The Hostelz.com Review
Locationwise, King Street Backpacker is on King Street only a two-minute walk from Spencer Street Bus Station/Southern Cross Train Station. So it is very handy for the Skybus from the airport. King Street itself is only a ten-minute walk to the main shopping area in the CBD and to the South bank and Crown entertainment complex. There are a number of small convenience stores nearby as well as coffee shops and fast food outlets. There is a large supermarket on Swanston Street next to the Bourke Street mall.
As the hostel is a reasonable size, it has decent facilities and is not too large to be impersonal. The reception and ground floor common area is usually quite busy and the friendly staff at the reception desk are able to provide information on tours and local events. The friendly group also has their own travel agent desk at the Greenhouse, so they can book tours and trips for you. The hostel also organises a pub crawl every week and this can be a good way to meet other people in the hostel.
Although the kitchen is reasonably well equipped, it is quite small and can be quite crowded at peak times when the hostel is busy. They do offer free breakfast every day but you will have to get up before 9 a.m. to get this. The hostel is relatively clean and the rooms have air-conditioning. However the bed linen looked quite worn and the rooms don't exactly jump out at you with character. They do have large lockers though for storing your stuff (you need your own padlock). There are a couple of small TV lounges on the upper floors but these are right outside the dorm rooms so they shut down at 11 p.m. and can be quite noisy up to then.
Overall the hostel has a good location and decent facilities with quite a friendly atmosphere, but there are cheaper hostels in the area if you are on a budget.
As the hostel is a reasonable size, it has decent facilities and is not too large to be impersonal. The reception and ground floor common area is usually quite busy and the friendly staff at the reception desk are able to provide information on tours and local events. The friendly group also has their own travel agent desk at the Greenhouse, so they can book tours and trips for you. The hostel also organises a pub crawl every week and this can be a good way to meet other people in the hostel.
Although the kitchen is reasonably well equipped, it is quite small and can be quite crowded at peak times when the hostel is busy. They do offer free breakfast every day but you will have to get up before 9 a.m. to get this. The hostel is relatively clean and the rooms have air-conditioning. However the bed linen looked quite worn and the rooms don't exactly jump out at you with character. They do have large lockers though for storing your stuff (you need your own padlock). There are a couple of small TV lounges on the upper floors but these are right outside the dorm rooms so they shut down at 11 p.m. and can be quite noisy up to then.
Overall the hostel has a good location and decent facilities with quite a friendly atmosphere, but there are cheaper hostels in the area if you are on a budget.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
January 2007
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King Street Backpackers Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Not good, not bad I was impressed by all the good reviews on this site, and decided to stay at this hostel for four days while I was in Melbourne. First of all, while the hostelz.com review indicated that the hostel organized a weekly pub crawl -- it is not offered anymore. When I checked in, I wasnt given any information about hostel facilities -- nothing about breakfast, internet use, laundry. This made accessing the meager facilities at the hostel very difficult. My room was on the third floor -- walk up. There was a fourth floor too, but no elevator! Yikes. Lots of people over the age of forty were staying here. I wasnt given a blanket -- just a sheet, and so I was freezing at night and piled my clothes on top of my bed to stay warm.
I stayed in a room with a bunch of other people who had been living in the hostel for over three months. Needless to say, the entire room was covered in their stuff, and so it didnt look like the floor had been swept in ages. The location was decent, and the hostel seems safe, but I'm sure there are better hostels in the city. — Michelle , Canada (2008-09-10) My home! I have been staying there for over two weeks now. I almost moved to an apartment but then I realized I still love the place and people so much that I just cannot leave. The staff is so friendly and there is always such a positive vibe. Thank god I went there cause I couldn't imagine a better hostel to live in. I just wish it would be cheaper but then again for an extra attention I'm always willing to pay more. — Ege , Estonia (2007-11-28) Loyal For A Reason! I must say that I keep coming back to here for a reason. I love this place. John, the night manager, is now a good friend. I also managed to befriend the other night manager, Devin. The twenty-four-hour check-in is awesome. The night manager's friendly -- great for those who work of or during a night. I always prefer female only dorm rooms and I always get it and small ones at that. They have lockers within the rooms. Use the bathroom if you want to use a mirror as the mirrors in the rooms are inadequate. The bathrooms are great and always generally clean. The kitchen always available for use and easy to use. The storage in the fridge can be a problem at times (little room). Noise levels are kept to a minimum. Only noise problems I had was with fellow dorm "mates" who would chat whilst I was sleeping during the day. On my last night in September 2007 there I stayed in a single room. I loved every minute of it -- nice big spacious room. Only wish I could afford to do that more often. — Gold Coast Girl , Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia (2007-11-06) Disgusting -- dirty and worn they used to call this hostel 'the friendly place,' and it's no wonder the place decided to change its name! the dorm i had was filthy -- there were pubic hairs and stains on the sheets and the kitchen looked as though it hadn't been cleaned for a good few months. disgusting. i was really disappointed! — sophie , uk (2007-08-06) The worst thing about it is having to leave eventually I stayed here for a week in May 2007 and as a lone traveler, it was really a very conducive place to make friends with other people. The kitchen is really big and beds were very comfortable even though I stayed at the cheapest sixteen-bed dorm and I felt very safe all the while. During my stay for six nights and seven days, the people were very friendly and I really made a lot of friends. On my last day, I really wished I could stay a couple of nights more but I had a ticket to Sydney booked already. — Steve , Singapore (2007-05-25) i stayed here with my friends in May 2007 and i think this hostel is absolutely great. though the breakfast is normal bread and cereals, i think it's in large amounts. we never have problem getting breakfast even at 8:30 a.m. big breakfast was alright, got ham, sausages, fruits -- quite good also. got internet access which is marvelous, not the slow kind of internet, but rather fast. can bring your own cable there to transfer photos to the computer too! the rooms are great as well, clean. large lockers. the beds are nice to sleep too. the staff are good also, allow us to store our luggage on last day when we got a late flight back. but too bad our room is the highest floor -- got to climb up four stories, but overall, this hostel is good. — avontflex , Singapore (2007-05-18) Stayed here in Jan. This hostel is big but we found it clean and the kitchen is ok. There's lots of little areas on each floor as well as the main lounge area that you can chill out in. AND the whole hostel was chilled by the air con continually!! — lala (2007-02-18) The staff are lovely. It's really easy to meet people because the front door opens straight into the common area, which is attached to the kitchen, so there's quite a sociable atmosphere. There are 4 or 16 bed dorms available, with lockers (though not particularly big ones -- I couldn't fit my rucksack in there.) The dorms are relatively clean, as are the bathrooms, although the kitchen is not the cleanest I've seen (but that's probably more to do with who was staying there at the time than the kitchen itself.) Free breakfast is offered every day, and free pasta (cooked for you) one night a week. It's not on the best street in Melbourne, but it's relatively central, taking between 5 and 10 minutes to walk to Fed Square, and 5 minutes to Southern Cross Station where the Skybus will drop you from the airport. It can be really noisy in the night though (I've never heard so many dustbin lorries!) so earplugs are recommended! Overall a great place to stay. — Katy (2007-01-16) This is the best hostel i have stayed in so far. The staff are really friendly and approachable. i remember misplacing some items and they found it and gave it back! what a bonus! also, food discarded by backpackers becomes free for all for the duration of a week. very innovative. and yes they do organise a lot of activities for backpackers. i would say almost half the guests were brits, yet there are occasions when visiting sports teams from the countryside also become their customers. the mix is fantastic, and so are the pub crawls.
however, beware because the dallas bar and strip joint just beside the backpackers is a place you can get in trouble with local bikers if not careful. other than that, five stars for sure! — Mark Tan (2006-11-19) Stayed here once in 2002 & again in early 2006. Both times were enjoyable.
The hostel has been done up a bit since 02 & is top notch now. Easy to meet people in the communial area. Very clean & well organised. The hostel is quiet & would stay here again in a second. — Geordie (2006-08-13) The Friendly Backpackers Hostel is more like a home than a hostel! This was the first hostel I have ever stayed in and it was a good choice. The trouble is you expect the same quality from other hostels but that will never happen unless you book a nice hotel. The staff are 'friendly' and very forgiving. I was about twenty minutes late checking out on my last day and they made no attempt to charge me for a late check-out. As long as you don't check-out at three p.m. you'll have no problem. Security is no problem at all, the lockers near the beds were big enough to hold my massive backpack and day pack. Bring your own little padlock though to secure it. After check-out the staff are happy to hold your luggage in a secure room until you are ready to move on (not many hostels do this for you!) and they still let you use all their facilities. Tea, coffee, and milk are all free to use and the fully equipped kitchen is fit for a chef. — Andrew Walker (2006-06-16) I stayed at this hostel for 12 nights each trip I made to Melbourne in June, July and August 2005. Since I worked of a night when I was there I made "friends" (as such) with one of the night staff, which made my time more enjoyable, especially early in the morning. This is definitely one of the better hostels, especially since I prefer female-only dorms and small dorms at that. They provided both without any bother. Security wasn't an issue. The kitchen was great! Same can be said about the bathroom. Just a tip: do not bring a big suitcase (especially if it weighs near or over 25 kgs!) with you, as it is a b**ch to take up to your room and down when you leave! :-) — Gold Coast Girl (2005-10-02) This was the very BEST hostel I stayed at. The staff lived up to the name "friendly." They went out of their way to help out. The hostel was VERY, VERY CLEAN, the bathrooms, the hallways, the kitchen and the lounge. They had pasta on Tuesday evening, full breakfast on Thursday morning and a pancake brunch on Sunday. And who can forget the pub-crawl on Thursday evening? I will very highly recommend this place for long or short stays. The hostel made my three weeks stay in Melbourne very pleasant. I wish there were more hostels like that. Keep up the good work and thank you very much. — Anand Hingorani, Hartford CT USA (2005-08-17) This was the best hostel that I stayed at. It was so clean and the people there were all wonderful. The only problem that I had was that the first time I was there (yes, I stayed there more than once) the city was doing some road maintenance outside my bedroom, and the air conditioning was a bit too cold. Otherwise, the bathrooms smelled like bathroom cleaners (always a good sign), the location was fantastic, and the staff were great!! — Anonymous (2005-07-27) Excellent hostel — it's safe, clean and friendly! It's the best hostel I stayed at in six months of traveling in Australia! — Pierre (2005-01-14)