Nomads All Nations Backpackers

Melbourne

19 of 55

Address	2 Spencer Street (corner of Flinders), Melbourne Victoria, Australia Map
Price	From $13per night to $29 per night, season dependent Check Current Prices by Date Here

Location/Contact

Details

Description

Features

Free Breakfast
Kitchen
Lockers
Bar
Lounge / Common space
Washing Machine (laundry)
Travel information provided
Bike Rental
Phones (public or in room)
Gym/Fitness Room
BBQ
Pool Table
24 Hour Free Hot Showers

Ratings & Comments

2.8 Average from 45 Ratings

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Comment by GinaG, Australia

April 2009

Unbelievably rank!
I was gonna stay at All Nations for a few weeks but had to leave after a couple of days as it was too much to handle. The place is truly disgusting, the carpet in the hall ways is badly, badly stained and should be ripped up and burnt. The rooms are small, smelly, and dirty and the beds infested with bedbugs and mattresses covered in stains that looked like blood and urine. Several people staying there had bites all over their bodies. I booked for a ten-bed dorm only to be told that I'd have to take a four-bed dorm as there were no beds left in the ten-bed dorms. Which meant I had to pay $30 extra per week. And that's not including the $35 Mad Membership Card I also had to purchase to even be offered a weekly rate. Then on top of that I had to pay a $30 key deposit. Also if you want to use anything (iron, hairdryer), you have to give them something valuable as a deposit cause they think you're gonna steal it! The bathrooms were disgusting, hair everywhere, people leaving their soap wrappers, empty shampoo bottles everywhere. Every toilet seat had piss all over it. The showers barely dribbled out water and it was either boiling hot or freezing cold. Even when I did see someone in there mopping the floor the detergent they were using reeked of urine. The free drink you apparently receive on arrival I never received as they claimed they'd run out of vouchers. The work centre they claim to guarantee you a job or your money back is actually the travel agent next door, who then charges a membership fee extra and doesn't even have any work available anyhow. The bar downstairs is full of weird homeless people and I saw several fights and screaming matches and the police were called in three times just in my short time there. The free breakfast is some bread and butter and because of the filthy state the common room and kitchen is in there's no way you'd want to touch that bread anyhow. One night when returning there was vomit all up the staircase. The noise from the bar and freaks outside is so loud it keeps you up all night. The smoke alarms are dodgy and go off in the middle of the night all the time. There's no security at all so people just walk in off the streets all the time and you find junkies laying about on the staircases and in the hall ways. Everyone that works there seem like the biggest scum alive (I think they are homeless people who work to pay for their board) and they have no clue where anything is or how anything works. It was the most feral joint I've ever seen, and I've seen some pretty rundown dives in my life time.

Comment by Iris, German

March 2009

Great People -- Great Feeling
This hostel is something for people who like to meet real backpacker and not the people you meet everywhere along the east coast who are living on daddys credit card, traveling with suitcases, do nothing than hop on the bus drive for a couple of hours (sleeping because they are too wasted drinking all night long for two months), jump out of the bus, and start drinking again, but see nothing of oz, go shopping every day (that's why they have to send new clothes home every month), and call themselves backpacker. this was the first hostel i've seen in oz which was what i expect when i hear the word hostel. little shabby that's true but you come in and feel like home. the whole hostel is just like a huge living room and the people are great. i've lived there for over a month and it was just a great time. it's close to the inner city (i think ten minutes to walk aren't that much) and the bar which belongs to the hostel is just great, with live acts, crazy staff, and a great atmosphere. a perfect place to stay if you want to smell real hostel life.

Comment by James McPherson, Canada

June 2008

Worst hostel ever!
I chose this place because I was tired from an overnight coach from Sydney, it was cheap and it was close to the train station where the coach dropped me off. It could have some potential but I believe it is managed poorly. First of all, I feel it is unscrupulous to call bread and butter free breakfast. Choosing it for it's location is a little short-sighted because it is nice to walk back and forth from the Southern Cross station, but the transportation in Melbourne is top notch including a free looping tram that goes right by the train station. It is also in a kind of desolate, rundown area of town and it is a fair walk to the more vibrant and lively commercial district. That proximity to the train station also has a heavy downside in the noise coming from the relentless rail traffic on the tracks across the street. Closing the window would have helped but the smell of the room was barely tolerable with the windows wide open. That is certainly my biggest criticism of the place. They don't seem to have a cleaning staff at all. The room I was in was comparable to a squatter camp and I am genuinely not exaggerating. I was appalled and embarrassed for them that they had the audacity to present this as accommodations to customers. I really can't think of anything nice to say about the place. I have been in twenty-seven countries around the world and this was easily the worst place I've ever stayed. I am glad I stayed only one night and I found cheaper accommodations the next day in the commercial district in a dorm with only four beds that was immaculate. As bad as this review is, all it would really take to make this place acceptable is hiring a cleaning staff and throwing in some milk and cereal to justify the claim of free breakfast.

Comment by Lola, France

April 2008

Had a good time in this place
Great atmosphere, character, friendly staff. Clean and wide girl-bathroom. but dirty sheets! Cheap. Close to southern cross train station. Poor security system. Cheap-o breakfast (white toasted-bread and industrial butter and jam, coffee, and milk).

Comment by maria, england

February 2008

Great, fun, nice people around
this place was gold. had a good time here. there has been renovations going on so new bathrooms and a girls only so that was nice. the bar is cheap with good stuff on each night to win things. they have a breakfast for free fruit and toast and drinks. good way to start the day i say. there are heaps of cool people staying there so it's nice to hang out with different people.

Comment by Adrian, Canada

February 2008

Absolute scum!
Disgusting, this place reminded me of Renton's smack-house in Trainspotting. Slumming at its absolute worst. The carpets and sheets were probably donated by the local brothel, and the "free" breakfast was a basket of nutrient-free white generic bread served with industrial tubs of margarine and jam (the swarms of flies are the actual nutrients). We chose this because it was cheap (that it was), but we were very surprised to see this place even had running water! This was the first time in my life I've had to sleep with earplugs in. I spit on this building every time I see it. Burn it to the ground!

Comment by Joe, UK

August 2007

Brilliant
Even with the bedbugs and weirdos, All Nations is a warm and friendly place that you can make friends in. Melbourne is a beautiful city and All Nations is a beautiful hostel. Give it a chance. I did and I love it. Truly a second home.

Comment by Dave, England

July 2007

Best atmosphere in Melbourne!
Yes, it's dirty, smelly, and there's a good chance of infection from many parts of the building, but it rocks and the people are great. If you complain about the state of the place then you'd do well to remember that backpackers live on a very tight budget, and All Nations cater to this. You get a bed, with linen, and that's all you need. All Nations has the best bar in the CBD, with $3 beer and live music/comedy/pool competitions. All Nations baby!

Comment by Graham, Australian/English

July 2007

Rough around the edges
I stayed here back in March 2006 and I have taken a few fond memories from my stay. Yes, the place does need a good scrub and the showers don't offer much by way of safety and privacy, but I found that the staff members whom I encountered were super-friendly and one even went well beyond the call of duty in helping me. I will be returning to Melbs later this year and I will mostly likely choose this hostel because of its affordability, its friendly clientele (which is just as important as cleanliness if not more so), and the gym, however I won't be forgetting my iPod (I mean my Creative) as the traffic noise (particularly the trains screeching as they turn the corner on the overpass!) is horrendous.

Comment by Zoe, England

June 2007

The All Nations hostel has a fantastic location as it is just a short walk to the city center and bus/train station. There is also a city circle tram stop oppsite that which stops at most of Melbournes attractions free of charge and is also handy if you need a free lift to work! The hostel is quite large with single and dorm rooms. Dorm room range from 4-10 bed. The rooms are medium sized however no lockers or storage space is provided so there is little room when 10 backpacks and variouse other belongings are sprawled across the floor. The room I stayed in was very cold and only had a plug in electric heater which didn't always work and barely heated up the room when it did. We would not reccomend staying in this hostel if you are a light sleeping or advise requesting a room towards the back of the hostel. There is a very noisy tram and rail line directly opposite and the you can hear music from the bar downstairs until the early hours of the morning. There is a large communal kitchen with two large dinning tables which made it very easy to meet people. However the backpackers that are working for free accomadation barely clean the kitchen and it is very dirty. Also croccory is not provided unless you pay a $10 deposit ontop of a $30 deposit for the room key which I think is fairly high if you are short of money. Thev unisex showers are fairly new compared to the rest of the building are kept resonabley clean. There well kept communal/loungs area that has a widescreen tv with a games consoul and free dvds. Guest also get free use of a very good gym just accros the street. The best thing about the All Nations hostel is the bar downstairs. Its very small with a pool table and smoking are but it is very atmospheric. Its a great way to meet other backpackers and some locals who come in for cheap drinks. They have different events during the week including a trivia nite and ladies nite on a friday where ladies can drink free champagne from 7-8 and for $1 afterwards. All Nations is not the cleanest or newest hostel in Melbourne and the biulding could deffinately do with a bit of makeover however there is a really good atmosphere. The majority of the people staying at the All Nations are staying for a while because of the cheap weekly rates. This hostel is best suited to people staying or working in Melbourne on more of a long term basis.

Comment by Amy, English

April 2007

it could be a lot better with a bit more money invested into it, but for me traveling, it's the way people interact that makes a place good. this place had its own bar, a great atmosphere, everyone talked to everyone, and you couldn't beat the atmosphere compared to a yha that i stayed in, that was spectacular facilities wise but it was the most god awful atmosphere where no one talked and just give each sly evils! At the end of the day in the backpacker world, don't look for a five-star hotel because you just won't get it -- it's atmosphere and people! and all nations is the best!

Comment by anonymous, england

March 2007

Do not stay here! ten months of traveling all over australia and this was the worst hostel i ever stayed in. its a god awful cesspit. its dirty, smelly, has cell-like rooms, and is riddled with bedbugs. i had the bites to prove it. staying here for three nights was an endurance challenge. it wasn't even cheap -- i paid $25 a night. the place needs bulldozing.

Comment by Tash

January 2007

Don't stay here. A Japanese man who took secret footage of women showering at a Melbourne backpackers' hostel has been jailed for at least two months. Takaya Muto, who is studying in Sydney, yesterday pleaded guilty to three charges after he was caught filming under a shower cubicle at melbourne's all nation city backpackers.

Comment by John

January 2007

The worst hostel I have ever stayed in and I've stayed in plenty. Just a complete sh*t pit. Noisy, dirty, damaged walls, a joke of a kitchen, the 'gym' is a cellar in a different building in a different street, thieving going on everyday I was there. Now I hear there were hidden cameras in the unisex showers but then nothing surprises me about this place.

Comment by Clare

October 2006

Do i really have to put a star? ive been traveling for ten months and stayed in some interesting places before this crackhouse! Im all for trying places that aren't advertised in books, but this place has got to be the worst backpackers i have ever been to in my life! Please do not do what i did -- walked into the hostel, thought the reception area has some character, bright, smells clean, the receptionist wasn't that bad to chat too either, so thought why not. Paid for one night in a eight-bed dorm $22 and a deposit of $30. So anyway, walked up the stairs and down this smelly corridor to find my room #114. then as i walked into the room, one massive crack in the wall, entered the main dorm to find six bedbug ridden beds which had bloody patches and wee stains all over them, top and bottom. Gets worse, the linen that they provided wasnt even clean, hairs everywhere, the dunnas were terrible too! that gym -- urr no! wasn't even told about it until i saw it on this website. Decided to check out after thirty minutes (wondering if i could possibly sleep there for a night. nah couldn't do it!) to find that i only received my deposit back and just lost my $22. Don't stay there, heaps of other cheaper and better places in Melbourne city area.

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