Magnum's Backpackers

Airlie Beach

6 of 12

Address	366 Shute Harbour Road, Airlie Beach Queensland, Australia Map
Price	Private Rooms from $54per r-n and Dorms from $18.0opp-night Check Current Prices by Date Here

Location/Contact

Details

Description

Features

Air Conditioning
Washing Machine (laundry)
Travel information provided
Bar
Food/Restaurant
Nightclub

Ratings & Comments

2.4 Average from 34 Ratings

This is an open forum, and unlike other hostel guide websites we don't censor out the negative comments.
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 Lior, Israel

April 2009

Good compared to other places in Airlie Beach
I stayed here just one night, but encountered absolutely no problems. The place is much nicer than the others I saw in Airlie Beach. It is also cheaper. The rooms, which are further away from the bar, are not noisy. I did not hear any noise.

Comment by Couple from UK, UK

December 2008

Rude staff, Very noisy
We booked ten days at this hostel and were really glad to be able to get out four days early to transfer to a different hostel. We found one member of the staff very rude and very unhelpful. I believe this was the manager. If you hire a car, they expect you to pay caravan fee's to park it in their reasonable sized car park. Bearing in mind, there were plenty of spaces at this particular time and only wanted to park it for one hour! We stayed in a double room which was very small especially once the suitcases were in there. When we checked in we asked to be in a quiet area. We couldn't actually sleep as there was a big group of people having a party more or less outside our front door. This went on for three nights -- not even a break from it! A couple of people complained but the staff didn't seem to care. The showers and toilets were fairly clean, considering this is hostel living. The kitchen is only a breakfast room so don't be expecting to be able to cook much. Alcohol is very expensive at the Magnums Bar. Although, it really was a good night out. They have karaoke on Wed and foam parties on Thursday's. I would recommend this hostel to single people who are willing to party literally all the time! Being a couple we just wanted a bit of peace at times!

Comment by nicole & charlotte, canada & england

November 2008

Bad
this hostel was one of the worst we had stayed at! it may be cheap for a night but you had to pay $7 for linen and would only get $5 back when you returned them. had to pay to store our luggage for whitsundays and we could only get into at certain times, dorms were gross. found cockroaches on my bed. spiders all around the bathroom. We arrived just as the cleaning crew finished but it didnt look like they did anything. my friends bed had stains all over it. the kitchen only had one knife and no other cutlery. The bar and food was good that's probably the only good thing about this hostel

Comment by Vicky Miller, UK

July 2008

Great hostel, great stay
I'm really surprised by everyone's reviews, i had a brilliant stay there and found the rooms and bathrooms very very clean. Showers were some of the best i've seen. The grounds are amazing, the rooms are like little lodges spread through a rainforest, very cool. And although it has a big bar, the part where the rooms are is very quiet -- so slept very well. I'd definitely go back!

Comment by Becks, England

March 2008

Pretty awful!
Stayed here as part of a package deal and wasn't impressed! There are not enough reception staff to deal with everybody for a start. Then you have to rent linen which didn't look particularly clean. On getting up to the dorm, there was a nice fat bedbug sitting on the mattress -- nice! So after requesting a change of dorm, new mattress looked a little better although noticed a cockroach scuttle behind another bed -- the wildlife that you don't want to see! Dorms not clean. There is a bathroom attached to the dorms with plentiful hot water which was ok. The bar and restaurant area was good with live music and a nightclub that was good to catch up with your crew after a Whitsundays trip. However, if you want to store your luggage at Magnums before going on your Whitsundays trip, it will cost you $5 for the privilege and they only open the luggage store at certain times which is very restrictive and annoying. Didn't test the kitchen -- the dorms put me off so much I wasn't even going to risk it! When you check out, they don't want your bottom sheet which is really dodgy -- how often do they get washed?

Comment by Claire, British

December 2007

Poor
Don't stay here unless you like rude staff and dingy dorms. There is a Breakfast room, not a kitchen, and they close the kitchen at 9 a.m. in the morning for cleaning. the staff are always too busy checking in new people and selling tours to bother about anyone who's already staying. Beware, they will only get your bags from storage when they want to, it's meant to be every hour but they never stick to it I wasted a lot of time waiting around! The best thing about the hostel is the gardens it's set in, very lush full of ponds and tropical plants.

Comment by Lou, france

November 2007

Don't go!
Staff really rude, and worse, this hostel is full of bedbugs. they ate me!

Comment by TuesdayGirl, UK

April 2007

The staff at this hostel are so rude! They're too busy to pay any attention to you at reception or help anybody out and they are always late opening luggage room. Rooms may be cheap but there are lots of extras to pay for, linen, crockery, luggage storage. I wouldn't recommend staying here, there are other hostels practically next door which are better.

Comment by Howlin' Mad

March 2007

We stayed here for one night in December 2004 and all was fine. The two of us shared a tiny room with a bunk bed, but it was clean and we had some amenities to use (kettle, sink). Washroom and toilet facilities were shared with the whole block but that didn't prove to be a problem. The place has a nice, tropical feel to it and had a decent atmosphere thanks to the design of the village complex, open bar, and adjoining nightclub. Location slap bang in the middle of Airlie Beach was also a bonus, but the town is so small that it's practically impossible not to have a good setting. Sailing out to the Whitsunday Islands and visiting Whitehaven Beach are the obvious attractions, as is the manmade lagoon where it is safe to swim away from the jellyfish. Staff could have been friendlier and trying to charge us for showers once we had returned from the islands was Scrooge-like to say the least (we had already checked out but our bags were still in storage). Apart from that, all was fine but I can see why it is not to everyone's taste.

Comment by Carrie

December 2006

Looks ok on the outside but rodent droppings on supposedly clean sheets not fun -- avoid!

Comment by Disgusted

October 2006

If you want to know what hell looks like then spend a night in this cesspool of filthy surroundings and filthy people. I'm serious, it's that bad. I can't believe that people would stay at this place for any longer than one minute, the fact that people do amazes me even more but I guess it's true that there's a stupid trashbag born every minute and they all stay at Magnums! Gross, disinfect yourself if you pass within a five-kilometre radius of this swamp.

Comment by Gidon

August 2006

Not as bad as others have made out, but certainly nothing special. Everything comes as an extra (baggage storage) while you are on the cruise. The name says it all, its a huge place packed full of people and not very friendly. Great location though!

Comment by CARL (England)

February 2006

I stayed for one night and i was not overly impressed. The hostel is basically spread out over a wide area sort of like a holiday village. sadly the class of people it attracted did not impress me either. Large groups of scummy British backpackers who just wanna get laid and pissed every night. i had some toiletries stolen whilst i was there. If you are a quiet single traveller this is not the place for you. However if you are in a large group and want to party, it is quite well priced.

Comment by Ulli

January 2006

I stayed there for two nights in December 2005 and at first it reminded me as a sort of holiday club. It's very big and very busy. Our room was a quiet one, the toilets and bathrooms were clean. BUT: In our room was a very strange smell and we tried to get some fresh air in (didn't work very well). Afterwards I knew, what I have smelled: Bedbugs! Our bed was a bedbugcastle and they ate me for dinner. I had itches for one and a half week and it was absolutely terrible. I couldn't sleep, because I was itching all the time. I never experienced bedbugs before and so it took a while to recognize what tortured me. A few days later we stayed in another hostel and the guests there told me they also stayed at "Magnums" and they and most of the other people they know who stayed there were bitten. The surroundings there are nice, especially after very quiet days in Westaustralia, but it's not worth it. I definitely cannot recommend this hostel.

Comment by unhappy camper

January 2006

Would you like to arrive in Airlie beach after a long trip to stay in a room that smells like cum? Has dirty sheets on the bed? Dirty dishes piled on the counter? Insect infestations? Dead bugs in the bathroom sinks? Drunk people screaming outside your door all night long? Paper thin walls so that you can hear EVERYTHING going on next door? Trash all over teh floor? If so this is the place for you. I would not stay here again if THEY paid ME.

More Comments...

Have you visited this hostel? Post your comments here.

« Prev

6 of 12

Hostels in Airlie Beach

Next »

Hostelz.com is the only hostel guide with complete information and reviews on all youth hostels and backpackers worldwide.

Reviewers Wanted: Hostelz.com pays travellers US$10.00 (that's roughly 6€, AU$10, or CAD$10) per hostel to photograph and review hostels. If you're interested, use this form to get more information.