Having just left HI Lake Louise I was expecting great things. My reservation was a problem however, and I ended up having to pay more for my week's stay as I wanted a private room. The room was ok and it had more cupboards than HI Lake Louise and even had a fan but it was next door to the busy washrooms which made it quite noisy.
My main problem with the place was the kitchen. It was always dirty. Dishes left in the sinks, bits of food on the work surfaces, fridges full of abandoned food. I saw a guy 'clean' it once, but he wasn't really putting much effort in!
The hostel is out of town and up a steep hill. Fine if you have a car. There is a small shop nearby and a swimming pool.
If all you need is a place to sleep then I would recomend this place. It's the cheapest you'll get in Banff.

We were travelling from Revelstoke to Jasper and wanted to break the ride in two and this was the perfect spot. We had a private family room that slept 5. Two downstairs and 3 upstairs. Building had a commons kitchen and 6 showers on our floor. We shared one toilet in the alcove with the family next door. We all had a pleasant stay. Hotel was clean, comfortable and quiet. Would stay here again.

I stayed here for 1 night while on a Rockies trip with my girlfriend and some others.

Location
It is not directly in town, which is not so useful when it is snowing outside. You may need to catch a taxi to/from Banff.

The Double Room
It was minus 25 degrees outside and about 30 degrees in the bedroom. Lucky I was not in a dorm, as pyjamas were too much. We booked a double room and it was tiny, tiny. There was barely enough room for our bags so we had to climb onto the bed as we couldn't walk down the side.

The Bathroom
This was spacious and very clean. I showered at night time and there was no wait. It was big enough and had enough facilitities for all.



Bistro
The bistro is good, the menu is wide enough. Do not order wine as it is not good. The prices were reasonable, in typical Nth American style it is expected that you will tip 15%. Being from the Australia I'm still not sure why as there isn't actually a waiter and it is a hostel so no one has a big budget. Doesn't HI pay decent wages? There is a not too subtle sign reminding of this 'custom', but no one seemed to tip.


In the morning
The doors here bang when people go through them. That might not normally be a trouble but lots of resort workers live here for a mnimum of two weeks (it is an advertised special) and they all get up at 6am! I was wearing earplugs and was woken.


Internet
The lobby area has free wi-fi which is good, though it would be better if you could get wi-fi in your room, as this area gets very, very crowded. Still a very nice touch. There is pay internet too.

Kitchen
I did not use it but went there once. There were two mugs available to use, and it was not the cleanest I had seen.

Staff
Friendly people and knew what they were doing :)

Would I go back?
A few days later we were going through Banff again and I cancelled my booking at this place. It was low season so the Best Western offered me a room with breakfast at the same price. Lots of space, twho double beds, private bathroom, close to the street, quiet and bathroom.

Rooms are clean, kitchen is small but adequate. Overall this is a nice hostel but it has 2 problems.

1. It is home to 20-30 ski resort staff who call this place home for the winter. Although I'm sure the majority of these guests are quiet, clean and respectfully I didn't meet those people. I was in a room with two guys who worked at the hill and the room was a disaster. Walking in it was difficult to get to my bed as there were dirty clothes and junk strewn across the floor.

The other problem with these guests is they treat the hostel as their home. That includes loud parties where drunken people stumble from room to room.

2. There is a bar in the hostel. This probably wouldn't be a problem in most hostels but when combined with 1 it does cause problems. When the bar closes forget about quite after 11pm as you will be woken by the loud dunked bar patrons making their way back to their rooms. If you're really lucky you'll be sharing your room with one of these individuals who after stumbling in and being surprised to see people sleeping in formerly empty beds they will pull down your covers and shine a flash light in your eyes to figure out who you are.

This is a nice hostel, it's the people who stay there that make it less then desirable. Maybe visiting in the summer would yield better results. As for a winter visit I would not recommend this hostel.