167 Franklin Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 Tram 19, 57, 59, 68 Train Melbourne Central Bus 220, 232 Tel (03) 9329 7525 Websitewww.hoteldiscovery.com.au
BUG review
An airy, wide-open reception area welcomes guests to this huge and slightly impersonal 650-bed hostel, formerly known as Hotel Bakpak. Loads of activities are on offer to keep even the most attention-deficient backpacker entertained: daily walking and biking tours, football matches against other hostels, belly-dancing and combat classes, comedy shows on the roof deck, nightly films in the large-screen cinema room, and more. Some of the four-bed dorms with en suite bathrooms are quite charming, while the larger dorms are rather plain. The Velvet Underground basement bar has a nice, lodge-like feel and is a good place to hang out over a game of pool or table football. Hotel Discovery also has a café, internet access and an employment agency on the ground floor. Free airport pick-up is offered with a three night minimum booking.
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Price Dorm bed $25-$32 ($24-$31 VIP) per night, $154-$175 per week Double/twin room $85-$100 ($81-$96 VIP) per night Family room $110 ($106 VIP) per night Prices are in Australian dollars and are inclusive of all taxes.
Great place, had the time of my life, clean and great location. 22 February 2010
Pros:
The bar was great, Staff, Cafe breakfast, and the bathrooms were very clean to some other places.
Cons:
The Lift,
Piboon
saw things this way
Maintenance
(3)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(4)
(Review ID: 13011)
The hotel is one of the largest places i have stayed. It was very busy during breakfast, the staff were friendly, the tour guy was good, the clean staff were constantly cleaning the bathroom which u dont find in any other hostel. The bar was good during the eveinings. I would certainly recomend this place to all my fellow travellers.
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Jan Ove Oedegaard
Review from a HostelBookers customer 25 January 2010
Great Staff, clean and Tidy. Great happening Bar and lots of fun. 14 January 2009
Pros:
Service and clean and tidy, Fabulous location, Free Tours and Free Airport Pick up.
Cons:
Can get real busy at reception.
Jans
saw things this way
Maintenance
(3)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(4)
(Review ID: 12598)
I have stayed in many hotels and being a frequent traveller to Melbourne. I chose to stay at Hotel Discover because of the Free Airport Shuttle. I was only booked to stay for the one night but extended. It was a great meeting place and the staff are very friendly and offered exceptional customer service even throught the busy periods....Girls need a rest...
I was greeted constantly by cleaners....The Free In house tours was a big hit with travelers, Thanks Phil. Loved the Beach Tours.
The bar was constantly packed and Karioke was a blast. I would recomend this place for it's sensational location and cleanthiness..I know sometimes being such a big Hostel it does get a little bit hard to keep it clean. Keep up the good work and I shall return.
Great, awesome party, stay place with lots of friendly people. 14 January 2009
Pros:
Fun, Friendly, lots of people, City location, Job and Travel Agency, Cheap deals in the bar
Cons:
..??? nothing..
dani25
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
(Review ID: 12601)
The space is enormous and the possibility to spend your time here are endless. They have a great bar with awesome deals and pool tables. This place is packed with backpackers from around the world. Plus the staff is so helpful, they know everything about Melbourne. On top they have great deals with the in house travel agency. I planed my whole Australian trip here…. Cheaper as anyone else..
Save your sanity, go elsewhere. There are much better & cheaper places 9 November 2008
Pros:
Kitchen, Cinema room, common areas
Cons:
Staff, staff, staff, price, lifts, 4th floor
dRed83
saw things this way
Maintenance
(2)
Cleanliness
(2)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(3)
(Review ID: 11842)
Right, I'm not one from grudges and this isn't a vendetta, but you should not stay at this place, now called Hotel Discovery. I can only imagine that they changed their name because of bad reviews under their old name, Hotel Bakpak. Well they'll have to keep changing their name. The 1st night I stayed, I was on the 4th floor which has to be the dingiest place I've stayed so far in Australia. Thankfully the next day some friends were arriving & we had booked in as a group for 5 nights and we were put on the 3rd floor which was a lot better, but far from perfect. In saying all this my main gripe wouldn't be about the physical aspects of the place (mind you the toilet/shower facilities on the 4th floor were pretty brutal). The general facilities were decent, like the Kitchen & Cinema room etc. The real problem was the staff. They are the worst hostel staff I have yet encountered. It takes them forever to do anything and they really don't seem to know what they are doing. After my 1st night there, I had to check out in the morning to check back in again with our group into a new room. I HAD TO check out by 10am, but our room then wasn't ready until almost 3pm ("we don't advertise a check-in time" was the answer to any complaints). Once we did get to check in, after a long queue, which is very common, it took the girl a full 20 minutes to check us in (3 of us), even though 2 of us had checked in the night befor and they had all our details. I just thought the whole thing was ridiculous. Then the final straw when I was checking out, I asked if they could store my bags for a couple of hours.... "We only store bags for check-in, not check-out, there are lockers around the corner there".... which you have to pay for.oh and lest I forget the prehistoric lifts, absolutely disastorous!I won't be back, ever, and I'll advise all my friends to stay away also.
Pros:
Location. Price.
Cons:
Bed bugs, filthy toilets, generally run-down
JNZ
saw things this way
Maintenance
(1)
Cleanliness
(1)
Facilities
(2)
Atmosphere
(2)
(Review ID: 8601)
I recommend staying away from Hotel Discovery Backpackers.
Rooms and toilets were dirty and bed was infested with bed bugs that left us with very nasty bites for the week. Asked for the mattress to be changed on two separate occasions but nothing was ever done about it. Got transferred to another room and they put someone else in the infested bed!Toilets were almost always in a terrible state. It seems no money is reinvested back into maintaining the hostel, it needs serious work done.Access cards are always unreliable.
There are cheaper and better places to stay in Melbourne
Guildford, UK... but Canberra -woop woo- for 4 yrs
1 review
Perhaps it was just having a bad day... but... 23 February 2008
Pros:
It had rooms available
Cons:
The price, dead bird, bed bugs....
Popsie
saw things this way
Maintenance
(2)
Cleanliness
(2)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(2)
(Review ID: 7935)
Usually I am a very content person: happy to go with the flow I love hostels, and all the quirks associated with backpacking...
However, and perhaps it was just a bad day, but even so...Within the first 5 minutes of arriving at the hostel, whilst standing at reception:
- A bloke came up saying that nothing had been done about his BED BUGS for a week, although he said everyday... one does wonder why he bothered to stay though!
- A DEAD BIRD was reported in the internet cafe... now 11pm, it had been there since lunch - no joke.
- A lady said that the lost wallet that she had handed in was now MISSING FROM THE SAFE... mysterious...
- There was a DRUGS RAID in the next room, not the hostels fault, although it does add to the story!!Basically, although some of the staff were really cool - excluding this ferrel security guard who was flirting with all the drunk girls... the staff were totally beaten down from the constant abuse that was being hurled at them, reguarding the pitiful state of the hostel.I think my biggest problem is that considering the price of this hostel it is basically DAY LIGHT ROBBERY, as it seems none of the profits are being ploughed back into the business.
27bucks for a bed in a 16 person dorm... seriously.
Oh, but breakfast was included, free... the one piece of toast that you were allowed was clearly the cherry on the top!If you don't believe me, just walk into the reception... the first people who we met said it was a joke... they were right, although it does now rank as the worst hostel I've stayed at in Oz... and we all need one of those!!
Surely you aren't supposed to walk into a place and get the immediate sense of restless travellers who resent the fact that their credit card details are in the hands of a company who doesn't give a flying ... about their customers.Sorry, rubbish at condensing anything, but here goes:
no character, no sense of community, harassed staff, overpriced, nothingness.... hostels are meant to be an experience, hopefully, mainly, enjoyable. Although this was rubbish it can hardly be counted as an experience, more of a blotch on my trip to Melbourne...
27 bucks on a blotch. Shambolical!!
The main reason I chose this hostel was because of the free airport pick-up (and they drove me back a couple of days later), which saved me a lot of money. The staff is friendly, the security is good (hallway, room and bathroom key required). The rooms are cavernous and have no personality, but the bed are comfy, and there's lots of room to spread out your crap when packing. I would recommend this place for a short stay, but can't make any comments on long-term.
This place is not what it's made out to be. 27 September 2006
Pros:
This place has alot to offer but it needs alot of work.
Cons:
It so god damn dirty and has a lot of kids running around.
travel_ozzie06
saw things this way
Maintenance
(2)
Cleanliness
(2)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(3)
(Review ID: 498)
Unless you are a pot-head this is the place for you to goto. You just need to walk around level three(3) where the back-packers are placed and you can smell it coming out of rooms.... The rooms also have very bad smells coming from them. The staff here is great but the rooms need to be cleaned.... :(
great hostel, needs a little work to help it along 24 June 2006
Pros:
staff are wicked, good facilities and a great atmosphere
Cons:
in need of a bit of work, but seems to be happening
glenn
saw things this way
Maintenance
(3)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(4)
Atmosphere
(5)
(Review ID: 525)
hotel bakpak has some of the best staff ive come across in oz, the reptionists were really friendly. with something going on all the time. like tours, trips and parties (melbourne cup party was unreal). nice big kitchen plenty of cutlery and a cool cinema room aswell with some really cool movies to choose from, the bars good fun even if your up for just a quiet couple or if you want to get in a mess. ive had some wicked nights in there, to be honest i loved it and cant wait to get back there and party some more. oh yeah you want to check out one of the birds that works behind the desk, shes a bit of alright. polly you rock my world!
