Exterior
Check availability

Reviews of Painted Turtle Guesthouse (Hostel)

1.5 out of 5
Painted Turtle Guesthouse (Hostel)
121 Bastion St, Nanaimo, BC

Reviews

7.8

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 64 out of 189 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 71 out of 189 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 29 out of 189 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 7 out of 189 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 18 out of 189 reviews" "

8.2/10

Cleanliness

8.4/10

Staff & service

7.6/10

Amenities

7.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

7.8/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Mikaela

Business traveller, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Paul is amazing, very nice man upon check -in!
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

8/10 Good

Brody

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness
Great location
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

8/10 Good

Terry

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

8/10 Good

Christopher

Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

Lene

Liked: Staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

6/10 Okay

Brant

Travelled with family and small children, Business traveller
Disliked: Cleanliness
A little on the rough side.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

8/10 Good

Paul

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The Painted Turtle always gets the job done, and this last time was no different.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2023

8/10 Good

Peter

Stayed 5 nights in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

tara

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Brandon

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

Lee

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Central location and cost. Friendly staff.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

Susan, Much Wenlock

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Ludovica

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Friendly reception, rooms and bathrooms are basic but clean.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

6/10 Okay

Wai Suen Loretta

Travelled with family
Liked: Staff & service
kitchen & living room are big. kitchen stove is not very clean. Room & toilet is clean. some bath room without hook to hang clothes when you take shower.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Lorena

Travelled with family, Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Even its outdated, it is very clean , well maintained by Paul and staff, walkable to restaurant, the harbour, shopping mall, very convenient and reasonable price. The customer service are excellent. Show us the easy way to get to Departure Bay bus depot by bus. Thank you Paul for the warmest accommodations.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Ludovica

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
We arrived late (10:50pm). The night clerk was friendly and efficient with the check in. The room and bathroom facilities were simple yet clean and comfortable.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

6/10 Okay

Wai Suen Loretta

Travelled with family
washroom has bad smell, some bathroom doesn't have hook to hang bath towel, clothes etc.. Light in washroom is dark.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

Daniel

Liked: Property conditions & facilities
It was a decent hostel. Rooms are a bit warm, but fans provided. Get creative with your fans. Had the facade of eco-friendliness, but 4 "recyling" bins in kitchen with none labeled makes this aspect rather silly. Its right downtown, so expect the usual crap in our west coast dt areas....
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

2/10 Terrible

James

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

8/10 Good

Beatrice

Stayed 6 nights in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Catherine

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
A comfortable hostel with clean private room right in a central area of downtown Nanaimo. Waterfront and other sites of interest an easy short walk away.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

8/10 Good

John

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
FYI: there is no free parking included as stated. There is a parkade nearby that's really cheap but you do still have to pay to park your car between the hours of 8am to 5pm on weekdays. Outside of that it is free. Other than that it was a clean, tidy and seemingly well maintained hostel. Room, bathroom and kitchen all seemed very clean.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2023

2/10 Terrible

Donna

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2023

10/10 Excellent

Maximillian

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great place

10/10 Excellent

Shannagh

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Cheap and cheerful in Nanaimo
A great little hostel in the centre of Nanaimo. The staff - and here I give a shout out to Paul, the night manager - are incredibly helpful and accommodating. I would stay again!
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2022

6/10 Okay

Connor

Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

8/10 Good

Wendy

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Feels like home away from home. Nice hostel.
Stayed 6 nights in Sep 2022

8/10 Good

Nafiseh

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Clean and helpful staff, in a lively neighborhood..
Stayed 13 nights in Sep 2022

8/10 Good

Marian

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The location in downtown Nanaimo is excellent. Bathrooms were clean. Bedroom and linen were clean. Kitchen was well appointed. Showers were a little small.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

David

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Clean, quiet, convenient and well priced
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

ross

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Super helpful staff. Friendly atmosphere.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2022

2/10 Terrible

Zohreh

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022

8/10 Good

MURIELLE

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I recommend this ghest house
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

10/10 Excellent

Michi

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
good but hot rooms but good!
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

6/10 Okay

Shelly

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
backpackers will like it, families should skip
This is a very basic place to spend the night before heading out on ferry. Neighborhood did not feel very safe. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Had a family room but not really a family friendly environment.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

8/10 Good

Pia theresa

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Staff are friendly
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

10/10 Excellent

Penny

Travelled with group
Liked: Property conditions & facilities
Good private room
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

6/10 Okay

Felipe

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service
You can walk to Nanaimo dt area. Reasonable cost-benefit for the stay.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022

4/10 Poor

Roshan

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
The photos of the rooms do not identify the kitchenette and washrooms as common facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022

4/10 Poor

Javier

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

luis

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Friendly crew and very helpful and accommodating Thanks to all and the fellow travelers
Stayed 8 nights in Jul 2022

4/10 Poor

Benjamin

Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Look, this is a low-cost option and you get what you pay for. Ultimately the main issue sleeping in a 4-person bunkroom was noise (mostly from rowdy partying outside with all the bars) and the heat inside the room with no A/C. It was a VERY long night....
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022

6/10 Okay

jacob

Travelled with group
Disliked: Amenities
Poor hotel management service
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

SHIJUN

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The room is small but very clean. The bathroom is shared but also clean. The owner and staffs are very friendly. We were able to rest in the lounge for an hour before checking in. There is no breakfast provided, but you can use the kitchen and make your own. Well worth the price we paid for.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022

8/10 Good

Roland

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
Very nice place to by. Nice bar next door for a nice evening 😉
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2022

10/10 Excellent

Patrick

Stayed 1 night in Jun 2022

4/10 Poor

Jaswinder

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
I booked through Expedia and I choose queen bed room. It was mentioned there that it’s a private room and separate bathroom. But the room I got was very small room and had no attached bathroom not even single closet in the room. $99 before tax is not worth it.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2022

6/10 Okay

Maxime

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 1 night in May 2022

8/10 Good

Yukiko

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
There are restaurants around the guesthouse.
Stayed 1 night in May 2022

10/10 Excellent

sandra

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in May 2022