The Hostelz.com Review
The Banyan View Lodge is located on the fringe of Darwin city centre. It is approximately fifteen minutes' walk from the Greyhound bus stop. They don't offer a courtesy pickup. If you travel by train, a paying shuttle bus will pick you up but you will need to book in advance.
Banyan View Lodge has forty-six rooms with air conditioning or a fan -- you have the choice of dorms with four beds, double, twin, and triple rooms en-suite or with shared bathroom facilities. Each room has a wardrobe, a fridge, tea, coffee, and a kettle. Linen, towels, and soap are also provided.
The kitchen is very well equipped and clean. There are two TV lounges with vending machines and a kitchenette where you can make tea and coffee. The communal bathrooms and toilets are very clean. Internet access is free -- you can use the computer in one of the lounges, but is very hard to access. If you have a wireless connection on your laptop, you can use it freely from your bedroom. A free car park and luggage storage are available.
The nice tropical garden is very relaxing -- you can have a chat there with the other guests, enjoy the swimming pool and spa, or organise a barbecue. The laundry facilities are very good, with several washing machines and dryers -- they even have two ironing boards. The reception can book your tours or car hire, or give you useful information. The guests are diverse -- backpackers, families with kids, and couples. This is a great place to stay, more a hotel than a hostel where we would definitely go back!
Banyan View Lodge has forty-six rooms with air conditioning or a fan -- you have the choice of dorms with four beds, double, twin, and triple rooms en-suite or with shared bathroom facilities. Each room has a wardrobe, a fridge, tea, coffee, and a kettle. Linen, towels, and soap are also provided.
The kitchen is very well equipped and clean. There are two TV lounges with vending machines and a kitchenette where you can make tea and coffee. The communal bathrooms and toilets are very clean. Internet access is free -- you can use the computer in one of the lounges, but is very hard to access. If you have a wireless connection on your laptop, you can use it freely from your bedroom. A free car park and luggage storage are available.
The nice tropical garden is very relaxing -- you can have a chat there with the other guests, enjoy the swimming pool and spa, or organise a barbecue. The laundry facilities are very good, with several washing machines and dryers -- they even have two ironing boards. The reception can book your tours or car hire, or give you useful information. The guests are diverse -- backpackers, families with kids, and couples. This is a great place to stay, more a hotel than a hostel where we would definitely go back!
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
April 2007
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Banyan View Lodge (YWCA) Details
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Banyan View Lodge (YWCA) Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Clean place, friendly staff I stayed here for five nights and would highly recommend it. Staff weren't rude unlike most hostels I stayed in. All rooms and facilities were clean too. I only have 2 criticisms: no wifi and no weekly rates. — Anonymous , Australia (2011-06-06) Good value for the price I stayed two nights in January 2010. The room is adequate. The staff were helpful and friendly. The garden with pool was a bonus. I found it clean. The only small downside was that its a fifteen minute walk to the action on Mitchel Street. — Tony Guy , Canadian (2011-03-13) Top Joint MY WORD, is this place still there. I stayed there for 9 months in 1976 -- all the ground floor was blokes and we had parties and drinking sessions well into the early hours. Theresa Romano was in charge. I was on a 4 year hike around the world overland. I remember a lot of people from that place. Bet its not as wild these days. — Jim Beirne , British (2010-09-20) Terrible! I saw nothing five-star once during my five days at this hostel. Arrived to be greeted by a very rude and unhelpful woman. First impression wasn't too bad as looked clean and room ok but then got worse. We got back from dinner one night and my boyfriend had no bed as someone was asleep in it, reception hours are terrible considering tour times so we could not contact anyone or move so we both had to sleep in my single. Received no refund for this either. Toilets were filthy and there was no toilet paper. Rang the hostel the next day while on a tour (again reception not open when we left) and they apologised said they'd put us in wrong room and would leave a key as, yet again, we'd be back while reception not open. Got back late to find they had a left a snotty note on door of our room saying people were sleeping in it when they shouldn't be! Luckily someone was cleaning the kitchen so we got a different room with no real apology. The tours in Darwin are amazing and this horrible hostel placed a complete downer on that with its general incompetence. — Joanne , British (2009-10-15) Worst. Hostel. EVER. If I could give this hostel a - rating of stars, I would.
First of all, just like everybody else, I was lured by the "quiet" promise of this hostel, when the lady in the airport said it's the place to go.
When I got there, I discovered that by "quiet", they meant "geriatric". The average age in the hostel was 60. The free internet was taken for half a day by an 80+ year old lady who was typing with one finger, the hostel had families and babies in it (you'd wake up in the middle of the night to hear a baby cry, because the walls are thin). The rooms literally smell, and the guests they allow include prostitutes, homeless people and so on.
The "garden" is 2.5 palm trees and the pool is polluted and dirty.
The manager lady was rude, when I asked for a peice of paper to hang an ad on the noticeboard, she said she'll sell me a piece of paper for a dollar.
Also, it's not that close to the center of the city, and most stuff is far away from it.
I stayed there for two miserable days (only because that's what I paid for before seeing them room, suits me right), and moved to melaleuca and never looked back.
With so many great hostels in Darwin I really see no reason to stay in this one. — Michael , Israel (2007-12-15) Excellent This hostel was great, it didn't have that hostel feel more of a holiday lodge. When I first arrived I wasn't so sure because of the atmosphere and it being different to a hostel. But after getting a job I settled in well. You did get a mixture of guests, and it did contain a few weirdos who were thrown out. The manager was excellent, she really did look after you and really managed the place well. If you had a problem you knew she would sort it. The facilities were very good, two TV rooms, two mini kitchens and a main one, two free internet terminals, swimming pool and spa, and a DVD player but not on display. I met a lot of great people here and had a great time. You would get occasions where it was quiet and then sometimes the opposite. It was by far the best hostel in Darwin. it had the best of both Worlds. — Jk , England (2007-10-01) This is a big hostel -- and in the wet season I think I was one of only ten guests! As others have described facilities were good, but the place can feel a bit institutional, and out of season a bit dead. I would imagine the place has a totally different feel in the dry season when I understand it's always full! — Lyse (2007-01-12) We stayed at the Banyan View Lodge for two weeks in October and it was great. The staff are friendly and really helpful. The kitchen is fully stocked up with utensils, pots, pans. We even had a kettle with tea and coffee and our own fridge in our twin room. The swimming pool is great to cool down in after a day in Darwin's intense weather and there are a couple of places to veg out and watch TV too. Our main problem was with the ants, but as long as you keep all food tightly wrapped, and in the sealed fridge, and maybe your bed away from the wall, it's all fine. The Banyan View is about five to ten mins walk from the centre and about twenty minutes (maybe half an hour) from the Botanic Gardens and Mindil Beach. If you're going to Darwin, stay here!! — Emma (2006-11-24) I loved this place! I stayed for five nights and did not want to leave! The staff are friendly and very approachable. The place has a really chilled out feel to it -- all the guests kind of follow suit! You must stay here!There is no alternative in Darwin! — Sharon (2006-06-23) This is the cleanest, friendliest and trouble-free budget accommodation in Darwin. Management are cheery and helpful and committed to the efficient management of the premises. The kitchen is clean, and well equiped with pots and pans, cooking utensils, cutlery, and crockery. None of that deposit rubbish that goes on elsewhere is here and yes there are teaspoons to stir your coffee. Bedding was good quality inner spring matresses with a quality linen service with good quality white hotel sheets. The unisex showers and toilets are clean. Rooms are mainly twins and there are some four-bed dorms in which I stayed. I noticed that the place was serviced by pest control during my stay so that problems with insects and mites should not be an issue here. My only issue with the dorms that it was difficult to store my stuff as the others present had spread themselves out a bit. A delightful back garden area and swimming pool is a great place to relax and there are two TV lounges in the complex. There are ringtail possums and tree frogs. The client mix is diverse with an even mix of people from twenty to seventy years of age. We had an interesting mix of local and overseas guests from a diverse range of professions as well as travellers from U.S. and Europe. The regular Friday night BBQ is a classy dinner party where everyone spontaneously contributes food to the evening and an amazing meal is somehow cobbled together in a dinner party atmosphere. I have no hesitation in recommending the Banyan View to those who want a civilised place away from the craziness of Mitchell Street yet are only a short walk away from that area. I will be back next year for a weeks R&R at this excellent establishment. — Derek Lightbody (2006-06-22) Good accommodation, and affordable. All that you need when you are on holiday is a bed to lay down on after a busy day. All amenities you need are there. The tea- and coffee-making facilities in each room are a luxury, and there are great kitchen facilities to make what you want at a cost within your budget. — Anonymous (2004-09-03) Good affordable accommodation. It had the basics which was all we needed as we were in Darwin for the V8's and only needed a bed to lay our weary heads. Close to all the action in the city at night, just a casual stroll away. — Anonymous (2004-01-09)