Base Sydney

Dirty and expensive
With all the advertising raving about this place, your expectations are high. Alas, when you get here, you'll be very very disappointed. A good point is that you can often get rooms here when all the other backpackers in Sydney are booked out. Alas, just three years after opening, Base is falling apart. Bad points -- Room locks don't work, the bathrooms are really tatty, and there are no windows with a view. Just a bit of new paint would brighten the place up. The staff have started charging $10 for a key deposit again (why? The keys rarely work!) but if you look behind the check-in desk you'll see a long list of things that are no longer offered. No lockers. No Solarium. Even the original bar at Base (called Transit [on level -1]) closed pretty soon after opening (it's now a camping shop) and so Base has taken over the bar next door, called the Scary Canary. Alas that has been forced to close for a while by the licensing authorities (a look on the SMH website will show you why -- there were a number of violent fights in there). Base has a very impersonal feel, and it's very difficult to meet people. The staff don't help things much -- they give an impression of not really caring. And finally, either a good or a bad point, the location. Base is stuck in the middle of the CBD -- this means shopping is a short walk (try walking over the road to the Town Hall mall. You can walk underground to Pitt Street or to the cinemas underground from here), alas the area is dead come 6 p.m., and it's a long walk to "backpacker central" where all the backpacker bars (Sidebar, Scubar, the really foul "Scruffy Murphies" [avoid the bouncers there -- they are really bad!]), are. Would I stay here again? Not unless I was desperate!

I stayed hear from march 2007 to april 2007. Really good. Clean, Good helpfull staff, good size kicken. Had no problems. Staff even helps you out unlike in other hostels.

We've been booked to this hostel by organisation for two nights. The crew was unfriendly, the service poor, and the bathrooms are bad. All in all base at Sydney isn't fine.

no atmosphere. too expensive. no value for money!

I expected a lot of this hostel, everyone is talking about it, and the brochures and website look really nice. It didn't really live up to my expectations. Rooms are messy and can't say that the bathrooms had a clean feel to them. Way too much money too. I hate to say it but I am disappointed at Base Sydney!

Best thing about the hostel -- checking out! Worst thing -- checking in and being charged for it! We cut our five-night stay there by four nights. it was seriously manky! check in area was fine. We took the the staircase to our room. It was like a rabbit warren -- doors everywhere and corridors were as welcoming as a WWII concentration camp. Bring a tin of paint with you because you will feel the urge to give the place a bit of a gloss. Got to our private room after nearly stepping on smelly socks in the corridor. We were in the boiler room. badly painted brick walls with huge pipes running across the ceiling. Room had no sunlight, no furniture (expect a school desk), dodgy linen. The only thing missing was Jeremy Beadle and his cameras! Awful. You must never ever go there. We got a great hotel with city views for not much more money.

Base is fine, it's got great beds and everything is clean. It's just a bit too big and difficult to meet people.

I stayed here for 9 nights in a 10 bed dorm. Was pretty good, the cleaners had a habit of just walking in with their loud vaccuum cleaner when people were still sleeping but ah well. I would recommend this hostel, the location is great!

Good Points: Great location, nice bathrooms, cheap Internet, great travel desk. I stayed in the Sanctuary and it was very nice, really spacious, with loads of room for luggage! Bad Points: Really impersonal, staff could be rude, no social or communal spirit, the kitchens were really well stocked and generally clean but I had stuff stolen, breakfast was nice but expensive at $5.00. I loved the location but I didn't really bond with anyone! Stay here for a night or two at the most on your own. If you're in a group or a couple it's fine! There's no key deposit anymore though! I've just stayed at Base Melbourne and it was great! Don't judge Base on this one hostel!

To start with this hostel is in a poor location. It seems after 5 p.m. all the workers in this area split and go home, leaving the area a bit of a ghost town at night. Also it's way too pricey for what's on offer. $20 key deposits are ridiculous these days and they charge for just about everything. To me Base seems to be a corporate-run hosteling chain interested in profits before people.

Good place to start in Sydney but not recommended to anyone over the age of 24 and above! The bar is like a school disco. I agree with the review by Hostelz.com. Base lacks a backpacker's atmosphere and the other backpackers are very cliquey and frosty!

I went to it on a school trip and was disgusted with the place. Take my word for it, DON'T GO!!!

I stayed at Base in Sydney for one night...nothing to phone home about. I stayed in the Sanctuary room, which isn't worth the extra money. All you really get is a little baggy when you check in. Nothing too exciting. The kitchen was completely crowded, too much for me. The Internet was well priced (not too bad for a hostel). The elevator was really annoying. It took way too long to get up and down. The Base bar, though, was awesome. Definitely check that bad boy out!

This is a really good hostel. The location is really central and the sanctuary rooms are really comfortable.

I stayed here for two nights, and it was awful. The lift was broken, so I constantly had to walk up and down four storeys to get to and from my room. The keycard they gave me to get onto the floor rarely worked, and sometimes I was forced to wait in the stairwell to get onto my floor or walk back down the stairs to get the card re coded. There was construction going on everywhere, and the placed reeked of wet paint. The kitchen is located two storeys down in the basement, meaning I had to walk six storeys downstairs to cook my food. The staff were rude towards me whenever I needed to ask questions. When I got to my room the beds were not made and some beds didn't even have linen, which forced me to once again walk back down the stairs to complain. I ended up having to steal linen from an open room, because the staff said "tough luck." The last straw for me was a sign that advertised a free tour of Sydney. When I went to book the tour they told me that the tour actually cost 10 dollars. I was so mad I told them to change the sign then because it was false advertising. But they told me it was free for a specific tour group only—very, very unprofessional. The location of this hostel is not worth the hassle; don't waste your time or money here.