Coffee Palace Backpackers

Melbourne (St. Kilda Beach)

18 of 55

Address	24 Grey Street, Melbourne (St. Kilda Beach), Victoria, Australia Map
Price	Dorms $15 - $25 per night, Dbl's & Twins $45 - $60 per night and weekly rates apply all year round Check Current Prices by Date Here

Location/Contact

Details

This is a VIP hostel. Show your VIP Backpackers membership card for a discount at check-in.

Description

Features

Free Breakfast
Kitchen
Lockers
24 Hour Free Hot Showers
Pool Table
Washing Machine (laundry)
Lounge / Common space
Travel information provided
Bar
Gameroom
Clothes Dryer
TV
Phones (public or in room)
BBQ
Currency Exchange
Bike Rental

Ratings & Comments

3.5 Average from 34 Ratings

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Comment by aussianon123, Australia

January 2009

How dare they make use of the word palace!
Ironically named Coffee Palace, a squalid sh*thole on Grey St in St Kilda, does not supply free tea or coffee. I must stress that the staff are absolutely incompetent. My first night I checked-in in the arvo, made my bed, and went out again as it was a very hot day and there is no air conditioning. On coming back to a humid cesspit of a room, which had a smell like doritos and gas (I don't know of any animal, mineral, or vegetable that could be capable of producing that smell) I found somone's belongings all over my bed, argued with a guy who it belonged to, he had also checked in, ripped off all my freshly made bed sheets and put his own there because that seemed the only empty bed. Turns out the d*ckhead receptionist (you'll know which one I'm talking about within ten seconds of meeting him) had given this guy the wrong key. Later that night I went to the toilet to find an overflowing sanitary bin, you know tampons and all that. Breakfast is two pancakes every day except Sunday. One night I locked myself out of my room, went to the receptionist and was given the wrong key. Went back, was given the wrong key again. The key numbers are written on the back of the keys. The showers are not big communal ones, each is like a little bathroom, one of the showers on my floor didnt have a light in it. The showers go from scalding hot to freezing cold. The toilets constantly smell like urine because everyones always drunk and miss and hit the floor. The kitchen is tiny, there is a lack of utensils etc knives. Anyone can walk in off the street and roam about the hostel. Got stuck on the roof talking to some weirdo who was not even staying there, he lived next door, and kept trying to get me to meet up with him. Found out later that he's always lurking around the place. There is very little room to store food, the fridges are a disgrace with ice cream and cornflakes spilt all through one shelf on everyone's food. Got locked out of the actual hostel arriving late one night. Reception had to let me in and said why didn't you use the code, there is a code for the security door at night on the back of the key, but no one had told me. The showers and toilets were actually being cleaned one day as the piss smell had become unbearable, I asked where I could go shower, was told up the stairs. Up the stairs where? Left? Right? The staff are incompetent. The bar is a fridge behind reception stocking about three different beers. There is a policy of no alcohol to be brought onto premises. The bar cannot sell after 11 p.m. anyway. Everyone brings goon in. The atmosphere is not friendly. When entering a room you pretty much get stared at by everyone. No one really goes out to drink. They all sit in the common areas drinking goon til 4 a.m., 6 on weekends. As my room was right outside the common areas there was always drama when people couldn't handle the piss, and you could hear every word of it -- every night. I think the only reason I didn't get bitten by bedbugs is that my mattress was springs encased in the outer material. There are lockers available, about ten big ones and six small ones. The large ones cost $10 for three days. There is no room in the bedrooms for luggage. There is sh*t on the floor everywhere, no shelves, just beds, a pedestal fan and a god-awful stench. And there was also a dead fly in the liquid soap dispenser. Most of the showers didn't have hooks to hang your towels up. The rooms are filthy. One of the people who work for free accommodation came in to mop once while I was there, did one stroke in front of them about a meter long, then walked out. The room was about three meters by five. The bit mopped was the only free space on the floor. There is a lot of exploitation of foreign travelers there. One poster in prominent view in the common area was a bush safari between Alice Springs and Brisbane. It's highlights were bushwalking, stargazing, Aboriginal artwork, and vegemite. It was $850 AUS. Any Aussie in their right mind would know that was a scam. Also agents for acquiring tax file numbers, tax returns, free services that Aussies would know are free. Apparently there is a policy that Aussies aren't allowed to stay there. All in all, this place ruined my holiday. I didn't meet any nice people there at all, just lots of drunk, fat skanks. And the staff trying to get in on it. Regret ever staying here. Don't do what I did and go yeah this looks fun, looks like a proper backpackers. There are much nicer, cleaner and better run hostels for less all over Melbourne.

Comment by Cal & Lee , English

April 2007

Where do we start, we absolutely hated this Hostel. it was dirty, the rooms are filthy -- even the double room's pillows all were burnt -- had holes in them. bathrooms were horrible, loud music all night, not a friendly atmosphere at all. this hostel is a real. dump we stayed one night and that was more than enough. the staff were not helpful at all. do not stay here. the only good thing was the location but seriously i would rather stay an extra mile away from town than ever stay in this pit again.

Comment by John

December 2006

Fantastic place. Just ignore the Ross and Andy -- "porn all over the rooms, everybody off their face, music from the next door club bouncing all night long" -- this is what you go traveling for to have a good time. Obviously these two guys couldn't have a good time in the Playboy Mansion! Yes, it's slightly grubby, and yes the club next door does go on, but you should be in there having a good time! It's near the beach, near the tram stops. Had friendly staff and good nights out there. If you want to meet people and have a laugh, there is no better place in St. Kilda!

Comment by ros and andy

November 2006

Oh my god! don't even bother! cornflakes stuck to the so called fresh bed sheets! porn all over the rooms, everybody off their face, and seriously if you really call that a sociable and friendly environment i would hate to see a hostile one! Music from the next door club bouncing all night long and honestly, the worst hostel we stayed in through the whole of our travels. I cant believe they are still running the total disrespect of the workers and people there made it the most unsettling experience, the one and only time i ever truly paid what little money we had, but slept in the car instead!

Comment by Matthew Barnett

September 2006

Warning -- thieving workers. Upon staying at the hostel we had some items stolen from our room. The fact we were staying in a double room, and there was no sign of break in means that the thief had a key. Upon reporting this to the police, it seems the manager then supplied them with false information, trying to devalidate our claim, leading us to the conclusion that a member of staff must have either entered the room, or supplied someone with a key. Don't stay here, it isn't worth the risk.

Comment by Jen & Em

December 2005

WOOOOOW!! we didnt want to leave the palace, the staff were awesome, we met so many amazing people, and its just fabulous!!! if youre up for a great time, meetin people, parytin and just generally being sociable (as we are very sociable creatures aren't we Kev), this is the best place to be. And those who said it was a dump, well youre way too fussy and shouldnt be a backpacker, if you think this place is a dump, good luck with other hostels mate! next time we're in melbourne guess where we'll be! Ado, Kev, Geoff and Dan (smelly)...keep it goin! love ya'll! x

Comment by wendy the pancake girl

December 2005

the best! we booked for 2 days, stayed for 3 weeks, returned 4 weeks later for xmas, then i came back 5 months later for another 3 months. and i'll be back again early next year. Cannot wait! the staff are the best, brilliant atmosphere, there truly isn't anywhere like it!

Comment by Rach

September 2005

This hostel is amazing to stay in. The rooms are not as dirty as some of the reviews say. A few of us spring-cleaned all the rooms and never found them to be particularly bad! The staff are all really cool and friendly. Plus I think it's getting done up so it will be even better than it used to be!

Comment by Anonymous

July 2005

You can meet some great people here and the staff do their best, but the rooms are inexcusably filthy. We reserved a double room; ie.- a bare mattress on a dusty floor and awoke to find a rat gnawing on our backpack. You DON'T have to settle for this just because it's cheap! Melbourne has plenty of funky, friendly hostels for the same price (or even less) without the filth. Whoever runs this hostel is making good money from unsuspecting backpackers. It's high time they used some of it to make the place habitable.

Comment by Simon

May 2005

What a dump of a place. DON'T STAY HERE. It's dirty, has bedbugs, the room smelt and the sheets were not clean. The communal areas were horrible and overcrowded, and kitchen dirty and horrible. I will never set foot in this foul hole again.

Comment by Si & Kate

April 2005

Friendly staff is about all I can say about this hostel. The bedroom was unclean and smelt really bad, along with the social area and the kitchen. Plus the hostel is nowhere near the city center. We would never stay there again!

Comment by Jana

April 2005

The pancakes were great, but we left after just one night due to the disgusting bathrooms and the messy rooms and kitchen. There are better places to stay in Melbourne!!

Comment by Claire

March 2005

This is a very basic hostel. The double rooms are good for the price but I wouldn't stay here if I was in a dorm â€” too noisy. It needs a lot of work done to it and the kitchen is always a pigsty because they are so many long-termers leaving their stuff everywhere. What does go for this hostel is the great pancakes every morning for breakfast, the staff are really friendly and if you're not happy they try there best to help out. I wouldn't stay for long â€” one night at a time is probably enough.

Comment by Ashton Poole

February 2005

The staff were fair! But the rooms smell like a sewer and it's too loud. So if you want more than a place to lie down don't stay here at all. You won't sleep and those bedbugs there will eat you. Save your coin and stay elsewhere!

Comment by Sarah

February 2005

What a hole! I arrived from England looking forward to my first trip to Oz! I cried myself to sleep in this place the first night and just assumed all hostels would be as disgusting. I was wrong! If you want dirty bathrooms, cockroaches and stories of bedbugs then go here! If you would prefer to sleep without the risk of catching something â€” don't!

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