The Hostelz.com Review
The best thing about Cannon Street is its location: directly across the street from Adelaide's Central Bus Station, and a short walk to supermarkets and central Adelaide. But the building has obviously been converted from an old warehouse and has the resident creaks, squeaks and creepy crawlies that go with that. If you want to be woken up at six in the morning by two other backpackers shrieking and spraying bug spray all over their beds, Cannon Street is the place for you!
There's free continental breakfast, cheap Internet, a pool table and a ping pong table and a cozy enough TV room, plus a big cavernous area with tables and chairs to just hang out in. The place is quite large and you may find that the kitchen and bathroom are quite a walk from your room. Kitchen is small but adequate. The bathrooms have none of the extras that make staying at a hostel easier (no vesitbules for the shower, so you may be wandering around in there naked). The worst part about the hostel is the rooms themselves: the best one can say about them is that they're fairly large, but atmospherically they're lacking; there's no lockers or any other way of securing your belongings, and a lot of the doors don't lock automatically, so that may be a concern for those who are security conscience. The ladders to the upper bunks are hard to climb, and the mattresses are too thin to shield your body from being prodded by the wooden slats underneath. If you're in Adelaide in winter, blankets are an extra $1.00 per stay.
The hostel does have a large travel agency out front to help you with your plans for moving onwards or around Adelaide, and they've got a house bar where you can get meal discounts and free pie; it's fairly social, so if you like bar specials and can put up with the odd bug and the sound of rain pounding hard on the tin roof in the common area, this may be the hostel for you.
There's free continental breakfast, cheap Internet, a pool table and a ping pong table and a cozy enough TV room, plus a big cavernous area with tables and chairs to just hang out in. The place is quite large and you may find that the kitchen and bathroom are quite a walk from your room. Kitchen is small but adequate. The bathrooms have none of the extras that make staying at a hostel easier (no vesitbules for the shower, so you may be wandering around in there naked). The worst part about the hostel is the rooms themselves: the best one can say about them is that they're fairly large, but atmospherically they're lacking; there's no lockers or any other way of securing your belongings, and a lot of the doors don't lock automatically, so that may be a concern for those who are security conscience. The ladders to the upper bunks are hard to climb, and the mattresses are too thin to shield your body from being prodded by the wooden slats underneath. If you're in Adelaide in winter, blankets are an extra $1.00 per stay.
The hostel does have a large travel agency out front to help you with your plans for moving onwards or around Adelaide, and they've got a house bar where you can get meal discounts and free pie; it's fairly social, so if you like bar specials and can put up with the odd bug and the sound of rain pounding hard on the tin roof in the common area, this may be the hostel for you.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
November 2005
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Cannon Street Backpackers Reviews from the WebHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Sleeping in a warehouse The good things about this hostel is the location, good breakfast, and apple pies. The bad things is everything else. It's not really bad but it's just that it's not good enough for enjoying the stay there. The rooms are very boring and lacks everything, not even a trash bin. The kitchen is ok but too few chairs. If you are late for breakfast you have to eat standing with the plate in your hand. The rest of the hostel has a warehouse feeling and lacks everything. There is no where to sit down and make parties or talk, just empty space. There is a ping pong and pool table in the entrance hall but it's in too bad condition to be fun. The bar is also ok but totally lacks feeling, just a bar and some chairs. The bathroom is ok but showers is not always working and the cranes are leaking all the time. A bit dirty toilets also and sometimes lacks toilet paper. The doors are very thin and you can hear every sound from the corridor outside. Also it's a lot of Asian and French people with very poor English which can make it hard to communicate with others sometimes. The security is zero and it's the first hostel in six months where I got things stolen. Leaving a coffee maker in the kitchen for just one day, stolen! Also I got some bites from animals in the room. The staff says it's mosquitoes but for me it looks more like bedbugs. Fairly good price and location but as a hostel it's not so good. Stay maximum one or two nights. — Fredrik , Sweden (2009-11-14) False Advertising! I'm not usually inclined to criticize backpackers because I know to generally keep my expectations low, but Cannon Street really angered and frustrated me. My main problem with the place is a load of false advertising. Don't expect to receive what they advertise, as their statements are either grossly exaggerated or downright false. Firstly, unlike what their website promised, we were not reimbursed our taxi fare when we caught a taxi direct from the airport to Cannon Street. Aside from the very sweet and informative travel agent and the receptionist who served us during checkout, the reception was abrupt and rude particularly at check-in. I stayed in a twin room with my boyfriend over the week surrounding Big Day Out. The room resembled a prison-cell but was simple as expected, with a bed and a small bar fridge. However the bed was very hard, uncomfortable, and really creaky. We couldn't sleep a full night during the whole time we were there because there were mosquitoes in our room. Actually, since returning home I've noticed some other odd, scabby bite marks on my arms and legs that aren't mosquito bites. In the alley directly outside our room window, a garbage truck would start up about 4:30 a.m. every morning and warm up its engine for about twenty minutes. It was like a lawn-mower next to my head and we couldn't even shut the bedroom window properly to cut some tiny amount of the noise out. Their website advertises an amazing two kitchens! They were clean on the surface but the cutlery was filthy, there was a shortage of cutlery and bowls and no bottle-openers (keep that in mind if you buy a six-pack). The showers were tiny, filthy, and the drains were blocked with hair. There was no where to put your dry clothes and towel, and there weren't even hooks nearby to hang up anything (unless you don't mind running naked to the other side of the bathroom). There were mosquitoes in the bathroom, too. The description on this website says there's a spa! Believe me, there is no spa or Jacuzzi here! The free breakfast consisted of a few loaves of bread, jam, and margarine. I did not find the "Free Good Coffee" they advertised. Nor did I see the pancakes mentioned on this website, and there was one bowl of fruit that usually disappeared by 7:30 a.m. At dinner their food was disgusting and they charged $2.40 more for the lasagna than was printed on their menu and blackboard without notice. The pool table in the games room was in working order and so was the ping-pong table though it could have done with some new bats and balls. The pool table in Bar 108 seemed to be permanently broken, and we weren't allowed to take our beers out to use the working pool table in the games room. Despite their advertising the bar was not open every night and when asked about it they said it's closed every Tuesday because it's the cooks' night off. Since when does cook equal bartender? The bar was not "Open Til Late" like advertised, usually closing at about 9 p.m. even though one night there were still six of us having drinks. The night after Big Day Out the bartender called last drinks at 9:30 p.m. just as we were walking in even though there were still about ten people in there. As a result later the "Quiet Area" was full of drunk guys and girls drinking and yelling all night when they could've been at the bar if they were actually open for once! To conclude this epic whine, one night we were walking around drunk and pretty lost through a derelict back alley where there were broken windows caked with filth and one window that looked like it had a bullet hole through it. We laughed and joked about the homeless people that probably squat in that warehouse-looking joint until we got to the end of the alley and were shocked to find that it was the side wall of the Cannon Street. backpacker! I would not recommend anyone here. — Anonymous , Australia (2008-02-03) Not impressed I can't recommend this hostel. No lockers in rooms. No hooks or shelves in rooms. Bathroom is dirty. Shower is small and there is no room to place your dry clothes/shampoo/soap. Also there are no towels/hand dryers in the washrooms. On the bright side, you are close to the bus station (across the street) and close to attractions (what few there are in adelaide). — rick , canada (2007-09-30) It's just like a warehouse. They have no lift. You have to carry your luggage to your room where locate on first floor. And the kitchen is very small, stuffy, and lack anything. Their computers always have problem or break down. Unfortunately, their price is the reason why I chose them. They're near central market and coach station. — Kailin (2007-02-11) We just visited Cannon Street Backpackers early September 2006 for six days. I would like to let backpackers know what to expect if they stay this month and hopefully it will only improve as we get closer to summer. Expect Special on Private Rooms durning Sept. $40 double this year anyway. Expect to be close to public transport however no pickup service from hostel. Expect Great Travel agent and pleasant staff.
Expect Clean room. Expect Clean bathrooms in morning until backpackers dirty them up. Expect good hot showers. Expect Toast and Coffee or Tea for breakfast but get there early as greedy backpackers take all the milk and bread that is supposed to be for breakfast (no one monitors kitchen) so best in best dressed. Expect network for computers to break down often and there is no one in evenings to fix them however they will give you your money back if you can't log on. Expect no apple pie and cream. Expect no food at restaurant as it was never open. Expect bar not to be open every night like they advertise -- it was open twice while we were there. Expect the answer to your questions why none of these things are available and you will be told there is not enough people wanting to use these facilities. Well, no one asked us. Now I don't have a problem with any of these things not being available as it was a cheap place to stay. However please don't advertise this stuff as a draw card for people to stay at the hostal if you can't deliver the goods. Be honest say these things are available sometimes. Then you will keep your customers expectation low and whatever they do get will be a bonus. Too bad. I would have liked to give this hostel a better rating especially due to their fantastic travel agent who helped us organise our sightseeing in adelaide. That was a perfect experience. — ginny (2006-09-12) We stayed at this hostel in Nov 05 for three to four weeks while my mate was working. Not a great city to find a temp office job as the local agencies were not interested. We had a great time here and made a great bunch of mates who were staying at the hostel long term. We heard that Adelaide wasn't the best place to visit but we loved it there and the night life/bars was great, esp PJ O'briens. The hostel staff were helpful and we loved our apple pie. There is also a bar downstairs and hot food for when you can't be bothered to cook. The TV room could do with a makeover and some new sofas! Great location, opposite the bus station and around the corner from chinatown and the markets. We booked some great tours in the travel shop within the hostel. No problems with security. Would stay here again. — Nicki (2006-07-09) Nice enough especailly good though cause you get free apple pie -- bit random but its all good! Didn't stay there too long as couldn't find much to do in Adelaide. — Lizzie (2006-06-09) The staff is very friendly and the hostel is pretty clean. The bar is ok and the noise does not keep you from sleeping on the first floor.
I stayed in a four bed dorm and the room had nothing what so ever than the bunks, no garbage bin, no shelfs, no mirror, no lockers...nothing.The bathroom has no privacy, unless you are under the shower. Dressing and undressing is in the middle of the room. There's a lot of empty space in the hostel where they could put chairs and tables, but there's nothing. There's about ten computers, but only three of them worked while I was there. The kitchen -- don't cook there. The tv room is just a joke. The Rough guide tells you that this is the best hostel in town so the other hostels must be holes in the ground. Don't stay there find somwhere else. The last night the aircon didn't work, so we all tried to sleep in a sauna. — Mette Denmark (2006-03-14) The hostel is absoloutly diabolical! i have only put 1 star because you dont have the option of puting zero! its filthy lots of bed bugs theres theifs and as for the owner Trevor he is a complete bawbag and a helmet who does not care. we have had our room broken into twice in 3 days and he could not care. Even the manager has left because of the state of the place. When i told them about the bedbugs I was told to put my stuff on the roof in bin bags!! (as if thats goin 2 help!) it is rubbish DO NOT COME HERE! — matt (U>K) (2005-12-22) Eeekkkk. Did someone say this place had been renovated? Oops? Very, very dirty, and rude staff. It basically looks like the place has been left to rot. The mattresses are moving on their own as they are so filthy and I have some nice little love bites on my legs from some affectionate bedbugs. — Kerry Brown (Portsmouth, UK) (2005-10-10) -Friendly staff
-Great bar, lots of great nights
-Free breakfast
-Apple pie
-All the things you need in the bathrooms were ok. They were renovating the bathrooms when I was there in April.
-I would stay there again. — Dave (2005-05-31) Two words: bed bugs!!! And the owner couldn't care less. Honestly, almost everyone was getting bitten. It has nice helpful staff otherwise and an absolutely heartwarming lady cleaning the hostel. And the bathrooms aren't her area. I guess that's the reason they are filthy some times. I can't rate the hostel high because I still have scars from the bedbug bites. I had a nice time otherwise. — tytot (2005-04-10) Terrible! The rooms are dirty and there are lots of people because it's a big hostel, but only four toilets for the men and another four for the girls, and their conditions were terrible! — Marcel, France (2005-02-10) Ah, Cannon Street. Cheap, cheerful, saggy beds and dodgy bathrooms. Cheap beer, apple pie and table tennis. I'm going to get a job tomorrow...honest. We were poor, but we were happy. Laurel the cleaner keeps all the stuff she nicks from you in a locked cupboard near the ladies room, but if you ask nicely she'll probably give it back. — Em (2004-09-11) Definitely the worst hostel I have ever stayed in. There were holes and graffitti on the walls, broken beds, and a dirty, mouldy bathroom. I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy! — Anonymous (2004-09-06)