Australia Hostel Recommendations

Sydney

Stoke Beach House in Manly

https://www.stokebeachhouse.com.au

(Stayed for 5 nights)

It were my first nights in Australia and it is a really social and outgoing hostel, with heaps of different activities every night and especially on the weekends the Bar inside is pretty packed. You have your own bunk bed with curtains, light and plug in which is very luxury. There is even a breakfast buffet in the mornings, which literally felt like in a 5 star hotel compared to other hostels. Not only were there fruits and ham but also a yoghurt bar and 3 different types of bread. For the yoghurt you had to be there as soon as it opened at 8 because everyone loves having granola haha. Its even great to maybe make yourself an extra sandwich in the morning, of course first and foremost for breakfast but then you realize you’re already way to full because of the things you stuffed in before that you have to eat it for lunch (and not have to spend money on food btw) bummer haha. You can also rent surfboards for free for 2 hours, which is awesome, as well as snorkeling stuff and bikes to explore one of the most famous beaches in Australia. The movie room is really comfy too hihi. Overall its petty pricey a night (35-45€) but worth it, if you’re using the opportunity to rent things and stuff yourself full with breakfast. It’s right next to the beach but you can only get into the city with the FARE (fähre), which doesn’t run at night so it’s hard to stay out late. It takes you about 30 minutes to get to the harbour.

Overall : 9/10

Price : 9/10 fair 

Location : 7/10

Maze Backpackers in the CBD (China Town)

https://mazebackpackers.com/maze-sydney/

(Stayed for 3 nights)

It was literally one of the biggest and most confusing Hostels, but since its named Maze Backpackers I guess that makes sense. Especially at night I got lost a lot of times, because there is even no logic behind the location of the bathrooms, its just random. Unfortunately there are also  no hangers in the bathroom, which makes it more complicated to have a chill shower. There are also no lockers in the room, which I think is really bad, not even possibilities to store your things in proper containers under the bed and no curtains on the not very stable metal beds. hats why the rooms are usually in a bit of a mess. There are also not enough plugs to charge your phone, so you had to leave your phone on the other side of the room. The building is relatively old and as there is no air conditioning, we had to leave the windows open through the night and day, but the room is right next to a main street. There is a movie room, which is fine but not too comfortable as you have more of a stair styled sitting spot with black pads on them, which moved around. One of the good things are the weekly free hotdogs and a donation box, where you can leave unwanted clothes. Its also relatively safe they check everyone who enters, as they have to tap on their card. Compared to other hostels it’s in the lower price range (28-32€) but not even that justifies the conditions there. Nevertheless it is central and you can get to the harbour in about 30 minutes walking distance and maybe 15min with the tram.

Overall : 3/10

Price : 3/10 

Location : 8.5/10

Bondi Beach Backpackers on Bondi Beach

https://bondibeachbackpackers.com.au

(Stayed for 4 nights) over Halloween 

It is more personal and smaller hostel with a lot of longterm people staying there. As there are only 10 rooms you get to know everyone after a few days, which I think is really nice. There was even the possibility to get free rice or noodles. You can also rent surfboards there with no time limit for the day. Unfortunately there are not a lot group activities planned. The outside area is also really nice for hanging out with others in the evenings and also the movie room is good to chill in. Its pretty clean but there are a lot of stains on the mattresses once you remove the cover, which is not very yum. There are also no curtains and the beds are a bit wobbly if someone climbs up the upper one and your lying in the bottom bed. It is also very close to one of the most famous beaches in Australia which is why it’s a bit more expensive than a similar hostel like this but in another location (about 30-35€). It takes you about 40-50 minutes to get to the centre with the bus first and then with the train. 

Overall : 8/10

Price : 7/10

Location : 7/10

Blue Mountains 

Katoomba Blue Mountains YHA Hostel

https://www.yha.com.au/hostels/nsw/blue-mountains/katoomba/

(Stayed for 2 nights)

The hostel is in this former English residence with a big ballroom with plenty of couches to have a chill time throughout the day or play some of the games you can borrow there. The whole house is old fashioned styled, which is awesome. The kitchen is also very clean, but unfortunately after I washed one of my food containers for storing my leftovers, I left it in the kitchen and someone took it haha. I got a shared room with a friend of mine, so we had 2 beds in there, which cost us roughly the same as in different hostels in a 10 people room (about 30€). It gathered felt more like a Hotel because it was just so nice. The employees even helped us with deciding which of the hiking trails fit best according to our expectations and available time. Besides that it has a really calm atmosphere, as almost everyone is going there to hike in the mountains and just tired after a long day, so you wont really have the possibility to party with people from the hostel. As the town is really small where the Hostel is located, bars close at 10pm and the village is pretty dead after that haha. But it is really close to bunch of hiking trails, to the train station, to shops und the bus station, which takes you to remote hiking trails. 

Overall : 9/10

Price : 10/10

Location : 9/10 

Great Ocean Road 

Apollo Bay Backpackers Great Ocean Road

https://www.apollobaybackpackers.com.au

(Stayed for 1 night) 

During our roadtrip on the Great Ocean Road we stayed there for only one night, which was a really good idea, because camping would have been a bit more stressful. The employees were also very kind and helpful and it felt more like a small shared house with them. They even showed us the local Koala right next to the House. The only really bad thing is the spider problem in the rooms. That’s why I chose to bottom bed to sleep on. There were also no curtains. There are lockers in the room, which is really handy. It is also a very chill and lowkey hostel, as people staying there are normally just passing through for the night. The price is relatively fair, because camping for the night would have costed us about the same with supplies and tents etc. (30€) It is rather located in a residential area and the shop is a bit farer away, and its about 20 minutes walk to the beach. All in all it has all you need, if you are also staying there for only one night and its really halfway on the great ocean road, so really useful to stop there for the night and continue the next day. 

Overall : 8/10

Price : 8/10

Location : 8/10

Melbourne

The Village Melbourne in the CBD

https://thevillagehostels.com.au/melbourne/

(Stayed for 3 nights) 

One of the best hostels I stayed at so far. You have a bunk bed with curtains, lights inside and the opportunity to charge your phone. In each room there is one toilet with a shower, which is really comfortable when you have to pee at night and don’t have to wander around the hostel to find the toilet haha. It even gave me finally the space to cut my hair there myself. On every floor there are really nice chill areas with couches or tables. The building is huge and there are about 25 rooms each 4 floors, but because it is really well cleaned all the time and new you feel very safe. Unfortunately you can only get to the upper floors with the escalator, which takes always a long time to arrive and there are even two kitchens so you always have to check in with your friends where exactly to meet haha. You can only get into your room with a phone app, which sucks when you run low on battery but makes you feel even safer. It is a very social hostel, with things going on every night. I attended the karaoke night, the Girls night with 3$ Vodka Cruisers, which is perfect haha and a friend of mine did even the paint and sip there. There is the possibility to play pool (which you normally have to pay for but the middle table doesn’t charge haha, good for you to know). There is even a code you can get to wash your laundry for free, but thats kind of secret. Considering the luxury you get in this hostel it is by far the best one I have been to (31-33€). The location is also very central so you can get to the nearest parks in a few minutes walking distance and to the centre in about 10 minutes with the tram, which is perfect. 

Overall : 10/10

Price : 10/10

Location : 10/10 

Newcastle

Backpackers Newcastle

https://www.hostelworld.com/hostels/p/35625/backpackers-newcastle/

(Stayed for 2 nights)

It is a very cute little Hostel that feels more like a little village with one room for cooking and a couch with a TV, which gives really home vibes. The kitchen even has to offer an Oven and an air frier which is very luxury, considering other Hostels equipments. A lot of longterms are staying there, which is totally understandable as Newcastle is said to be the chiller and calmer version of Sydney which is absolutely true. Every night they would gather together and have a couple of drinks, but not in a party hostel vibe. In the showers there is even a free hair dryer to use but the bedrooms are very simple and small without any lockers or boxes to store your things. Because the Hostel is so small and it is located outside of town, I didn’t really worry about my valuable things I left in my bed during the day. The outside area is also very chill and artsy with hammocks and a pool. The pool table is free to use, which is also not always the case in other hostels. I would say that the price is normal for what you get (30€). The location is not that good, as it is close to the central station (good for late night arrivals) and the industrial area but it takes about 20 minutes by bus to get to the beach and 15 minutes to walk to the nearest grocery shop.

Overall : 7/10

Price : 6/10

Location : 5/10

Byron Bay

https://www.hostelworld.com/hostels/p/364/arts-factory-by-nomads/

Byron Bay Artsfactory

(Stayed for 4 nights) over Christmas

This hostel was by far the most hipster place I’ve ever been to. I woke up on Christmas Day and had breakfast at 9 am, while people next to me were smoking weed, and that happened every following morning as well (so just to show you the vibe). With the pool, I’m not quite sure until this day, if it contains salt water or chlorine water with a lot of sweat in it (I think the second option). Besides that the hostel has hardly any rules about alcohol, weed or noise. And if you really want to get social besides the yoga, meditation or bush tucker classes you can just join the majority of the people there by playing volleyball all day round. The hammocks are very chill but if you get to one of the best two, stay there as long as possible, these are rare moments. Don’t get distracted by the turkeys or Iguanas, but if you don’t close your door, they might come in. The toilets and showers were halfway clean, could have been better. If you find cutlery in the kitchen, hold on tight, it might be the last time you see a knife in the next days haha. I even don’t know how many people actually stay in this hostel and how many are just living in their vans on the parking lot and using the kitchen and the amenities. All in all, it was an experience being there, so I could overlook the couple of bad things. Unfortunately the price was insane (40-50€). It would have been cheaper to sleep on the campsite (which also belongs to the Hostel kind of „Park“ around a lake, but only possible if you have a living in tent. Living there felt more like in a holiday camp. It is also pretty far away from the „centre“, so there is only walking to the artsy hipster centre next to a street to get groceries (that takes about 15 minutes) and then 15 more minutes to get to the Beach. Byron really is a vibe itself. 

Overall : 8/10

Price : 2/10

Location : 5/10

Surfers Paradise Gold Coast

https://tequilasunrisehostels.com/pages/surfers-paradise-gold-coast?srsltid=AfmBOoq3UnZwDEQI1xCbPrueCsi5-viPZqxFHl_a10tWXaXaZk7TGVkB

Surfers Paradise Tequila Sunrise Hostel

(Stayed for 1 night)

This Hostel literally contains of one massive room with about 120 beds (double and single sized) and has bunk beds. They are not see through and you really get to experience some privacy with lots of room to store your things under your bed or right besides your bed. Breakfast and dinner is included, which is insanely awesome, because breakfast even has pancakes and Berrys omg. Dinner is normally noodles or pizza. Unfortunately it is not very social, because you don’t really have any close spaces where you can get to know the people around you. But the chill area and the rooftop space to enjoy the sun during the day is awesome. They even have a pool( which I am not quite sure is open for usage already) and access to the water/beach. I wouldn’t recommend swimming in there as the water is relatively dirty, but you can try. The only weird thing is, that there are two hostels with the same name and me and my friend both mixed it up and went to the wrong one first, which is like 15 min walking distance away haha. The price is absolutely insane for the food and comfort you get (28-31€). It is located about 10 minute walking distance from the centre (only 5 minutes without the redlights haha). 

Overall : 9/10

Price : 10/10

Location 10/10