the location was great.

I would like to start from the very beginning. When my wife and I first arrived to the property which was on 1 March at about 6 PM there was no one there. So we followed the instructions that were given to us via Booking.com and found a mailbox where should have been an envelope with our name on it and the key for the room inside. Spoiler alert, there were three envelopes and none of them had our name on it. Therefore I contacted the facility by phone and was told to take another envelope with the last name that didn’t sound anything like ours, they said the staff made a spelling mistake (The only similarity between our last name and the name written on the envelope was one letter btw). So we went inside, found the room, slept the night and the next morning got a call from I’m not even sure who, saying that there has been a mistake and we took the wrong room (what a surprise), asking us to pay another 100$ in order to keep that room or, alternatively they offered us to move to the room “that was initially meant for us”, we chose the second option. When we were back at the house that evening we were the ones who had to approach the staff about the moving and they had no clue about the whole thing, The communication was a struggle in the end.. Another thing is that it’s an the old house and the smell in it is very overwhelming, the amount of the dust under the bed makes you think that’s it’s as old as the house.. in the first room that was given to us all the bedsheets were covered in someone’s dark hair and there was no one to ask for another set.. One more upsetting moment is that it’s been a month since we’ve stayed there and they only returned us a key deposit(50$) but not a security deposit that they charged us in advance, at the moment the booking was made. They never even made an attempt to contact us about it. After I contacted booking a several times it seems like they will be returning this deposits (~250$) but it’s still not done …

The location is great, in a quiet neighbourhood and easy to get into downtown.

The property would benefit from regular cleaning especially in the Kitchen area.

Under the beds weren't clean Ran outta tissue No clean towels

I liked the old style well constructed house Retrofits on the electricity plumbing windows and insulation would help this place exist for another 100 years

the house architecture.

the cleaning, organization, staff support, house maintenance.

Apart from the location there is nothing to like with Balfour House.

On the first glance it looks like a pretty nice place, but the closer you get you to realize that the facade is not what it seems like with a few planks missing here and there. When you enter the house the first thing that meets you is a musty smell of a house that is rotting away. The light is dim, all the clocks have stopped and there is nobody there to check us in even though we came ate 3 am. During our whole stay we didn't meet anybody that worked at Balfour House. The breakfast that was supposed to be included had withdrawn the breakfast with out informing us. Nevertheless in hindsight I must say I'm happy they did because I don't think the breakfast would have been any good judging the overall state of the establishment. We made our own breakfast and used the kitchen. The kitchen on the other hand was quite unhygenic and littered with handwritten notes. The over all feeling was more of a student collective then a B'n'B. The room was cold, the bed was hard as a rock and squeaked as soon as you shifted position. I would not recommend anybody to stay there.

No breakfast

Meh

Meh

****Urgent!!!**** Don't consider a stay here. You play for what you get and the pics are deceiving. There was so much that was not appealing. It's an 100-year-old house with charm but the walls are paper thin so you hear everything. Music played at 3-4 in the morning, the couple fell asleep with it on. We live in a world where we have earbuds so as not to disturb others. The property is under Development Application which I was told the renos were ongoing while they were in service. Dirty carpets throughout. The third-floor bathroom door does not lock, low water pressure with lukewarm water and wetting the floor without a bath mat. The window screen was broken and ripped in the bedroom. The outdoor landscape is overgrown and outdoor furniture is not worth sitting on. It's should be student housing, not an Airbnb and be off Booking.com and any other Rental sites.

Two-minute walk to Pallet Cafe on Oak St. Fine and modern.

Room was less stinky than the rest of the house.

The smell was horrible in the house. There were VERY basic amenities: would have been good to have shampoo and conditioner, a blow dryer, enough towels.

good location, quiet, clean bathrooms

beautiful location lovely staff

old and unfinished. being painted, paint on my windows windows, plastic still taped on windows old carpets looked dingy, smelled very bad in the whole h

location, comfortable beds.

smelly, moving toilet, mouse traps in room.

quiet and historic

run down, old house smells, dilapidated

We were expecting a bed and breakfast, but no food was being served.

Updating your bed and breakfast to only bed is a start. Room was not clean. Lights were burned out. Had no water for several hours.

The location would have been good, but we didn’t stay. We immediately booked another hotel because the accommodations were so poor.

Substandard accommodations. There was a sign on the front door that said “keep the door shut so the rats don’t come in.” Dirty, no air conditioning. Broken chandelier over the bed. We didn’t even want to sit on the bed.

False advertisement with the pictures used for this place. Door practically off hinges, Filthy carpets with stains all over, dust everywhere, dirty window seals with dead bugs, junk in courtyard, broken patio deck. This place should not be listed for guests. Staff no where to be found or able to reach on the various phone numbers provided. Booked for three nights didn’t stay one and no one is answering my calls to get my money back! Just horrible!

1) I was at the property during a heat wave - there is no air-conditioning, like most old places in Vancouver so that is to be expected, but there was a fan in the room that kept it cool enough during the night time with the window open 2) The bed was really basic and nothing fancy, but it was comfortable and I didn't have any trouble sleeping 3) While the house is old and the carpets stained, my room and the bathroom were clean and ready when I arrived 4) I actually loved the sink in the bathroom, some kind of giant antique thing. I was always able to get cold and hot water when needed. 5) there is a small shared kitchen that can be used - we only used the fridge though. 6) wifi was good! 7) Even though the bathroom was shared, we only had to wait to use it once - there seemed to be maybe only one other person on my floor during my stay. It was actually pretty quiet.

To be quite honest, I was quite disappointed, confused, and put-off when I first came up to the property: 1) there was scaffolding up that blocked the front door and I had to walk around and squeeze behind to access the front door. There were some workers actively painting with a paint gun while I was trying to check-in.... this turned out to be a good thing though because they helped me get into the hotel. 2) the front door was locked, the back door was locked, no one came to the door when I knocked or pushed the door bell. We came at 2:10pm, right during check-in time (2-4pm). I assumed that I would be greeted by some staff on site... No one answers the phone when I called either. I was not sent any special check-in instructions either. 3) Even though I booked one room for two guests, I was only given one key. 4) In the photos online, the backyard looks beautiful and I figured I could relax there if it was too hot indoors during the heat wave - unfortunately the actual state of the backyard looked like a construction site with garbage on the deck, wood planks on the ground and over grown grass... Not to mention the white paint covering many of the plants from the ongoing painting. 5) From the information posted here on booking It was not clear to me that the bathroom facility was shared. 6) The lightning in my room was quite dim - the light fixture has room for multiple bulbs, but only one was working.

Location

I never saw a member of staff, communication was notes left. The property is old but requires maintenance. The shower head would not stay up, the fitting was broken, which I feel is a small repair which would have made a big difference. The windows in my room could not be opened, which I found frustrating.