Chez Cascadia

It was a bad experience to stay there… wouldn’t recommend anyone who needs to get good rest during travel, good sleep or needs to study during the day/​evening. It was very noisy due to one guest constantly playing unpleasant music out loud; the guest was very rude when asked to stop, and was using profanities. There were also total strangers who weren’t guests walking in freely. Heating there is central and it was spreading smell of something that was smoked inside, despite non-​smoking policy… The good things are 2 chickens that live in the back yard and you can feed them and play with them, and sometimes even eat an egg from these chickens. I would advise students or travelers (especially solo women) against this place.

I’m another person with the opposite experience than a number of the commenters here seem to have had. It was off season so i only shared the 4 bed room with one other person. The room was clean and pleasant, and more homey than most other hostels i’ve stayed at. The beds were very comfortable and i slept great.
All the people running the hostel were friendly but not intrusive and i had good conversations with everyone there. I had full use of the kitchen and cooking supplies. They even had a box of communal food on offer.
All in all, it was one of the friendliest and most comfortable hostels i’ve stayed at. I plan to go back to visit Olympia sometime, and i’d definitely stay at chez cascadia again.

Odd, I had a much more positive experience at this place than most of these reviews suggest I should’ve.
The hostel is basically a cute little house, complete with a breakfast nook, vegetarian kitchen, an actual living room (as opposed to that fluorescently lit disco-bullsh*t with plasma screens that most hostels call communal areas), and a garden. The guy running the place was very sweet, if not a bit talkative, and was very accommodating when we were running late and asked to check in outside of the normal operating hours. The beds were comfortable (though I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t like ultra supportive, stiff mattresses) and because it wasn’t really peak season, we had the whole «dorm» (2 bunk beds) to ourselves.
Honestly, I felt completely at home. For those who prefer hotels but are just being cheapskates, maybe this isn’t the place for you. But as a traveler who likes to keep things casual, I thought this hostel was great.

So word on the street is that this is Olympia’s only hostel. Truth is, that’s a pity. Olympia is weird. Much weirder than Portland, I’ll tell you h’what. It’s interesting to poke around, for sure.
The hostel has a nice location. It’s about a mile’s walk from downtown, in a private house. There’s a garage or something in back. Half of that structure is converted into a bunk house that sleeps 5! There is a room in the main house that sleeps, I’m guessing 4 or 5 women. Then there is a private room. Upstairs has quarters for the staff.
The staff is loopy. The guy kept asking me to not go into my car because it beeps when I deactivate the alarm. He had the nerve to recount the exact times I went into the car because he was annoyed by my car’s beeping. I am certain no one else in the neighborhood even cared. That put me off.
Like every other hostel, this place is fairly grimey. You don’t care, or else you wouldn’t be in a hostel. It has a washer and dryer that guests are free to use (they ask $ 1 for each machine). They have two chickens. The mailbox is a microwave. And they have spotty wi-​fi. It’s your run of the mill place.
The mix of travelers is what threw me. Olympia isn’t much of a destination. There was but 1 true traveler while I was there. The rest were people in town trying to start a life in Olympia. Apparently, it isn’t very easy finding a place to rent in this town. It has the oddest feel to it; both the hostel and Olympia.
The rates are great for a hostel, but are commensurate with the appeal of Oly. I paid just $ 18 for a bunk for the night. $ 115 for a week if I were so inclined (but I’m not, my car and I are headed for a camp site).
This place couldn’t be any more or less of a hostel. Olympia just doesn’t have enough of a draw to warrant any competition. The scene is crazy, but don’t expect to be able to fill more than a day moping around. Sorry guys, try Seattle or better yet, Vancouver.

I don’t know what all ya’ll are talking about, this place is pretty decent. I was pleasantly surprised. I think the bunks must have been replaced, or fixed or something. The one I had was pretty solid. The staff member I talked to said that the original owners weren’t really active anymore. So I guess that would explain the difference?

I can deal with dirty and smelly, as most hostels are. My main worry was the beds — there these rickety metal bunks that look as old as they were cheap. I was on the top bunk and was terrified the thing was going to collapse and crush the poor guy under me.

just stayed here last night, hadn’t checked Unilocal first — wishing i had. yuck!

So awesome that Oly has a hostel. People here are nice enough. Beyond dirty and smelly. I have crashed in hundreds of hostels around the world, this one may be the most disgusting… stink, rats, old ratty mattresses falling through bed frames — good luck, I’d rather sleep in my car.