Hotel C & N Backpackers Hostel- Central Station (Vancouver, Canada)

If the gods are smiling, rooms can be fairly clean and the bed, quite comfortable.

You are within easy reach of Gastown, Yaletown, the Granville district and the waterfront.

In the main, members of staff are pleasant enough and helpful in directing you to the area's many attractions.

It is close the railway station - which is a bonus - and to the park which unfortunately attracts a noisy element, day and night. The area, generally, is very suspect - convenient, but not attractive.

Take away the publicity 'smoke and mirrors' promotional input and you are left with poor bathrooms with hardly any hot water, no Wi-Fi in the room and no tea and coffee facility. All in all, the tariff is quite pricey - just for a bed. The attractive lounge image is just a figment of someone's imagination. Same goes for the communal kitchen where there is a distinct lack of utensils and cooking equipment. Neither is it clean, so you'll probably resign yourself to eating out. There is a considerable homeless presence in the area and you certainly wouldn't want to bring your kids. Lots of things not right here.

Room cleanliness is a bit dubious and there are mutterings, from other guests, of bed bugs. The TV may not work and it's commonplace for that situation to be just left. Furnishings are old now. If someone took it by the scruff of the neck and sorted it out … it could be quite a nice place.