Canada Trip Day 11: Hostelling International - Niagara Falls

23 June 2010 - I had fond memories of staying at HI-Niagara Falls although we had quite a situation with the air-conditioning. On our first night, we stayed with two Europeans, whom we never quite met since they came into the room in the middle of the night when we were fast asleep. In the wee hours of the night, I woke up due to the heat. The air-conditioning had been tuned to its lowest. In the next few minutes, I saw mum getting out of her bed to turn up the cooling. As she was adjusting the dials of the air-conditioner, one of the girls at the lower bunk asked her what the matter was. Mum said nothing and returned to bed.

I think everyone else in the room struggled with the heat that night except for the two girls because that particular bunk beds which they slept on were facing directly at the air-conditioning. I could feel the Japanese girl who was above me tossing in bed. She had been an interesting character who traveled alone from Vancouver to Niagara Falls by train, which took 4 days! That night, she had shared with us her visit across Rainbow Bridge and her stunning night photos of the falls taken from the Minolta Konica Tower Centre. We had an extremely funny situation with her when she came back into the room the next day from an all day excursion. The moment she took off her shoes, she stank up the entire room with the pungent smell of foot ordour. Immediately upon realisation, my sister and I threw blank looks at each other. The moment she left the room, we threw into a hysterical fit, not knowing what exactly to do. We sprayed the room with Febreze and I think we sprayed some of that Body Shop foot spray on her shoes and socks.

On our second day, the two girls left and we now had a German lady with us. She had worked at an animal farm in another state to temporarily escape from her routined, office-job life in Germany. It was amazing to learn of her experience as I contemplated on the very idea. She fed and washed the animals. According to her, the job was extremely laborious but it was a fresh experience.

She had taken the lower bunk of the beds facing the air-conditioner. Unable to withstand the cold, she adjusted the temperature which set my mum off. She grumbled in Hakka about not giving a damn about the other room mates and that she would turn down the temperature. The lady left to use the wash room and mum went to "fix" the problem. When the lady returned, she found the air-conditioner adjusted and explained how she gets a stuffy nose from the cold. In the end, she suggested a compromise where someone can switch beds with her. Mum continued to grumble in Hakka, unmoved by the compromise. In the end, I volunteered for the switch and took the upper bunk where it was not as cold. And, everyone became happy again. Yay!

HI-Niagara Falls is well-facilitated, clean and quiet. Except for the air-conditioning situation, everything at the hostel is great. The staff members are friendly and helpful. The interior decor is nice and tasteful. I love the location of the hostel, which allowed us a fair bit of walking, which I enjoyed very much. We got free breakfast, which saves us both time and money.


Hostelling International - Niagara Falls


Me and Mum in the lobby, checking-in. Photo by Sakana

Us making our beds

Wash basin area of the kitchen

Stove and another wash basin area in the kitchen

At the back of the kitchen, there are some couches which make a good spot for leisure reading or hanging out. Photo by Sakana

Dinning area with nice mosaic painting

Our free breakfast with cereals, breads, jams, blueberries, milk and juice

Mosaic artwork at the dining room wall