Seaview Backpackers

Seaview Backpackers is located in Airlie Beach near the bus stop and at the end of the main street through the town. It is within easy walking distance of everything, including grocery stores, travel agencies, sailing operaters, drug stores, and nightlife. They do not offer a free shuttle to the hostel like other places in town do, but you won't need one since the hostel is so close. Follow the road up from the bus stop to the main street and it's right across the road. Looking out from the front of the hostel, you'll find all stores and points of interest to the left.

Seaview Backpackers is not the newest of hostels and has good and bad to offer, with the scale definitely tipped towards good. It looks like rooms were converted from motel rooms, and each dorm is self-contained with a bathroom, two rooms of bunks, a kitchen, dining/living room with couches, tables, TV, and chairs, and a porch with a nice view. The two bedrooms in each unit each have two sets of bunks, but at least in our room, they added another set in the living room for a total of ten beds. The extra bunk has the potential to be very uncomfortable if you're worried about being woken up by anyone coming in or going at night and early morning, or if you are worried about waking up those sleeping out there. With ten people when the beds are full, it could get a bit cramped.

But we were impressed by the nice living room and the views from the porch as well as the bright sunny feel. The kitchen was inadequately stocked with cooking utensils, making meal preparation difficult, so you might have to be a little creative. The bathroom door was difficult to close, too, and again, with only one for up to ten people, might be less than perfect. But otherwise our experience here was just fine -- not the best but certainly very far from the worst!

Because of the setup, you stand a good chance of getting to know a few other travellers at least and it is also a nice change from more typical hostels with one large communal kitchen and TV room for all the guests. Also please note that we're not sure if there might be other room types offered, as there appears to be no online information about this hostel. Give the hostel a call or try a travel agency like Travel Bugs to direct other questions, as some of their travel packages include a night here.

-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review