HI - Surfers Paradise YHA at Main Beach Hostel

Ahh, the Surfers Paradise Mainbeach YHA. This hostel is a good choice if you are looking for a quiet location -- and I mean quiet. The location of the hostel is pretty much as far out of Surfers as you can get and the area around the hostel doesn't boast a whole lot of eating options. The nearest supermarket is a bus ride into downtown Surfers.

Because this hostel just opened, the place is newish and clean -- remember that previous to the YHA, this was a different hostel. A great service that the hostel provides is pickup from the bus depot on a scheduled basis, so ensure that you are waiting at the right pickup area at the right time, because you could be waiting an hour. If you don't want to wait for the shuttle, there is a bus stop outside of the hostel as well as a pay phone to make those calls home.

The hostel has a great kitchen with excellent facilities and a great outdoor patio area that runs around the hostel. The reception area is on the main floor (as well as a small liquor store) but the rooms are on the second floor with a secured entrance to the stairs. The rooms are clean and linens are new and provided for you as well small lockable cubbies for you to put some of your personal belongings in. Unfortunately, new mattresses aren't a perk of the new hostel, so look forward to sleeping on a foam mattress through which you can feel the springs. As well as the rooms surround a ventilation system that makes quite a bit of noise throughout the day, so earplugs are a must here.

The common areas are great -- very open and airy with lots of tables and lounge chairs to chill out on. Right behind the hostel there is a wharf that is great at sunset. The bathroom is clean and provides you with a separate change area outside of the shower. If there's anything to complain about the bathrooms it would be that there are not enough toilets for the whole hostel.

— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
May 2007