Painted Turtle Guesthouse

Nanaimo, Canada

3.9

7 reviews

Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 250-753-4432
Website:
www.paintedturtle.ca
Address:
121 Bastion St, Nanaimo, BC, V9R 3A2
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.3 miNanaimo
0.3 miA
0.3 miB
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Bussiness info

Accepted Cards
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Wi-Fi
Free

Today

Today –
Local time (Nanaimo) 03:42 Friday, 23 May 2025

Business hours

Monday 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday –
Wednesday –
Thursday –
Friday –
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Nanaimo’s Painted Turtle Guesthouse is an accommodation for travelers to Vancouver Island and Nanaimo, providing unrivaled amenities and a home-​away-​from-​home whether you are staying for one night, a week or a month. We offer a variety of flexible accommodation options for hostel travelers, couples, families and groups in a classic European-​style hotel/​hostel. You will experience great hospitality and spotlessly clean comfort at an affordable price while meeting like-​minded people from the region and around the world.

Open 24-​Hrs. Reception Hours: 8am-​9pm Oct-​Apr, 7am-​10pm May-​Sept; please call 1−866−309−4432 for late check ins.

History

Established in 2005.

Australian/​Canadians Bruce & Angie Barnard have stayed in grass huts in Papua New Guinea, swags in the outback of Australia, five-​star hotels in Hong Kong, teahouses in Nepal… but our favourites have always been places that have great hospitality & make us feel at home.

In 2003, we were on a round-​the-​world travel adventure from our home in Perth, WA when we discovered Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, Canada. We were inspired by the stunning views of ocean & mountains, a walkable downtown, incredible lifestyle & friendly people. After a brief two-​hour visit, and three subsequent chance encounters with Nanaimo admirers, we returned to Nanaimo to explore our vision of renovating a heritage property, and creating a fresh, affordable, lifestyle oriented accommodation for like-​minded travelers.

We postponed our flights to South America, and after only 11 weeks we transformed the 1875 heritage Commercial Hotel into the ‘Painted Turtle Guesthouse’.

For now, South America can wait.

Meet the Business Owner

Bruce B.

Business Owner

G’day mate! I’m a new Canadian and an Aussie surfer by heart.

Painted Turtle Guesthouse also recommends

Diner’s Rendezvous — CLOSED

5

reviews

Diners américains

,

Bars à tapas

Bruce B. says,

«Great food. Great host. Great location. And, they simply „get it“ there.»

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7 reviews of Painted Turtle Guesthouse

No registration required
Place rating: 4
Osterode am Harz, Germany
It’s a very nice hostel in a very nice location.
But badly there weren’t many people around.
Badly, when you want to charge your devices, you also have to turn the light on (at least in the b dorm), what is quite annoying, especially for overnight.
This hostel is not suitable for big and heavy suitcases, because there’s no elevator, but when you’re with a backpack/​smaller suitcase it works just fine. For your convenience there is a bar right around the corner, and the super market and a drugstore/​banks are just about a 10 minute walk away.
Place rating: 5
Revelstoke, Canada
Seems like a nice hostel, but they did not deliver on my special request to have a framed picture of Bill Murray next to my bed.
If they can’t help with such a simple request, do you think they’ll help with more important requests?
Place rating: 3
London, United Kingdom
I stayed three nights and booked a private room
pros:
–great location (close to the harbor, cafes, stores…)
–friendly and efficient staff
–nice lounge
–clean
cons:
–thin walls — you can nearly follow other people’s conversation in the adjacent rooms. Yeah, sadly, like many hostals this can be a noisy place
— two nights out of 3 there was a party in the vicinity of the hostal, and I couldn’t sleep until late (other guests partying? pub next door?)
–internet connectivity was problematic during my stay
–breakfast not included
= for the price I paid for a private room, it was not great value for money…
Place rating: 5
Vancouver, Canada
This is the best hostel I have ever stayed in!
Sure it’s not a hotel, but that’s to be expected. I’ve only ever stayed in the family rooms, so I can’t speak to what it’s like to be in a single/​shared room.
Everything is new. It’s right in downtown. The kitchen/​living/​common room is really a very nice & open room.
Place rating: 4
Dresden, Germany
We have been to this Guest house for two nights in September 2011.
We were really satisfied with the location and the rooms except the fact that we had some hairs in our bed.
But we think that this was an exception because the whole building was very clean and we felt very comfortable staying here.
Especially the kitchen/​common room was very homely (the pictures totally show it).
The staff was nice and helpful and we got a tour through the building after we checked in.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
Everything in the hostel seems either new or renovated. The bedding is clean and consistent (no odd blankets like in other hostels). The policies are unrestrictive (no lockouts or curfews like in other hostels). The staff is genuinely friendly and helpful.
I wish most North American hostels were up to this level.
Place rating: 2
Chattanooga, TN
It is a hostel and not a hotel. If you are a single traveler trying to save money, it is cheap, clean and centrally located. If you are a family looking for a private room, stay in a hotel. The rooms are right next to a busline with the only way to cool the place by opening the window. Our room was right next to a very bright street light. One of our worst nights of sleep ever. I’d give it one star, but really it is one star for families and three stars for price conscience traveller.