City Centre Backpackers

Not very good.
I am still at City Centre while I am writing this, I am leaving in two days (thank god). I have been here for five weeks and thankfully I have been working every week on the same farm. Most of the staff are lovely and very helpful and apart from the owners who think they are running a boarding school! I have witnessed them shouting at people cause they know they wont talk back or stick up for themselves. we have to pay 5 dollars a day for bus to work even though you have to wait up till an hour after finishing before getting picked up again! The kitchen is so small and all cookers dont work, it's a nightmare trying to cook! Also there has been a few thefts while I have been here and management couldnt care less! The reputation of the hostel isnt very good when you talk to residents and shop owners nearby, they only have bad things to say! If you want to pay nightly its 28 dollars, a joke! There is nothing in the hostel! I would look around at other hostels unless you are desperate for cash!

Worst Management Ever, Nice Place
i am currently staying at the hostel as a write this, the work here is fine, but the people who run the hostel are incredibly rude and have a bunch of made up silly rules. they charge you per week, and if you want to leave early you dont get your money back. the make you pay 5 dollars a day for bus fare, which is ludicrous. Take my advice and look into other hostels. i wrote this comment about seven days ago, and since then ive been yelled at by all members of the staff of city center. i was kicked out of my room at 2:30 in the morning for entering the kitchen past stated hours, never go to this hostel. Worst hostel ever!

Very clean, awesome staff, and relaxed/comfortable atmosphere
I came to into the country with my expectations high and they were met and shown at this backpackers. they made me fit right in and would recommend it for sure. it set me up for a good grounding to continue my travels in the country!

The receptionists got bad attitudes.
I and my girlfriend have spent ten days in this hotel. All of the receptionists are not kind to me and some other guests I met. Actually, I didn't see them smiling. One of my friend who is a girl from Taiwan paid a rent for a week, and checked out in just three days. But, they did not give her back deposits of $50 at all. The lady told her that "because she didn't tell us to check out before three days." That is the rule, we know. But I still can not understand why The lady didn't give her back the rent when she never broke any facilities or lost equipments of the hotel. I don't know where the $50 has gone until now, anyway. The kitchen was very crowded, so I scarcely used there. Yeah, of course you can work here, and sleep here, and that's all. Anyway, I spent the worst ten days here while I was Australia. I don't recommend this hotel.

It was pretty good, now it's sh*t -- dont go there!
The new management is lousy and isn't capable of doing their job. They lied to us because they were not interested in doing their job. We would have needed our taxback papers and they told us that they didn't have any. When we contacted the places where we had worked they all said that they had sent the papers to city centre and the companies immediately gave us the information that we needed. The "lady" at the city centre just hang up the phone when called and asked for the information that they should give to us according to law. No service at all! The last paycheck that I got never came to me. The staff at city centre practically stole my money! it's a shame, because Australia is a beautiful country but people like this give the aussies a really bad reputation.

Not impressed
The new management may be nice people but they are hopeless at running a hostel. Just now there are no cookers, cold water showers, no pots to cook with and no insulation in the bedrooms. The work, if any, is lousy. They like to operate on a rota system. So if you have a good job one day, you won't the next because they have to give someone else a chance. Beware of this place.

The new management is fantastic. Friendly and cannot do enough to make sure our stay was pleasant. Definitely will come back. Thanks a bunch! Had a ball!

I'd had the best time ever while I was staying there. I'd had so much fun with the people and the staff, especially with Rohan. You'd must eat at Hungry Tom.

The owner Geoff took a shine to me because I am a scouser. While in the British navy when he was younger, he spent a lot of time in Liverpool, and he had a few stories to tell about his time there. He is a fiery guy, and yes, he does grab you out of your bed if you don't get up for work. He is a stereotypical Aussie though, and he is a good laugh if you sit down and have a drink with him. You come to Bundy to work, and he makes sure you work. Quite a few times we went out in Bundy, and it is a good place to go out in by the way, and got back to the hostel at three in the morning. It wasn't a clever thing to do when you have to get up at four thirty a.m. to pick watermelons for twelve hours in thirty-five degree heat. He comes in to your room on the dot, and I always took heed of his morning wake up growls lets say, given what I saw he had done to others. It is a great place, and while you may not enjoy it straight away, you will become fond of it, and will look back on your time there as one of the best times you had in Oz, if you stay there long enough. It's one of those places where you sense a great camaraderie. Federal Backpackers across the road has cheap jugs of beer for when you get back from work, and there is a twenty-hour cafe downstairs which does a great chips and gravy.

Don't ever go to this hostel unless you are very low on cash. The owners hate backpackers and treat you like children, especially the old man. The only good thing about this hostel is that the other backpackers I met there were great. Have a look around, as there are much nicer and friendlier hostels.

This has to be the worst hostel I have stayed at in my whole ten months of being in Australia. The male owner of the hostel is a very, very bad-tempered old man. He comes into your room half an hour before you are to go to work and shouts your name so loud and so aggressively that he wakes everyone else up in the room, whether they need to be up at 4 a.m. or not. He also likes to pull back your sheets and almost drag you out of bed. Do not stay at this hostel unless you are completely desperate and don't mind being treated like a child. There are other hostels with much nicer owners so look around first. Also, it's pretty dirty and the kitchen is a mess.

A friend and I stayed at City Centre Backpackers for a week, during the busy season of picking, and the hostel was very busy. We stayed in the dorms outside of the hostel. The six-bed rooms are very comfortable and because the place gets cleaned everyday it's not too bad. As for the management, the lady who works there is lovely and she looks after you very well. As for the oldest man, he has a bias towards some people, which is annoying but if he likes you you're fine. And when he wakes you up for work he is nice to you if he likes you. I only got work for one day and I was on standby every other day. In my opinion if you want decent work you have to stay for longer than two weeks. With regard for something to do there in Bundy, the only thing you can do is drink over the road at Federal, this other backpackers place, and go out clubbing in the only club there, called Central. The people I met at the hostel were all lovely and I had the time of my life!!!

The kitchen is crusty, and so are the beds and the couches and well pretty much everything. But it's got a great atmosphere. I had an awesome month here working. The staff have character, that's for sure. You'll have a laugh.

I stayed in this hostel twice, totaling about four months altogether of work. It is basic but has such a good atmosphere, and this was the first time I'd ever stayed in a triple bunk bed! The hostel owners work hard to get constant work for their residents, and if you work hard then you will find constant work. Occasionally you may have to wait a day or two for work to become available. Sadly some people don't work hard and these are the ones that deserve to be dragged out of bed — the hostel finds you the work, drives you there and home again, yet some people don't appreciate this and think it's okay to sleep in, have a day off, etc. I made good money in my time and have very fond memories of the town, the people and everyone I met there — oh, and the rum, of course!

The six-bed dorms were fine and the kitchen was reasonably organized, but it's quite ridiculously cheap that pool games cost money for paying guests. The management showed favoritism to some guests regarding work, and one of the staff showed bias, because of his temper, to many who asked him questions. I've been to about 45 countries in the world and the staff here are down the list on the friendly scale. I even saw the male owner physically grab a guest out of bed and drag him out to the bus for work.