Bondi Sands

Well? Its got its ups and downs. A pretty strange place. But what more could you expect for $40, for a double with a working tv. Not the cleanest of rooms or hostels. Whole place could do with a makover. No cockroaches on our visit though. Maybe they have been dealt with, or maybe they just don't come out on winter time. Some odd things are the reception, being that it's room number 5 and have to knock on the door for any queries. The front door isn't very welcoming (always locked) and can't just stroll in off the street to enquire. No tv room, tiny kitchen on the roof (in need of a clean), and a messy roof top sitting area. All is a shame really, as it could be very good. The location is ideal and views from the roof are excellent. Shouldn't blame the girl who has been left to run it, the owner doesn't seem to have left her with much to go on. Having said all this, we as always made the most of some cheap digs and had a good time anyway.

This hostel is small and has a great location right on the beach. The owner/manager is friendly enough especially to females! I stayed in a double room which was nicely decorated and had a lovely comfortable bed. The linen and towels were clean as was the room (includes a sink which is useful). Initially I found the hostel to be great, but after the third night I was ready to leave. The bathrooms were small and if the hostel was full probably not sufficient. The kitchen area really lets the hostel down as it is small and unclean. There were cockroaches in the kitchen and on the worktops, those that cooked there were braver than me! The oudoor terrace area had superb views but needed a good sweep. With the amount of cockroaches in the building the owner should make sure that the guests clean up after themselves more as I'm sure this is the route of the problem. The swedish cleaners are doing a good job, a bit too much time spent in the mens showers- one cleaner kept conveniantly cleaning the showers whilst my boyfriend was in there! Could she not wait five minutes perhaps go and clean the kitchen? Lock up your boyfriends! It wasn't until we had left that my boyfriend told me that our room had been crawling in cockroaches- scrap what I said about the place been clean.

This was the best hostel ive ever stayed at... I recommend it to anyone. The hostel is clean the view from the roof is the best. The surf was great and just across the road..what more could anyone want?

I love this place! Bondi Sands is very well run and the two staff members that work there work really hard to keep the place running smoothly. Credit to the staff members, as they are very friendly and welcoming. Anyone staying in Bondi must stay here!!!

I spent five miserable nights here in this dump. We spent the first night (25th wedding anniversary) in the dorm even though we booked in a private double and were charged for a private room. Filthy dirty, broken bed, rusty sink, no towels, no glass in one window that was boarded up, no ocean view, and the Internet café, TV lounge and restaurant do not exist. It should carry a government health warning. The staff are aware that the Web page is woefully incorrect but haven't changed it.

We intended to stop here for a week after looking the place up on the Internet. We stayed two nights, which we hated doing. There is no Internet, no sitting room with TV and no DVD player, which was advertised. When we went into our room, waiting for our arrival were three cockroaches! The bedding had a suspicious stain on it. The kitchen is on the rooftop with no closing door so you can imagine what can get in there. It may as well be called the free hotel for bugs with free food. The rooftop has a scabby two-seat sofa — God knows what lives in there — and a table with a couple of plastic chairs around it. The washer worked!!! But the tumble-drier door always opened while in use. The showers were clean-ish but there were only two so there was a bit of a queue. All in all, we don't recommend this place at all. And if you do go and have read the advertisement they put on the ‘Net, good luck finding the TV room, bar, Internet and clean rooms. And say hi to our pet cockroaches; mind you they may have seen sense and moved out as well.

I loved Bondi Sands! It is a little run down but in a cozy rustic way, I found. I loved the staff and the location. I loved the rooms, and the showers weren't as bad. The shower pressure was unbelievable. I would go back in a heartbeat!

Absolutely dreadful place and really badly run-down. The rooms are tiny and boiling, and the sink was in an advanced state of disrepair with rust covering the plug hole area. This rusting away state could be applied to practically everything in the place as wherever you looked there was some form of decay (e.g. no locks on toilet door, scummy shower curtain). The kitchen is on the roof and is rather grim and exceptionally small, the smallest I've ever seen in a hostel. The only plus point is the hostel's proximity to the beach and the roof terrace, though even that is ruined by the scrotes [contemptible people] who inhabit the hostel leaving bottles and fag ends [cigarette butts] all over the place. This is a real pit of a hostel. Avoid it.

We have just spent two nights at the Bondi Sands and we would not be keen to go back. Yes, it has a great rooftop terrace overlooking the beach, but that's not much good when it's covered in debris from last night's party that nobody has bothered to clean up. The kitchen was particularly filthy on the morning we checked out, although it is pretty hard to do any washing up when there are no sponges, washing up liquid and one manky [dirty] old tea towel. The bathrooms were also pretty crappy, with only two cubicles with the nylon shower curtains that stick to you as soon as you turn the water on. Our double room was okay, decent bed, but boasted a rusty old sink and a window with very dubious-looking lock on it. All in all, a pretty dumpy place (although the doubles with sea views did look a bit nicer) with great views and an excellent location.

Very clean, fantastic views over Bondi.. really friendly, family run hostel.. they care about you & genuinely hope you are having a good time in Sydney!