Rainbow Lodge Backpackers

We stayed at Rainbow Lodge Backpackers for four weeks and had a fantastic time. It's great value -- it may not be the most well-equipped of Perth hostels, but the value for money and sociable atmosphere made it the right choice for us.

It’s located just down the street from East Perth railway station, which is the terminal for the Indian Pacific trains coming from Adelaide. The hostel owner usually sends someone to meet the train, so a lot of people end up here that way. We arrived by plane, found a leaflet for the hostel and called to receive our free pick-up (minimum stay three nights). Ron, the owner, is very friendly and chatty. He’s also pretty, ahem, crazy though, so don’t expect the most practical help from him. On arrival, he immediately managed to place both myself and friend in dorms which were already full. The much more down-to-earth and helpful hostel staff assisted us in calling him back, and he did fix his mistake.

The hostel is one of these somewhat erratically converted buildings, with dormitories opening off each other and the TV room housed in a separate shed-like building out the back. The garden, with picnic tables and barbeque, is the best thing about Rainbow Lodge, as most residents spend much of their time here, socialising -- it’s one of the friendliest hostels I’ve stayed in. Huge barbeques are held pretty much every weekend, along with group trips out to Northbridge clubs at least twice a week.

Dormitories are acceptable, with beds/mattresses varying in comfort. Only two rooms are air-conditioned, and a lot of rooms suffer from a lack of windows. Several dorms have their own fridges and there are also a lot of random wardrobes and shelves around the place. There are only a couple of doubles, which are also used as four-bed dorms. There are two all-female dorms and one all-male.

There are two reasonably well-equipped kitchens. Cutlery/crockery is provided free and the kitchens are some of the cleanest we’ve encountered in Australian hostels. Bathroom facilities are limited – two female showers, two male showers and an extra, unisex bathroom. athroom facilities were our only major complaint.

There's a good noticeboard with work ads. Internet is provided with three PCs but they are busy and very slow. Pool table, table tennis, TV with Foxtel, DVD player and karaoke machine (a new acquisition).

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