The Hostelz.com Review
Melbourne International Backpackers (MIB) is situated on the corner of Elizabeth and Franklin Streets, at the top end of the CBD, a fifteen minute walk from the Flinders and Spencer Street Stations. MIB's location provides good access to the city's major attractions and tram network.
The hostel itself has three floors of accomodations and a ground floor consisting of reception, backpackers travel agency, bottle shop and the hostel bar 'Fluid Oz'. There is a large, clean kitchen with good food storage space in the form of a large walk-in refridgerator. However, despite the size of the kitchen there is a distinct shortage of pots and pans with which to cook and a woefully misproportioned dining and TV area. This hostel applies a policy of renting out crockery and cutlery for a refundable fee. An internal smoking room is situated next to the kitchen with comfortable seating, however, it is the only social area to close at 11pm every night.
The rooms are a reasonable size and not overcrowded; they are however very dark due to the very small windows on outside rooms and internal facing windows in the inner rooms-- these face into the smoking area though which gives the rooms an unpleasant stale cigarette smoke smell. The rooms also become unbearably hot during warm weather because of a lack of air conditioning and the fact the windows barely open. There is very slight relief in the form of a small wall mounted fan, but there is still the temptation to remove yourself and your bed into the walk-in fridge. A free breakfast is provided every morning, with all the basics - bread for toast (there is a limit of two slices each though), cereal, tea and coffee.
The bathrooms are kept reasonably clean, but are shut for cleaning for several hours every morning. MIB has good security, with a systems of keycard locks to the main hostels areas and bedrooms. There are also sturdy lockers within the bedrooms for personal effects and valuables.
The atmosphere inside the hostel is very bland, with no real sense of community and as such it is quite hard to meet other travellers. The bar downstairs is more of a place to socialise with its large screen tv and video jukebox but then you don't need to stay at the hostel itself to use the bar.
The hostel itself has three floors of accomodations and a ground floor consisting of reception, backpackers travel agency, bottle shop and the hostel bar 'Fluid Oz'. There is a large, clean kitchen with good food storage space in the form of a large walk-in refridgerator. However, despite the size of the kitchen there is a distinct shortage of pots and pans with which to cook and a woefully misproportioned dining and TV area. This hostel applies a policy of renting out crockery and cutlery for a refundable fee. An internal smoking room is situated next to the kitchen with comfortable seating, however, it is the only social area to close at 11pm every night.
The rooms are a reasonable size and not overcrowded; they are however very dark due to the very small windows on outside rooms and internal facing windows in the inner rooms-- these face into the smoking area though which gives the rooms an unpleasant stale cigarette smoke smell. The rooms also become unbearably hot during warm weather because of a lack of air conditioning and the fact the windows barely open. There is very slight relief in the form of a small wall mounted fan, but there is still the temptation to remove yourself and your bed into the walk-in fridge. A free breakfast is provided every morning, with all the basics - bread for toast (there is a limit of two slices each though), cereal, tea and coffee.
The bathrooms are kept reasonably clean, but are shut for cleaning for several hours every morning. MIB has good security, with a systems of keycard locks to the main hostels areas and bedrooms. There are also sturdy lockers within the bedrooms for personal effects and valuables.
The atmosphere inside the hostel is very bland, with no real sense of community and as such it is quite hard to meet other travellers. The bar downstairs is more of a place to socialise with its large screen tv and video jukebox but then you don't need to stay at the hostel itself to use the bar.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
April 2006
Their Description
Melbourne International Backpackers Details
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Hostelz.com Guest Reviews
Fairly Average, Very Noisy! I stayed here for just one night in November 08. The place was clean, although it is undergoing renovation so some parts are really dated and others are like a building site. I was in a 6 bed dorm and nobody spoke to me the whole time! The room looked out onto the main road and as there was no air con, it was very noisy with street traffic. That was nothing compared to the noise from the kitchen/dining areas though -- people were screaming, shouting, and running around the corridors and it kept me awake until 4am -- not great when I had to be up at 6am. Fine for an overnight stay, but I wouldn't stay any longer. — Roz , UK (2008-12-02) Not bad -- but don't stay there in summer!!!!!!!!!!!!! My friends and I stayed there for about 3 days, then we decided to move somewhere else. Don't get me wrong, the place itself isn't bad, the problem is that they don't have air conditioning. They only have one or two fans per room and even though the rooms do have windows it is way too hot. We slept with the door open (because then it was a bit colder) which is a bit dangerous but we didn't have a choice. We also all slept naked and didn't even care that the guys could see us from their room. That's how hot it was!!!!!!!! I got 5 hours of sleep or so every night (it started to get a bit colder at about 3 am and before then it was impossible to fall asleep). So we moved. The other backpackers also didn't have air con (most backpackers in melbourne do not seem to have it) but the rooms had big windows and it was a lot more comfortable. So I guess you could stay at this backpackers in winter/autumn, maybe spring but avoid it in summer!!!!!!!!!!!! — Lily , Australia (2008-05-02) Great location -- not intimate but its a large hostel so you can't expect that. friendly and helpful staff. free breakfast is always a plus and they are improving a lot. this week we all got new fans in the room and today the mattresses were replaced and they are at least double the size in thickness now!! — Ellen (2007-01-11) Oh my god, what a sh*thole! The rooms are so smelly and the staff are like robots! The place is extremely impersonal and it is impossible to make new friends here. The hostel runs like a big machine, not considering that there are actually young, open minded backpacker staying there! Facilities are really good, but you will not enjoy your stay here, you've been warned!! — Francis (2007-01-09) Clean rooms. Lots of space for your food in the mega large walk-in fridge. Good kitchen, clean bathrooms. This place lacks a good atmosphere, but it all depends on the people you meet. The only thing I hated about the place was the smoking room. They build it right next to the rooms! So if you open up a window, all you get inside is smoke. Plain stupid architecture. — Robin (2006-02-13) I stayed here for a month in April 2002 and had a fantastic time. We met friends we ended up travelling with here, and the hostel was very clean. The bar was great and the staff were all brilliant. One of them even took us to an Irish bar towards the end of our stay there to see a U2 tribute band! I have great memories of MIB. — Audrey from Dublin Ireland (2005-10-31) Great room — table, chairs, bedside tables, and a wardrobe! The bar downstairs is brilliant, and has the best sofas in town! Kitchen is good. Staff were very helpful when my friend was really ill. The only downside is the showers. There are plenty of them but they are pants [bad]! — Emma (2005-08-21) The rooms looked nice but this was the first place on my travel that I came into contact with bedbugs. I got nearly 20 bedbug bites. The place was a complete dive. — Anonymous (2005-06-09) Fluid Oz (the bar under the hotel) is great! The bar staff — Jonesy, Mick, Esther and Ben — are forever putting up with Toto Africa! RECOMMENDED! (Sept 02-Mar 03) — Toadies (2004-12-30) This place is one of the cleanest hostels, with lots of room to move about. I enjoyed my time in the bar downstairs! There's a cute guy behind the bar, too. I think his name is Jonesie. He's worth a chat, too. — Anonymous (2004-09-05) Great location. We had a wonderful time, and met heaps of people. We really enjoyed our stay. Rooms are clean & tidy. The staff are friendly. — Susan & Hine (2004-06-29) I stayed here about two years ago and I had a wicked time! The bar was a good place to meet people, and I got on well with the staff! — Jo (2004-06-09) This place has big rooms with nice lockers. It has a big kitchen, but a bad common area. The smoking room had more furniture than the common area/TV room. The staff are all right, and the location is good. It's a bit too big, and it's hard to get to know people. The showers are clean, by the way! — Anonymous (2004-05-19) The rooms were clean with good size lockers and space to move. The kitchen was huge, and the hostel had a good system for hanging cutlery. The only downside was the noise from the bar downstairs could be heard from the rooms. That was not good when you needed to sleep! — Anonymous (2004-05-12) The barstaff are always tired, the security staff always grumpy, the only solace being the wide screen television and the juke box. Give me a break, we are paying for our stay in there, they're not doing us a favour. — Anonymous (2004-04-03)