Huon Valley Backpackers

Awful
I could not believe how bad this hostel was, but worse than the hostel was the owner Jayne. A woman who acted nice until she got your money and then treated you like a piece of dirt who should be grateful that you got to stay in a place with either brown water or no water that was falling apart. She is a big bully who will get you fired from your job if you try to move to satisfactory accommodation. Don't waste your money on her people, go to the farms yourself and ask for work.

We are not amused
This is a working hostel in the sticks. The place doesn't represent value for money at all. 150 dollars per person for this is extortionate, we paid $300 per week with my girlfriend for eight-square meter room with not even socket to plug your electronic devices in. No heating in the rooms meant some nights were freezing. Laundry and dryer costs $10 per load. Internet is $3 per hour, acceptable by Australian standards but it is slow and was often down. Water was also a problem more than once. Owner took way more people in than the place has capacity. When we ran out of water owner shouted at guests and blamed her customers for using too much water, but refused to take responsibility of getting in too many people -- more people to rip off. At the end of my stay there were more than a hundred-eighty people sharing six toilets and showers. Around a hundred of the guests were campers who paid $105 per week for next to nothing, some were forced to pitch their tent on a slope and eventually place looked like a rock festival without cheerful atmosphere and bands or more likely a refugee camp. Owners' business model is also somewhat questionable. If you accept work from her you are forced to stay with her. If you decide to stay somewhere else she will terminate your employment even though she isn't your employer. If you travel to work with some guests' private car you are still forced to pay $5 per day transport fees to the hostel owner, not to the car owner. I saw the owner yelling at guests more than once, sometimes maybe for a reason but more likely when she was unable to face her own mistakes. Good example of that was when she told twenty-one people that they can start work in the morning but she only had need for twenty. The man who got dropped out opened his mouth and had to face outburst of her being sick of people complaining about everything and was ordered to shut up. She also hired a girl to work as a cleaner and refused to pay her wages because she thought work was done badly. When in turn one guy refused to pay the transport fee when they were late from work she kicked him out after an argument. She even accused the guy being a liar and told they were not late because he was the only person complaining. I talked quite a lot with locals and almost everyone had something bad to say about this place. The owner unfortunately has monopoly in the area and she knows it and abuses it. I made a decision to come here after reading positive reviews in the internet. The image of place they gave was very different to the current situation in this hostel.

This is a great hostel, really friendly, great atmosphere, beautiful views, and friendly animals. The lady who runs it is very nice, and is like a mom -- very helpful and kind, she always makes you welcome. There are always lots of Korean and Japanese backpackers, who love it here, I spoke to some who had come back to this hostel for a second time. The rooms are comfortable and clean. There's cable TV, and a good games room. Film nights are popular. Internet access is available.They even do laundry for you. The work is seasonal and is organised by the owner as is the transport -- you always get to work! In all I think this is one of the friendliest, best kept country hostels I have ever stayed in, I can see why people come back again!

I stayed in this hostel from end of December to middle of May. For me, there are good and bad things to say about it. First of all, it is a working hostel. The prize is relatively normal in these times -- pretty high. Work is nearly always available, but not everybody likes to pick strawberries. There are as well blueberries, cherries, and apples. But these are season fruits, so there is no garantee for work in these. There is but guarantee for work in strawberries. And you can work about six hours a day for "how much you can pick." The One-Women-Management is a lovely lady and runs the place as good as she can. She never gets angry if she mustn't and I never heard anybody complaining about her being a racist or anything alike. The best time for this hostel is in summer -- in autumn it gets really freakin' cold, especially without any heaters in the rooms and only one in each of the three houses' living rooms. The kitchens are quite nice. In the maintime, of course it gets a bit cozy, but no big problem. There are a lot Koreans and Japanese staying in this hostel and in my opinion that is one big plus, because they are really cool people. If you want to learn how to cook in korean or japanese just ask them! The busservice is quite ok -- you get to work in time. You also get into Cygnet for shopping and sightseeing (as if there was anything) once a day. Cygnet is a rather big village or tiny town and the main attraction is nothing. On sunday and sometimes on other days, a bus leaves for Huonville, which is not too far away and features at least a Woolworths. Hitchhiking is pretty easy in this area and a well-used form of travelling. The climate in the Huon Valley is as mild as in Europe -- you have sunshine and rain and sometimes snow. All in all this hostel is 'not too bad' as my girlfriend would say. It has some flaws -- the reception is only open in the evening (for three hours max), intenet is there but a bit expensive -- and some good points -- the fabulous atmosphere, the great view and surrounding area to explore, the lovely pets, the sports and the TV-room -- and all the things said above. Look up the harvesttrail and then decide when to go there! I am looking forward to meet my friends again in this place. Because we all come back to Huon Valley Backpackers.

I am a local. We were lucky to make friends with a dozen or so of the Japanese and Korean backpackers staying at this hostel. They spent a few days with us, kayaking in the bay and collecting buckets of oysters to take back with them for a party or two. They stayed on and on in Cygnet. They loved our temperate climate and understood that the picking was a bit poor this year. That's how it goes with primary production some times. Our Folk Festival was great this year. They loved it and say they can't wait to come back. The Cygnet people look forward to meeting our regular Asian visitors.

This absolutely the worst hostel I have ever seen. STAY AWAY. The staff misleads you when you call to inquire about whether or not there is work (THERE ISN'T!). People there didn't even usually manage to make more than $10 more than what their rent is for the night -- bent over for 3 hours strawberry picking and then back to NOWHERELAND for the remainder of the (likely cold and wet) day. Also, more than once I heard the owner of this hostel making racist comments about Japanese people.