Planet Traveller Hostel

Neighbourhood: Kensington Market · Address: 357 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2M8 · Hours: 24 hours | Check-in 2pm | Check-out 11am · Price Range: $ · Phone: (647) 352-8747 · Website: https://www.planetcottageresort.com/

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Why Visit

For environmentally conscious travellers who want to stay in the heart of Kensington Market with genuine sustainability credentials, Planet Traveller's solar hot water, composting, and rooftop garden create a hostel experience that aligns with your values.

What Makes It Unique

Planet Traveller is one of North America's most environmentally committed hostels, with operational solar thermal systems, on-site composting, and rainwater harvesting. The Kensington Market location adds cultural density that no other Toronto neighbourhood can match.

Planet Traveller Hostel is one of those places in Toronto that actually lives up to its environmental talk, which is refreshing because a lot of “eco” accommodations are mostly branding and not much else. This spot on Augusta Avenue in Kensington Market is the real thing: solar-powered hot water, composting that actually gets used, rainwater harvesting, a rooftop garden, and a communal kitchen that benefits from all of it. If you’re the kind of traveller who likes staying somewhere with a clear point of view instead of a generic bed-and-breakfast vibe, this hostel makes sense. It feels practical, intentional, and a little bit scrappy in the best way.

The building itself is a converted Victorian house that’s been expanded and retrofitted, so you get a mix of old Toronto character and newer green systems working behind the scenes. From the outside, it fits the neighbourhood pretty well — not flashy, not polished in a corporate way, just functional and a little quirky. Inside, the feel is friendly and low-key, with a lot of people moving through common spaces, cooking, checking maps, charging phones, and swapping plans for the day. You’re not coming here for luxury. You’re coming here because it’s affordable, well-located, and has a personality that matches the area around it. The sustainability isn’t some decorative label either. Guests can actually see the systems in action, and the staff are usually happy to explain how things work if you ask. The regular sustainability tours are worth doing if you’re even mildly curious, because they give you a better sense of how much effort goes into keeping a hostel like this running in a city like Toronto.

The rooms are straightforward in the way good hostels should be. Dorms usually come in the 4-8 bed range, and they’re set up with the basics that matter: a curtain for each bed, a reading light, and a power outlet within reach, which makes a bigger difference than people realize when you’re trying to sleep and keep your stuff organized. The dorms are clean and generally well-ventilated, though like any hostel in a busy neighbourhood, the atmosphere can vary depending on who’s staying there that night. If you’re a light sleeper, bring earplugs, because there’s often a mix of early risers, late arrivals, and travellers coming back from a night out. Private rooms are more modest than fancy, but they’re comfortable and a good choice if you want your own space without giving up the location or the social side of staying in a hostel. Some have shared bathrooms, some ensuite, and all of them keep the same eco-friendly approach with organic cotton linens and cleaning products that don’t smell overly chemical. That matters more than it sounds, especially if you’re staying a few nights.

Where Planet Traveller really earns its keep is the communal kitchen. It’s one of the better hostel kitchens in Toronto, not because it’s stylish, but because it works. There’s enough room for multiple people to cook at once without everyone bumping elbows, and it’s equipped with the pots, pans, utensils, and basics you actually need. You’ll usually find people making coffee in the morning, prepping cheap breakfasts, or putting together grocery-store dinners after a long day in the city. A lot of budget travellers end up cooking here because Toronto food can add up quickly, and this kitchen makes that easy. If you’re staying during the growing season, the rooftop garden adds a little something extra — herbs from the garden can make even a simple pasta or soup feel better than it has any right to. The compost system also means food scraps aren’t just sitting around, which helps keep the place feeling cleaner and more thoughtful than a lot of hostels do.

The neighbourhood is a huge part of the appeal, and honestly, it’s the reason many people end up extending their stay. Kensington Market is one of the few parts of downtown Toronto that still feels unruly in a good way. It’s dense, walkable, and full of small businesses, food shops, secondhand stores, murals, cafés, and random little discoveries that seem to change every week. Step outside and you’re already in the middle of it. In the morning, the area is calmer and a bit practical-looking, with shops opening up, delivery bikes moving around, and the smell of coffee mixing with fresh bread and produce. By afternoon, the sidewalks fill up with people browsing vintage racks, grabbing tacos or arepas, and stopping to take photos of the street art. In the evening, it gets more social and slightly chaotic, with restaurants filling up, music drifting out of doorways, and the whole area feeling like it’s always one step away from a block party. Chinatown is a short walk east, the AGO and OCAD are close enough for an easy walk south, and the 510 Spadina streetcar gives you a simple connection to the subway and the rest of downtown. You can get around without much planning, which is part of the appeal if you’re in Toronto for a short stay.

Compared with other budget places in the city, Planet Traveller stands out because it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be all things to all people. Some hostels chase a party crowd, others go hard on design, and some are basically just cheap sleep with very little atmosphere. This one has a clearer identity: environmentally conscious, socially functional, and very tied to its neighbourhood. That means the experience can be a little uneven in the same way real neighbourhood life is uneven. Some nights are lively, some are quiet, and some have a lot of turnover because people are coming and going for concerts, shifts, weekend trips, or early flights. If you want polished silence and hotel-style predictability, this probably isn’t your place. If you want a hostel where the sustainability systems are part of the actual operation, where people cook in the kitchen instead of ordering everything, and where the street outside gives you a different scene every day, it’s much more interesting than many competitors in the same price range.

A few practical things are worth knowing before you book. If you care about sleep or privacy, a private room is the safer move, especially on weekends or in the summer when Kensington gets busier and the hostel sees more foot traffic. The dorms are social, but they can be noisy just because that’s what hostels do, and this one attracts a lot of solo travellers and backpackers passing through for a night or two. Pack earplugs, use the lockers, and don’t assume you’ll be the only person up late or up early. If you want to make the most of the place, use the kitchen early or outside peak meal times, because that’s when it’s easiest to cook without waiting around. The sustainability tour is worth asking about as soon as you arrive, since the timing can vary and it’s more useful when you’re not rushing out the door. Also, summer is the best season for the rooftop garden and for hanging around the neighbourhood, but it’s also when Kensington gets busiest, so expect more noise and more people on the street. That’s not a flaw so much as part of the deal.

The honest reality is that Planet Traveller works best for travellers who like a bit of movement around them. You’ll probably wait for the shower once in a while. You may end up sharing fridge space more tightly than you’d like. The kitchen can get crowded around breakfast and dinner. And because it’s in such a central, active part of the city, you’re not going to get a super quiet suburban sleep at 9 p.m. But if you understand that going in, it’s a strong choice. The eco-systems aren’t window dressing, the location is excellent, and the whole place has a lived-in, useful feel that suits the area. It’s the kind of hostel where you can spend a day wandering the city, come back to cook something simple, sit in a common area with people from a few different countries, and feel like you’ve actually stayed somewhere with a point of view rather than just checked into a bed for the night.