Bundaberg Backpackers & Travellers Lodge

Awful!
I agree with all those ones who have described this hostel as the most awful one they have ever visited! Bedbugs; awful, rude, arrogant Eugene (i hate that man); too warm rooms (without windows and air conditioning only sometimes working); and not much money after slave work.

If you want to be eaten alive by bedbugs, this is the hostel for you
I am a current resident of this disgusting place and I can tell you one thing -- even if you have to sleep outside with no blankets, no work in the pouring rain with only tomato sauce packets and dry instant noodle to sustain you, it would be far superior to this f-ing hellhole! The owner, Eugene, is by far the worst, most arrogant, disgusting, pathetic excuse for a man I have ever met in my life. He is also extremely perverted, giving some of the male backpackers porno videos and mags, always making sexual remarks towards them (most often to do with homosexuality) and in one instance, watched one while he slept (we have witnesses). Ok, on to the next thing -- bedbugs. Me and my boyfriend have been eaten alive while we sleep for the last three weeks, have been telling the owners about it since then, and still nothing has been done about it. We keep being told by Eugene that the exterminator will come and that we should move to another (more expensive) room but the other owner (his wife, Kate) says that we need to keep our bags in the room to be cleared out as well. This point is completely understandable and helpful as we don't want to be bringing the little critters to the next hostel we stay at but when we mentioned what his wife had told us to Eugene he started yelling at us, saying that we should have everything sorted out by now. It's just so frustrating to have to deal with someone so ignorant! I could go on and on about this place and the owner but not right now. Hopefully we'll be able to leave very soon, wish us luck.

Shit
it would seem that this hostel is very much disliked by all that brave it! Do not go! like many people I was kicked out because I helped a mate by storing his bag. Of course the arsehole Eugene kept all of the rest of my rent. The hostel boasts no windows, two pots and two pans in the kitchen, if you could call it a kitchen, for forty people, sh*t beds, sh*t stained walls, and possibly the worst thing is that you cant drown your sorrows because there is absolutely no alcohol allowed! this place sucks, spread the word.

Quite Good
Not bad place to stay. My sister and myself stay for two months. Well run and managers are firm but pretty fair. They provide clean sheets and knives and forks. They are strict but need to be so that things are kept clean because some people are just pigs and leave stuff everywhere. There is lots of work but Eugene, who is owner, is not tolerant of laziness, which is fair enough. They have Austar which is good for watching football.

Disgraceful
overpriced, dirty, awkward hostel owner, will try and prosecute for trespassing if you stay even for ten minutes after you have checked out. promises work, yeah right! $160 a week for a dirty room that is never cleaned (and I do actually mean never). I am aware that new ownership took place in August '07.

What horror films are made of!
well, i dont really know what to say other than do not go there. it is a complete waste of money, time, and effort. the place is run by kate and Eugene, who is the most rude, obnoxious, arrogant, unreasonable person you will ever meet. i got thrown out of here because i was looking after some friends' bags after my weeks rent had been paid -- how coincidental! the place is dark, dirty, smelly, and depressing. i wouldnt put dogs in here to to live. The best thing i can say about the hostel are the other backpackers and when you leave!

Terrible
What ever you do, from one backpacker to another, do not come here, whether it's to stay or work! I was promised if i stayed a week i would get work either the next day or the day after. We arrived on the Sunday and paid $160 for a weeks rent, we got given clean sheets and cutlery which seemed ok. We had to either leave our passports or a $50 key deposit, so we decided $50 was too much to lose so we left our passports. We got in our room which smelt of horse sh*t and had no windows! We then went to put our dry food in the kitchen lockers, which were filthy and smelt. The room was stuffy and pitch black to sleep in so wasn't a comfy nights sleep at all. We checked the workers list and my name was on for the Tues but not and my friends was on standby for the Monday. How they work it fairly i do not know! My friend didn't get in on the Standby and when the list went back up that evening (just as reception closed, so they could run away from people complaining!) It said i'd been took off for the Tues because of bad winds on the farm! (which was an excuse.) We both worked Wed and when it came to the list going up that night i wasn't on for the next day but they told Natalie she would be on all week because the farmer had said she worked well. I didn't get work for the rest of the week and ten days later still haven't been paid. Natalie gave her three days notice and the grumpy owner took her off the job and tried to lie his way out of it saying he thought we were leaving on the Sat, so she locked herself in the van and he threatened calling the police! The police had already been by that week because he refused to give someone their passport back, and the fire brigade twice because the alarm was ringing for three hours one night and the other time because a fire door didn't open. We decided to check out when they took people to work at 5 a.m. because a girl had been told previously to sleep on the sofa even though she'd paid for that night because she was checking out thirty minutes before reception opened! We then were told to fetch our sheets (this is at 5 a.m.) to get our passports back so we slept on the mattress after wedging the door open because i didn't fancy sleeping with the fleas on the sofa! We were given abuse by being told we were unorganised and huffed and puffed at! Please whatever you do don't give them more business!

The worst in Australia along with Bus Stop Backpackers.
This is the worst backpackers i have ever been in during my year of traveling. it was filthy everywhere you turned which is bad enough in itself, but the worse bit was the manager who was the the most bitter, rude, unfriendly, and unhelpful man i have met in Australia! An example being if you arrived in the middle of the night and slept on the couch at Bus Stop Backpackers his other hostel across the road it would cost $10 or you are chucked out at 4:30 in the morning! he has also been known to confiscate backpacks left inside and held them for $20 in the same situation.

Don't go there
Don't go there! Trust me, the new owner (since oct. 2007) is a wanker! All he cares is money -- he treats people like sh*t! You have no rights and many people left the hostel or got kicked out (no real reason). for example there was this one girl, who got kicked out because she was two minutes late in the morning. the bus was not even ready to leave for work but she had to stand beside and watch it driving away without her. the owner didn't let her on the bus and kicked her out after she was staying six months in this hostel. the kitchen is full with cockroaches and the rooms full with bedbugs. a girl told the owner that she has bedbugs and he told her, "if you have a problem, you can leave!" And how many times did I wait longer than a hour before i got picked up from work?! the rent increased to $25 a night.

Bookings are not kept!
Actually, we called the hostel in the morning for two beds, which were confirmed to be available and held for us. When we arrived at the arranged time in the hostel though the person at the reception just told us they were completely booked. He told us that they actually tell you on the phone they would keep the beds, but actually never stick to that practice! It's very nice to arrive an hour before all the backpackers in Bundaberg close, assuming to have a room secured, but then having to race around to find another room! As all other backpackers were booked out or closed we had to stay in an expensive hotel that night!

Yuck
When I arrived at this hostel I asked the lady at the front desk about the hostel, how it was, if many people liked it. she said nothing but good stuff then told me if I wanted to work I had to pay for a week stay in advance, I did just that. I regretted paying for a week in advance about one minute after I paid for it. the place was so gross. kitchen was infested with cockroaches -- not just one or two but tons and nests in the food lockers. In my one week stay two of the rooms had bedbugs, one of which the people had to vacate the room it was so bad. I started to work the next day, which in fact was also my last day. The work was horrible -- slave work as I call it. Then when I went to reception to say I would not be working anymore the lady was very rude to me. "You will not be getting a refund" (yes I knew that. I just wanted my name off the work list). I would not recommend this hostel to anyone. I would rather sleep outside than a place like this.

I have to say this was my home away from home! Loved it. However, the farm work is hard work including long days but it's well worth the money! Thanks to Gery and Sue who highlighted my trip! see you soon!

I loved this hostel. I stayed there for a good few months on and off, in '05 and '06 I kept coming back cause Sue and Gary really make it feel like home! and I always got work. Made some really good friends and I still keep in touch with the Farmer I worked for!

Don't stay here if it's the last place on earth! I went there for some working experience and was told I had to stay a minimum of a week if I wanted to work. Fair enough, but after three days of tomato pruning in an open field with no shelter and one short break I'd had enough and told them I didn't want to do anymore. The lady in management tried to make me feel guilty by saying well its you loss, and I wondered what the hell my finances had to do with her anyway. But, the most important fact of all, is that I did not get paid for those three days when I was given a verbal guarantee that I would be! That was three weeks ago, I have rang the hostel since demanding my payment but are provided with meaningless excuses. I have now come to accept that I'll never be paid and don't wish to waste my phone credit on them any longer. The management are rude and ignorant and there is a certain lack of a friendly, welcoming atmosphere. It was the biggest mistake of my travels so far to stay at this hostel, don't make the same one as me!

I stayed in this hostel for one week and that was too long. The workers are treated like slaves, don't even bother asking for a day off because they might put you on stand by, our breaks came every three and a half hours if we were lucky. We were treated like kids in the hostel not allowing us to drink only on Saturdays and even on Saturdays they might change their minds. They searched the fridge every morning for drink and kept it for themselves if they found it. They were the most tight arsed, unpleasant hostel I stayed with. The kitchen was crawling with ants, all our lockers etc. I hated it and the management and when I left it took me three weeks for them to pay me -- miserable!