Civic Guest House Backpackers Hostel

Civic Guest House Backpackers Hostel is located in the centre of Townsville, North Queensland. Although this is a less traveler-oriented place than others on the East Coast, we found there to be plenty to see and do whilst spending three days in the city. The hostel itself is a hotel disguised as a hostel, with very high standards of upkeep in dorms and common areas and very friendly and helpful staff.

The Location

Civic Guest House is located in the middle of Townsville's busiest area, making it very well-situated in relation to the nearest shops, bars, and restaurants, which are largely a walkable ten-minutes away. The hostel is also situated just twenty-five minutes' walk from the ferry port (regular service to Magnetic Island) -- which doubles up as the bus station for those traveling by Greyhound -- and regular free shuttle services are available for those arriving here. This service does, however, seem to be limited to guests checking in to the hostel, with those leaving having to use Townsville's bus service to get back to the ferry/bus. Townsville's major tourist attraction -- Reef HQ, the worlds largest coral reef aquarium -- is located just fifteen minutes' walk from the hostel and is a must-see for those wanting to identify fish seen on trips to the Great Barrier Reef.

Rooms and Bathrooms

The bedrooms in the Civic Guest House are very well looked after -- very clean and bug-free (not always the case in North Queensland!) with clean bedsheets provided and air conditioning in each room. The dorm rooms are also very spacious, with plenty of space for guests to keep all of their belongings together without using up the floor space as is required in some dorms. The hostel also provides relatively cheap private rooms for those wanting to take advantage of the hotel-like atmosphere of the hostel; and for this clean towels and a private fridge is also provided.

The bathrooms are similarly well kept; they are cleaned every morning. Showers are powerful and hot water is readily available. Although the number of showers and toilets (two for each gender) seems to be small, we never had to wait around for showers.

Common Spaces

The only area that lets this hostel down is the common spaces available to guests. The hostel does not have any PCs of its own, but does offer free Wi-Fi for guests traveling with their own devices. This is limited to a sofa area located directly outside guest bedrooms.

The kitchen at Civic Guest House one of the best we have seen while traveling -- even providing guests with an oven as well as stove tops, allowing a move away from pasta/rice dishes that are the mainstay of hostel cooking! The kitchen is very small, though, so there is limited space and availability of cooking areas during busy times.

Connected to the kitchen is a television and games room -- however, this is once again very small and so only really accommodates guests on a first come, first served basis.

Summary

Overall, Civic Guest House is a very clean and friendly hostel and is highly recommended to anyone visiting the area of Townsville. It is like a hotel with dorms and is very useful for those wanting to stay the night before or after a trip to Magnetic Island.

— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
October 2011