Boardrider Backpacker

Awesome
This place was ace. Stayed in a few hostels over the six weeks i was in oz and this was by far my fave. The views are cool. The rates are good. Ok, the dorms can be a bit untidy, but for $23 a night was ace. The people there, backpackers and staff, were really friendly, real approachable. In total i stayed there when i arrived in oz, half way when picking up a camper, and for my last few days and each time was awesome. Recommended to anyone who's chilled out, likes a laugh, and wants to meet other backpackers.

i am currently staying at boardriders and will be for forseeable time to come and i truly have no problem with the place at all! yes ok there may be a couple of roaches around, but nothing major. and ok its a bit noisy but at the end of the day its a hostel and you are to expect that! i have stayed in many hostels all over the world and this is by far one of the best i have stayed! we all know what happens in hostels and for $25 per night you cant expect the world. A++++ from me -- best one in manly by far.

this place was awesome! i think everyone who comes here is thinking the same thing, location. and if you wanted wicked night life, good people, and surf then this is the right place to be. entertainment was great, the people who organise that stuff were real enthusiastic and helped me meet loads of new cool people. i have read a lot about cockroaches and i can't say i didn't see one or two but that was it! i don't think the people on the desk payed much attention to who was there so i had six beds to myself when i had been told it was fully booked. the mens' showers were pretty crap but they cleaned me enough to be satisfied. if you want a laugh, surf, shop, eat, walk, take pictures, and get drunk this is a cool place to be!

On the face of it it may seem ok as it has a more modern look but when you actually have a good look it is very bad. The place is full of cochroaches. I opened one kitchen cupboard which had bits of old food in it and there were several big roachesin there. As I shut the cupboard smaller baby roaches stated crawing from out of the higes and crackes and dropping on to the surface. The kitchen is plainly just not cleaned. The rooms are hot and smelly and some of the staff are rude and as often seems the case with a lot of hostls in OZ, as appose to NZ where they are friendly. The Council should close this place down.

This hostel is an embarrassment to Australia! I hope overseas tourists do not think this is how we are. We went to check in (a large group) and the pommy girl at the counter was busy typing a text message and ignored us for a couple of minutes. There were still people asleep in our beds, there was rubbish all over the floor in our rooms, and the large bin in the room was full. The lights didn't work, and the lights in the girls bathroom on our level didn't work, which meant all the girls in the hostel could only use one bathroom, with just two showers and two toilets. Cockroaches in the rooms but we didn't dare look at the kitchen. I know it is summer but the rooms were poorly ventilated so it felt like we were in a sauna. They could not provide us with linen when we checked in which was understandable as they were busy, but when we went to reception to get sheets later the staff member was drunk. The whole place smelt of stale beer and was very noisy all night. People running around, thumping, beer bottles everywhere. I have stayed in many hostels, not only in Australia, but I think we would've been better off in a tent on the beach.

Well this was by far the friendlest, most fun hostle we stayed at throughout all of australia. Boardriders had really changed in the three months that i was living there. The kitchen is cockroach free, and clean. New paint, tables, and chairs along with new entertainment made this the best place to meet new people. Its a hostel where anythings goes and people are just there for a fun time so enjoy!

This place had no air-con and smelt really bad, especially when sharing a six-bed dorm with four men (of the larger variety) on a really hot day. I was also unfortunate enough to wake up in the middle of the night and feel my bed shaking as a result of the guy above me shaking hands with the one-eyed monster. So girls watch out, I would recommend that you dont stay here!

This place is awful and should be shut down. I am absolutely serious. It is a total mess, it smells and it is literally infested with cockroaches in the kitchen and in the rooms. The kitchen is full of scary notices that say if you don't sign up for your locker, the locks will be cut off and your food removed, but there were many that were unlocked and full of dirty, stinking plates. The staff clearly never check. We told them we wanted to leave and get our money back and were told they knew about the roaches and "it's by the sea, this is Australia," which is total rubbish. The roaches are there because the place is so untidy and unclean. In the end, the manager gave us our money back without a fight. I think they realized that we weren't going to shut up or go away. She said that most people there came for three days and stayed for three months. We meant to stay for two days and stayed for two hours!!

We had been recommended to this hostel by a friend, and in terms of location it seemed ideal. We paid up for two nights, but got upstairs to find both the kitchen and our room infested with cockroaches! Also, the food storage areas and cupboards hadn't been cleaned in ages and all the moldy food was acting as a nest for cockroaches!! The receptionist's explanation for this was that "all places by the sea suffer from cockroach infestations!" Funny that, because I thought it was dirt that was the attraction, and other hostels in the area seemed to be free of infestation! The manager explained that people come intending to stay for three nights, then stay three months. Well, we intended to stay for two nights and stayed two hours!

If you don't mind paying a fortune to share your bed and the kitchen with cockroaches then this is paradise!! Please, just clean the kitchen and have your room ready when guests are checking in!! One other thing is that it's always nice to make the guests feel welcome! Don't think this is the place to be unless all that matters to you is location, location, location.

The staff are ok, but they're only available at 8am-8pm. The kitchen is large enough for backpackers, but as always it's a bit messy. The rooms have a little kitchen, bathroom, and fans. TV (no plasma!) in the common room with enough seats for everyone. Once in a while they have a BBQ for $2 per person. I don't know if this is the REAL AUSSIE BBQ, but if it is then it's not really worth it! This hostel is a bit overpriced, $28 for a night is one of the most expensive hostels in Manly. Maybe you have to pay for those cockroaches too!! Yes if you hate bugs then this one isn't for you. If you're lazy and don't want to walk a lot and want to surf, swim, party all day then this is your hostel.

The best we've ever stayed at... anywhere!