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Please see Mildura for other available Mildura hostels and accommodations.
Please see Mildura for other available Mildura hostels and accommodations.
The Hostelz.com Review
Victoria's Borderline Backpackers is the name of this working hostel and borderline is what you get. Presumably named after the border between Victoria and New South Wales, which is just over the river Murray next door, this hostel has not only barely acceptable living conditions for the price you pay, the owner also seems to be suffering from a severe case of borderline personality disorder! The only thing great about this place is the people you may meet. As the prices of all hostels are equal in Mildura, you are far better off if you stay somewhere else where you don’t have to pay ridiculous administration fees, key deposits (the doors do not even lock), and transportation fees!
The Location
The hostel is one of the closest to town, located on the corner of Seventh Street and San Mateo Drive, on the banks of the river Murray. It is a fifteen-minute walk to the town center (with supermarkets, clothes shops, restaurants, bars, and cinema) and the bus station, and about twenty minutes to the library where you can use free internet (contrary to the website, this hostel does not have Wi-Fi). On arrival, the owner will pick you up in her old school bus, which she also uses to take you to and from work if you do not have your own transport. There is a butcher across the road and a service station two minutes away, which sells some amazing pizza.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The hostel is comprised of two single story houses, which the inhabitants call the posh house and the ghetto (no matter where you sleep, you pay the same rent). The posh house has three bedrooms (a two-, a four-, and a six-bed dorm) and a bathroom with bath/shower and toilet. The ghetto has four bedrooms (two six-bed dorms and a two- and four-bed dorm), and a dirty shower/toilet that leaks water that has nowhere to go, so one part of the bathroom floor is always soaking wet. There are two toilets and one shower outside in a separate building, but the doors do not lock and the lights in the toilets are blue and not nearly strong enough to see anything in the dark! Your linen is supposed to be changed weekly, but this only happens if you specifically ask for it.
Common Spaces
The posh house has a living room with couches, new working heater and television with DVD player, which is meant to be used by people from both houses. There is a nice looking, cleanish kitchen with stove, oven, big fridge, and lots of cupboards. The ghetto has a disgusting-looking kitchen (with only three working pits working in the stove, a tap that gives cloudy suspicious looking water, and two very dirty fridges) and no common area inside the house (the living room is turned into a six-bed dorm).
The only seating area in this house is outside, where it can be freezing cold in winter! The website mentions outside heaters, but forget about it. In the ghetto there aren’t even proper indoor heaters. There is one heater in one of the bedrooms and the owner insists that if everyone keeps their doors open the heat will circulate through the house. That is total nonsense, even with the heater on the highest setting; the one bedroom will be forty degrees whereas in the next bedroom you can see your breath at night and need about three blankets to keep warm. Even after several complaints, the owner refused to supply extra heaters, so in the end people just bought their own electrical heaters. The most ridiculous thing is that there were no bedroom doors "so that the air could circulate" -- in the end some guys in this hostel put some doors in themselves in order to have at least some privacy and less noise coming in!
The general condition in the ghetto is a lot worse that in the posh house, although both have a chronic lack of kitchen utensils, proper mattresses that do not destroy your back, toilet paper and dishwashing liquid. There are about two frying pans (without handles), a pot, three plates, a fork and two mugs in every house (for a total of thirty people if the houses are full)! There is a cleaner who is supposed work every other day or so, but all she ever does is sweep the floor. There is no herb garden, but yes there is a barbecue. There is no lock on the backdoor in the ghetto, and there are no lockers. The owner will tell you that if you need anything at all, just to tell her and she will supply it, but even for small things as a can opener you have to pester her week after week.
Summary
In summary, there is only one conclusion -- do not stay here unless you want the owner to come into your bedroom at 5:30 in the morning to shout at people that owe her rent, to talk with her and agree about something (like when you pay rent) one day and then be shouted at and evicted the next day, if you want to pay twice the transportation fee that other hostels charge, if you do not care about receiving pay slips to get your tax back at the end of the year, if you do not care about receiving all your wages, if you do not care about hygiene and rats in the kitchen, and if you do not care about being generally ripped off. Well, at least the kittens that walk around the hostel are cute.
The Location
The hostel is one of the closest to town, located on the corner of Seventh Street and San Mateo Drive, on the banks of the river Murray. It is a fifteen-minute walk to the town center (with supermarkets, clothes shops, restaurants, bars, and cinema) and the bus station, and about twenty minutes to the library where you can use free internet (contrary to the website, this hostel does not have Wi-Fi). On arrival, the owner will pick you up in her old school bus, which she also uses to take you to and from work if you do not have your own transport. There is a butcher across the road and a service station two minutes away, which sells some amazing pizza.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The hostel is comprised of two single story houses, which the inhabitants call the posh house and the ghetto (no matter where you sleep, you pay the same rent). The posh house has three bedrooms (a two-, a four-, and a six-bed dorm) and a bathroom with bath/shower and toilet. The ghetto has four bedrooms (two six-bed dorms and a two- and four-bed dorm), and a dirty shower/toilet that leaks water that has nowhere to go, so one part of the bathroom floor is always soaking wet. There are two toilets and one shower outside in a separate building, but the doors do not lock and the lights in the toilets are blue and not nearly strong enough to see anything in the dark! Your linen is supposed to be changed weekly, but this only happens if you specifically ask for it.
Common Spaces
The posh house has a living room with couches, new working heater and television with DVD player, which is meant to be used by people from both houses. There is a nice looking, cleanish kitchen with stove, oven, big fridge, and lots of cupboards. The ghetto has a disgusting-looking kitchen (with only three working pits working in the stove, a tap that gives cloudy suspicious looking water, and two very dirty fridges) and no common area inside the house (the living room is turned into a six-bed dorm).
The only seating area in this house is outside, where it can be freezing cold in winter! The website mentions outside heaters, but forget about it. In the ghetto there aren’t even proper indoor heaters. There is one heater in one of the bedrooms and the owner insists that if everyone keeps their doors open the heat will circulate through the house. That is total nonsense, even with the heater on the highest setting; the one bedroom will be forty degrees whereas in the next bedroom you can see your breath at night and need about three blankets to keep warm. Even after several complaints, the owner refused to supply extra heaters, so in the end people just bought their own electrical heaters. The most ridiculous thing is that there were no bedroom doors "so that the air could circulate" -- in the end some guys in this hostel put some doors in themselves in order to have at least some privacy and less noise coming in!
The general condition in the ghetto is a lot worse that in the posh house, although both have a chronic lack of kitchen utensils, proper mattresses that do not destroy your back, toilet paper and dishwashing liquid. There are about two frying pans (without handles), a pot, three plates, a fork and two mugs in every house (for a total of thirty people if the houses are full)! There is a cleaner who is supposed work every other day or so, but all she ever does is sweep the floor. There is no herb garden, but yes there is a barbecue. There is no lock on the backdoor in the ghetto, and there are no lockers. The owner will tell you that if you need anything at all, just to tell her and she will supply it, but even for small things as a can opener you have to pester her week after week.
Summary
In summary, there is only one conclusion -- do not stay here unless you want the owner to come into your bedroom at 5:30 in the morning to shout at people that owe her rent, to talk with her and agree about something (like when you pay rent) one day and then be shouted at and evicted the next day, if you want to pay twice the transportation fee that other hostels charge, if you do not care about receiving pay slips to get your tax back at the end of the year, if you do not care about receiving all your wages, if you do not care about hygiene and rats in the kitchen, and if you do not care about being generally ripped off. Well, at least the kittens that walk around the hostel are cute.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
September 2011
Their Description
Victoria's Borderline Backpackers Details
(To add or correct information for this listing, please use the Listing Update Form.)
Map
Location/Contact| Address | 78-80 Seventh Street, Mildura, Victoria, Australia |
| Website | None (if you know the URL of their website, tell us and we'll add it) |
| Telephone | mobile +61 (4) 2918-1090 landline +61 (3) 5023-0671 |
| Fax | +61 (3) 5023-0671 |
How is Victoria's Borderline Backpackers rated on other websites?
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Hostelz.com Guest Reviews
Vicky's hostel is the worst hostel EVER Hi everyone, I was in this hostel in 2005 for a few months actually cos I was so lucky to get a job at MFC. But I have to agree to all those horrible things that have been told here. It is true! Vicky is a real money sucking bxxch! She talks crap all the time, makes promises but actually she doesnt give a crap about you. She tricks you with promises of good work and a lot of money, but actually there are not many jobs. The hostels themselves are really disgustingly dirty and infested. It is repulsive. I don't know how I could stay there for so long. But if I think of how much rent was I didn't really have the choice to leave, when I finally started working at the factory. Vicky is really a bad person and Russel isn't much of a smart guy, just does what Vicky tells him. And yeah, first thing she does when she picks u up is take the rent money and your passports, so you rely on her and can't escape from her evilness. Believe me guys, go anywhere in any hostel, you can't get it worse than at the Victoria's Borderline backpackers. please tell everyone and avoid them. And if you should somehow land at Vicky's, as soon as u think something is wrong, please go and tell the police, as others did. — Channi , Germany (2012-03-01) Crazy place -- DO NOT STAY HERE Vickey comes into your room around 5 - 5.30 in the morning, turns on lights, checks up on you. She screams at people that are behind on rent and wakes everybody up including people that worked night shifts. She wanted copies of all our passports, told us that the reason they did this was for a new person that would be coming round to collect the rent because she didnt have time anymore, never saw this person. Told another person that it was to warn people if someone got HIV and you know how backpackers sleep around WTF! There are no locks on the doors and no lockers. There are definitely too little kitchen supplies (about 3 plates one mug two forks and no knives, one frying pan without a handle) and it is COLD. But I do love the people that stayed at the hostel when I was there, all optimistic, friendly, supportive good friends now! — N&J , United Kingdom (2012-02-26) Everything has been said but ... Well i stayed there earlier this year from mid may until the end of june i think. If anyone should go there, once your working in Factory your grand. I wasnt that fortunate but thats life like Vicky likes to say. We were thinking of reporting the place to local win media channel but i guess no one wanted to risk that but a good thing is that there is a "black book" somewhere hidden in the backpackers that includes writings of former occupants where there telling their sad stories. The deal was once the book is full, one copy goes to local media and the other copy to Vicky, once this happens its sure the place is going down with Vicky and Russel included, and when i left that place the book was almost full. so no worries. Russel once said that they dont care about backpackers cuz they always have new "victims" coming. I mean this kind of bullsh*t has to end. Everything that has been said is true and think twice before staying there. — Mihkel , Estonia (2011-09-08) Great to see nothings changed. I stayed here for 6 months back in 2004 and while i did get good solid work, i was appalled at the crap Vicky would tell newcomers from other states the great jobs they would walk into upon arriving in mildura. Once there was 8 people in my house section that were out of work and one night i rang Vicky and put on an accent asking for work. I was told if i hurried i would get work paying around 700 a week but get to mildura very quickly.I even told her i was in sydney at the time. She has no class or morals and i cant believe she is still in business. Mildura was a really good place to stay though but i think the jobs are dwindling as the years pass by. — Rexy , Australian (2011-06-01) You couldn't make it up! I stayed in vicky's in 08, she collected us at the bus station at around 2am she drove us straight to the bank machine to take out rent. over to the house on 7th st. she didn't bother getting out of the bus told us to go ahead " Their are loads of beds" Not so! overcrowded would be an understatement. After a few bad days she moved us to 15th st, i think i would have seen less insects if i had slept outside. while this is all going on vicky is still talking crap about work. The police called one day to see somebody once inside demanded vicky came around to explain how she could rent such a house, and told her everyone has to be moved. she obliged by moving everyone to an old folks home! That was it for me. But fortunately i had the money to move on, some run out of money paying vicky rent and not working and she has their passports. A heads up stay away from victoria backpackers hostel. — Fergus , Irish (2011-05-30) BEWARE I haven't been to this place but i was talking to a hostel owner who said stay aware. Vicky use to ring her and say she needed 20 people -- the hostel owner once did this and when the backpackers come back they were angry with her for sending them there because its so awful and you often don't get paid. Vicky is no longer allowed to contact this hostel but she still goes through other hostels and all the comments that i have read fit with what people have told me about her, Stay away. — Louise , England (2011-05-10) Avoid. Scam for sure. Vicky told us that there was work driving the tractor on the vinyards. We take the 12 hour bus and train to Mildura to have her pick us up, take our passports, and then drop us off to sleep on a couch. One bathroom for 12+ people. I ended up showering outside with the hose after work because the queue was so long. Consistent bedbug and redback (venomous) spider infestation. The ONLY positive thing about this hellhole was the great company we endured this with. In the USA this place would be quickly shut down and Vicki would be arrested for labor and health code violations. — Jim , USA (2011-04-18) Hell in Mildura Everything is true about this hostel! Vickey is a money sucking b*tch. We first arrived in Mildura and asked her by phone to pick us up, After she picked us up she was extremely rude and started immediately asking for money for the accommodation which we already payed for. After refusing to pay the money, she told us to get out of her car and so we stood there at 1am on the street. After the entire night wondering around the streets a police officer helped us and said vickey has been charged with criminal records before including theft , holding back passports and stuff! And he told us she lies all the time about the work. The police officer was so kind to show us the good hostels! And he showed us where vickey lived and her hostel. It was a dump. Best advise we can give you is to never go to this place and go the police if something happens like this. — Terrible ! Worst hostel ever ! , Belgium (2011-01-16) Run away while you can Wish I found this website BEFORE I got there. — Anonymous (2010-10-26) Disgraceful hostel run by an even more disgraceful human being The borderline backpackers run by vicky ayres is nothing short of atrocious. The con begins with a promise of GREAT PAY 5-6 days a week 8-10 hours a day for 8-10 weeks. When in reality the vast majority of people are lucky to get work more than a few days a week. I know people that are still waiting to get work and they have been there for 2 or 3 weeks! During my stay there was no work for anyone for a week and half. Yet on the NATIONAL HARVEST JOBSEARCH, GUMTREE and a few other sites vicki had placed ads everywhere under the name JOBSNBEDS claiming 15 people needed to start work asap. How she is able to get away with it no one knows. Certainly her pockets must be well lined as a steady flow of fellow backpackers always seem to arrive under her scam. The hostels or houses to put it better are more often than not in a shocking state. I hadn't seen 1 cleaner my time there. The atmosphere is non-existent. Its cold ,damp, mouldy in places and 1 bathroom for up to 15 people in one house, gimme a break, if that wont scare you away then the bedbugs will. one poor girl had bite marks everywhere. Vicki seems to charge people different rates such as travel to work, bizarre admin fees when clearly she does nothing to justify a fee charged and key deposits. Some people were charged 10 dollars in fuel money while others 8 or 6 dollars and that was to the same farm! Most newcomers are driven to a hostel and bluntly told to make yourself at home and thrown a duvet that is clearly not washed properly (she cant even be bothered to get out of the van). She has a flippant and arrogant attitude and seems strangely defensive when someone questions her on minor issues such as "when will i receive my pay" for the work i have done today." I talked to a few locals and they said Vicki and the way she runs her hostel have received very bad media exposure the last few years for her ripoff antics. Yet she is still able to carry on fooling us backpackers and people alike. The farmers who support this woman and get their labour off her are clearly NOT worth working for neither are the employment services that promote her name. SO DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR, save time and money and look elsewhere before even considering staying here. From my experience Mildura on a whole should be bypassed as far as farm work is concerned. There are better places to work on a continual basis and stay in clean, welcoming accommodation than this dump on the outskirts of Mildura. — dave (2010-07-23) Lies Lies Lies Vicky told nothing but absolute and total lies from the second I met her -- in fact come to think of it she bullshitted on the phone a few days before too! She charged $20 admin fee for completing a form (which takes anyone about 10 seconds) she said it was in case the tax number was filled in incorrectly. The jobs she organised were horseshit and rarely what they were supposed to be. She even suggested we have a party on the Friday night but wanted us to buy the meat from her ''contact'' and a stripper who was actually her niece. I loved Australia and only had two bad experiences with regards backpackers and they were this sh*t hole and one other place where the guy was a pure rip off merchant -- he withheld $1000 from our group as there was sand on the engine (we were on a beach for f***s sake). Anyway, yeah. Mildura, Vicky, Borderline Backpackers -- SHITE. — chris , English (2010-06-17) RUN AWAY! RUN AS FAR AWAY AS YOU CAN! I am currently still at the house, and will be gone in 2 days time. After reading over all of these comments you gotta wonder how can one place be so bad? But its pretty much true. I have been here 2 weeks, came up after vicky called me saying she had work for friday, and sure enough it was TRUE. I know most were surprised, my job was suppose to last 2 days, lasted a week. Good pay, BUT when it came to my next job that was suppose to last 3 months -- day after day, no answer and still waiting. So I'm leaving. The Day she picked me up from the bus, she didnt even take me into the place, dropped me at the front door and said that was all. didnt show me to a room, so I have to guess at where I was sleeping and everything. The place was a mess, still is, we try to clean it, but its VICKY'S JOB. she doesnt do sh*t in the house! Oh be careful! if you do come, make sure when/if you get work, make sure the farmer pays YOU. Vicky is known to keep a portion of your pay. SHE IS STEALING! BUT the people I met here were amazing! I just hope others find this site, so they know what they are coming to. but the times I had at the house were great with my friends. I hope to meet with them again one day. but NOT at vicky's, unless its being torn down. Bottom line, DONT COME HERE! RUN AWAY! VICKY LIES! — Canadian Punk Pip , Canada (2010-04-27) Two days of Hell Do your research and read this blog before even considering going to Boarderline cause Boarderline it is. You will be ripped off, spoken to like S***, and be expected to work for below the minimum wage, such a good con and the website should be had up for trade description, how they constantly get away with it is beyond all comprehension. Dirty filthy accommodation and pure slave labour, yep you guessed it, NOT IMPRESSED, thing is I have had the most fantastic time traveling australia but needed the bucks. Have more self respect than to put up with being treated like idiots. Off to find some decent work and not in Mildura. — Dave Pinhead - Warning, don't do it , UK (2010-03-14) Vickey is a rip-off merchant DONT STAY HERE. I ended up at Vickey's Borderline Backpackers after seeing her website which seemed impressive. Advertising Excellent pay. I was in Melbourne and Broke after a Heavy Christmas on the booze and called Vickey just before new year. Mainly checking the job situation in the area. She said If I got to Mildura asap I could start work. She was cagey about the details especially where pay was concerned. Because I intended on cycling to where I wanted to get to in Australia getting there ASAP meant flying. At a cost to me of $200 (I had quite a bit of excess baggage). Vickey as stated on her website picked me up from the Airport and took me to the 'Hostel.' On arrival i was told the first week would be $215 ($135 rent, $50 key/linen deposit, $30 Admin 'Bullsh*t' Charge). The only work she gave me was a job weeding rows of crops at $20 a row. There was so many weeds and only a small pair of snips and no trowel for tools one row took over 3 hours. After over 6 hours I'd had enough. Total $40 for the day. I got $35 after 'tax' if it was actually official. The Backpackers itself is dirty. In the week I was there no one came to clean the place and by looking at the place no one had cleaned in years. Vickey never came into the house to show anyone around. I arrived and the place as empty. she just wanted some $$$ in her pocket. When I left the place was over crowded with 12 of us in the house. couples sharing single bunks and one poor girl in the 2 bed room in the shed building attached to the main house. I have to mention I did get my $50 deposit back but even as a key deposit this is excessive. I hated this place so much I looked forward to camping with no facilities. — Nick , United Kingdom (2010-01-05) Worst hostel ever seeen, but some tips on how to make it. The hostel is absolute crap, and so is Vicky. I survived in Mildura for about 4 months, and learned some valuable things. First, definitely try to get into the hostel IF VICKY GETS YOU WORK IN THE FACTORY. That's your in. The packing factory is hard work, long hours, but fantastic pay if you're looking to save money! No lie, about $700-$800/week pay. Once you've started working at the factory, GET OUT OF THE HOSTEL. I was super fortunate and ended up living with a local who actually worked at the factory; talk to some of the women there, see what you can find out. I lived in a normal house with 2 others and my own room for $80/week, including everything. No matter what she says, YOU CANNOT LOSE YOUR FACTORY JOB BY MOVING OUT. Even if you can't find a local to live with, go to another hostel. It's worth it. That's how I did it for 4 months. The picking work is unreliable and inconsistent, but packing is your best option. — Amber , Canada (2009-12-29)