Bragg Creek Hostel - Circa 1933 Glenbow Archives

Hostelling International – Calgary City Centre

“To help all, especially the young, gain a greater understanding of peoples, places and cultures through hostelling.”

In 1933 a group of Calgary women, led by Mary & Catherine Barclay, established North America’s first youth hostel at Bragg Creek. Since that first hostel, the Canadian hostelling movement has joined Hostelling International, growing to include 57 hostels scattered across the country and becoming part of a network of 4,000 hostels worldwide.

The Calgary hostel proudly continues the tradition of providing affordable accommodations to travelers so that they may experience other cultures in their travels around the world. Located in the heart of downtown, we are able to provide a convenient base for people arriving from abroad so that they may experience all that Calgary has to offer.

The hostel provides accommodations in both dormitories (from $28.75) and private rooms ($72.00). All linens are provided and we have a free breakfast in the mornings. There is free wifi throughout the building and we are open 24/7.

The hostel hosts many activities for our guests throughout the year, including BBQs, pasta dinners, Stampede breakfasts, city tours, pub crawls, bike tours, river floats and a whole lot more. We aim to give our guests fond memories of their time in Calgary through interacting not only with other guests, but also local residents who generously donate their time to the hostel.

During the summer months you will often see our backyard full of people enjoying the sun, playing volleyball or partaking in one of our regular BBQ dinners. We host groups of school children, Girl Guides and Boy Scouts from around the world, while also providing a place for the independent traveler looking to visit the city for the Stampede, Folk Fest or one of the many other festivals Calgary is host to. Also during summer if you wish to tour Banff, Drumheller, Head Smashed-In Buffalo Jump or Waterton Lakes we can book these trips at the Front Desk.

In the winter, you can expect to see Australians and Germans flocking to the city for its proximity to Banff and the Rocky Mountains. Many of our guests in the winter come for one reason: Snowboarding. Calgary is the gateway to the Rockies, and as such is bustling with outdoor enthusiasts.

If you have friends or family coming to visit and think they may enjoy the hostel atmosphere, please have them contact us by phone at (403) 269-8239.