor in the «Richard» suite, the room had a beautiful hardwood floor and two sturdy bunk beds. The bottom of one was actually a double! and the room even had a sink en-​suite and a leather couch to boot. Not too shabby for a hostel room. Another nice touch was the soaker tub in the bright bathroom steps from our door.
For the nominal cost of approx. $ 40.00/person for semi shared quarters you too can enjoy this quirky slice of prison life sans guards and bars.

The beds aren’t awesome but they’re much better than camping, and big-​free to boot.
The novelty of staying in a somewhat-​renovated jail would wear off over multiple nights, but it really is an interesting alternative to the many overpriced hotels in the area. I had a fun time exploring the levels and cells, though I missed the nightly tour. The basement houses the common area with a bar open nightly 6 – 10 pm.
I stayed in a dorm with other travelers on bunk beds, which suited me just fine. The others in my room were courteous about late night noise and light levels, which I appreciated as I awoke early for a morning tour of Ottawa.

How does this place only have two reviews? This place was slightly creepy, but super cool. My bf and I did a Canada road trip and decided to stay one night in the Jail Hostel. I totally agree that one night is more then enough. I also highly advise to read the wikipedia history of the Jail Hostel or take the tour after you stay the night. I wish they had a morning jail tour instead of only once a night.
We booked a double occupancy in a private cell for about $ 85. The cell has an original jail door and isn’t fully private. They give you clean sheets and towels to use. The sleeping quarters are super bare, but clean. I thought the bathrooms and showers were a bit too original and decided to shower at the next hotel. They keep the lights on all night, so its not as creepy.
I recommend that you check out every floor and the outside courtyard. It’s pretty interesting to go to the 8^th floor to see what your cell originally looked like. Your private room was equivalent to 3 jail cells. The solitary confinement cells is past the kitchen on the 3^rd floor. I didn’t see any ghosts, and its kind of cool to say I’ve stayed in a jail. Great location to the bars, and a little bit walking to parliament and the Canadian museum.
$ 5 for an all day parking spot on the property
free wi-​fi

This place is worth staying at for ONE night just because of the novelty of it. It’s tiny and not very comfortable, but it’s definitely interesting. The rooms and bathrooms are really clean too.

A unique and memorable trip to the best Ottawa Hostel that’ll not only include its sights, attractions, and activities but your overnight sentence in jail as well! The HI-​Ottawa Jail Hostel is the only hostel in North America located in a former prison that operated for over 100 years. During your stay in this Victorian-​era architectural relic, you’ll sleep in former jail cells, the prison hospital, or maybe even the governor’s quarters!
If you are look for a good experience and some history of the jail hostel? This is a place to be. It was my first hostel stay and I was impressed of the jail hostel.
PROS:
— Cheap Price
— Have great history and features
— Stuffs are friendly, helpful and knowledgeable
— Great with groups and with friends
— Very convenient right downtown (just about 20 minutes walk to the Parliament Hill and about 5 minutes walk to the ByWard Market and Restaurants)
— Could spend a night in a jail for free with no records
— Cheap internet
CONS:
— If you have a bad back. DO NOT GO HERE because bedding sucks and not comfortable, the bed spring is old and noise. Better to take the jail toured then stay for a night.
— Share bedrooms with unknown people (8 beds per room) best go in groups
— Smells of the old jail
— Share washroom/​restroom
— Lack of AC (Poor ventilation)
— Additional costs were charged without prior notice
— Breakfasts does not included
OVERALLS:
It’s ok because the cheap price for a night and the location is right downtown. I was looking for the experience and some history of the Ottawa jail. Best of all I stay in a jail for free with no records for the next day. The worst part would be, it’s not that comfortable place to sleep in and if someone who snore and move a lot. You will hear the squaring noises. I would recommend to take the jail toured and learn the history of this place.
PP SIGNING OUT!
YES.PLEASE!