East Bundy Backpackers

Bundaberg

3 of 12

Address	22 Princess Street, Bundaberg Queensland, Australia Map
Price	Accom $20 per day + $5 per day if work provided

Location/Contact

Details

Online booking is not offered for this hostel, contact them for availability and reservations (any contact info we have is listed above).

Description

Features

Kitchen
Swimming Pool
BBQ
Movie Library/Rental
Book Collection/Exchange
Washing Machine (laundry)
Clothes Dryer
Travel information provided
24 Hour Free Hot Showers
Phones (public or in room)

Ratings & Comments

3.6 Average from 9 Ratings

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We can't validate the legitimacy of comments posted on this site—so take what you read here with a grain of salt.

Comment by Con, Irish

November 2009

Avoid -- these people are rip off merchants that don't pay you wages
I made the mistake of visiting east bundy with the hope of saving some money and getting three months primary industry experience to extend my working holiday visa. I arrived and they demanded $250 upfront before I commenced work and said that the minimum stay was one week. Two days later i started work on SPs tomato plantation and got screeched at by a psychotic farmer who belittled me and everybody else and said I wasnt fast enough and would be walking fifty kilometers home if i didnt speed up. I beared it out and stuck it another day and due to another circumstances I had to leave the east coast. Now a month later I am still owed $200 and lost the $250 I gave the hostel because I left three days early. The receptionist heard this and told me I needed to check out asap as someone else had been booked into my bed -- so they doubled booked my bed and made money from me. In summary this is a scam, the farmer owes or leases the hostel and charges a fortune to stay here, you get money back for working at his far so it is a lose lose situation. Despite my attempts to contact the hostel to receive my wages that i am rightly owed, he makes up excuses saying he will pay me next week or he hasnt got to the bank, or is off sick and not working. So please learn from my mistake and believe me you will find work in much better places in australia that actually care for their staff and pay them for the work they do.

Comment by david, germany

August 2009

Very good
it's a good hostel with most of the renovations completed. the beds are comfortable. kitchen is great with food lockers provided, very cool stove with lots of gas elements, fridge is huge. pool great, cleaned regularly. showers clean and nearly all newly renovated. most importantly work is provided and they dropped me there and picked me up. so i was happy to pay 20 bucks a night to get all of that.

Comment by Luke, Britian

August 2009

A hole but its the people you meet that make it
East bundy is a hole, but I met some great people so it made it bearable. There is not much other choice in Bundy though, all the hostels are holes. The work is scarce and there are not enough jobs to go around you have more time off than working. I left with less money than I arrived.

Comment by Danielle, British

February 2008

Basic but all you need -- a home away from home
I stayed here for just over a month in 2007. As soon as I arrived I got a really good vibe from this place, it has everything you need for a comfortable stay, I met some really great people, and Ian one of the guys who worked there treated us all like his kids, even dropping us off and picking us up from bowling on his night off! The work isn't always great, and there were times when the staff could've been a little more helpful when chasing up pay, but I would still really recommend it. I got my second visa and had a great time!

Comment by Mathew Stenner, New Zealand

December 2007

Why did it have to end so quickly!
I stayed at East Bundy back in June 2005 when it was still being renovated which meant awe inspiring showers, snug sleeping conditions, general chaos -- and i loved every minute of it! The owners, Robbie and Rohan, were as crazy as they come but were the best fun, regularly coming out drinking with us all. Robbie that crazy old devil would act as if she had a severe case of short term memory loss, acting as if she had forgotten a conversation held twenty minutes ago -- man, she was a hoot! Rohan, a man built on strength and principle, a true leader when you got a bit down in dumps. An inspiration! Also worth a mention is Warren -- dodgy facial hair but generally a great guy (and despite what some said "not" sleazy), Ian -- with his immortal words of "come to my room little girl" every morning at 5 a.m., and of course Marmalade the long-suffering cat at the hands of Warren and Ian! The hostel has a great atmosphere and provides almost constant work which was wicked fun for those who sleep in with hangovers every morning! It's close to the town. Worth noting that just down the road there's an awesome fish and chip shop which does $1.50 chips and has lovely owners -- what more could you want, and the Sugar Reef Bar and Bistro which does wonderful $4 dog food every night. This is a charming, charismatic hostel and the atmosphere is magic and definitely worth visiting for a month or two of work with the family! Two thumbs up guys!

Comment by silas

January 2007

Stayed hear from April till June 2004 and had a great time. Needed a bit of renovating which is why it loses a star but on the whole I earned plenty of money and met loads of great people. The work's hard (mainly tomato picking I've done) but if you work hard and integrate with the locals you will get on fine. I've heard it's under new management so not sure what it's like now but I'm sure it's still a good place to stay if you need some cash. I was getting six days a week work most weeks and managed to save plenty of money even with one night out a week (quite cheap nightlife in Bundi and quite good too) with the fellow backpackers.

Comment by James

October 2006

I stayed in this hostel for nearly three months so I could earn money and extend my visa. I got work the day after I arrived and it was hard, but what work isn't? I worked six days a week by choice and partied hard on the seventh day. There are some real lazy people that came and went really quick because they expected to pay nothing, go to work and do nothing, and get paid heaps! I earnt enough to party hard and go on a great trip to Frazer island and left with enough money to last til Xmas. The place is clean an the kitchen is huge. They have a big walk in fridge so you can store heaps of food. The pool is great after a hard days work in the sun, and Victor, one of the bus drivers took a lot of us to the beach on our day off and picked us up for nothing! The drivers are cool. They pick you up from the bus station, take you to and from work, do two runs to the shops every day, and will take you to the pubs or beach if they have time. Friday happy hour at the pub up the road is fantastic!

Comment by Jonathan and Coco

October 2006

East Bundy is the worst place you can go to if wanting to work near Bundaberg. The owners only care about money and if you show up for work on time, it's a nasty and filthy place and you don't get bed sheets at all! Some people were sleeping under their towel. The work provided is lame and badly paid, and if you want to get some food after 6 p.m., prepaire for a thirty-minute walk to the nearest supermarket. Don't go there, ever.

Comment by Mark

August 2006

East Bundy is a ridiculous excuse for a hostel. East Bundy Backpackers are not at all worried about the well-being of the backpackers who are paying them 140 a week to stay in horrible conditions. All they care about is making a buck off of backpackers who don't have any extra bucks to spare, thats why we ended up in Bundaberg! They treat backpackers like crap and they keep doing it because they can, we keep coming! So show them that we don't have to take crap, if you want to be in the backpacker industry, treat us right!

Comment by Laura Steward

June 2006

I stayed at East Bundy back in June 2005 when it was still being renovated which meant cold showers, cramped sleeping condition, general chaos -- and i loved every minute of it! The owners, Robbie and Rohan were as crazy as they come but were the best fun, regularly coming out drinking with us all. Also worth a mention is Warren -- dodgy facial hair but generally a great guy, Kimmie -- possibly the sweetest most helpful woman ever (my mum away from home!), Ian -- with his immortal words of 'It's time to get up' every morning at five a.m., and of course Marmalade the long-suffering cat! The hostel has a great atmosphere and provides almost constant work for those who actually put the effort in and don't try and sleep in with hangovers every morning! It's close to the town. Worth noting that just down the road there's an awesome fish & chip shop which does $1.50 chips and has lovely owners, and the Sugar Reef Bar & Bistro which does wonderful $4 meals every night. This is a rough, basic hostel (although it may have been fully renovated by now) but the atmosphere is magic and definitely worth visiting for a month or two of work!

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