240A Elizabeth Street, Sydney Bus 308, 309, 310, 311, 339, 343, 372, 378, 393, 395 Tram Central Train Central Tel (02) 9211 9111 Websitewww.homebackpackers.com
BUG Review
This hostel is located in a rickety old building on a busy street. It is actually a combination of two old small hotels, with one side used as the hostel and the other side full of double and twin rooms. The kitchen is teeny and dirty, bathrooms are slightly mouldy, and dorms are in need of a facelift. But the rooftop sundeck is being improved and looks nice, and one half of the hostel is beautifully decorated with wall murals. Reception tends to be nonexistent or rude. Internet is $3 per hour in the downstairs lobby.
Price Dorm bed $20-25 Single room $40 Double/twin room $55-65 Prices are in Australian dollars and are inclusive of all taxes.
Pros:
Great location and good fun atmoshpere
Cons:
We first stayed in room at front of building... a bit noisey but still sleep fine
Carina
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(5)
My girlfriend and I booked for 2 days but stayed a week in the end. Has a great nightly fun and entertainment guide. Staff were lovely and helpful and joined in the fun.Great location to city. Is an older style building but clean and comfortable. One of the better atmosphere places we have stayed!!
Pros:
Free internet,good tv rooms,good night time activities,
Cons:
filthy kitchen,stuff stolen,smelly showers,bad breakfast
Tonz
saw things this way
Maintenance
(3)
Cleanliness
(2)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(3)
I have seen some really bad reveiws of this hostel on the old bug website when the hostel was Noahs. It is now Homebase backpackers and I think it has improved since then! We stayed there for 3 nights in a double room and was suprised how cheap it was ($50 per night) The room was well worth the money and we had a really comfy bed and a fridge. The bad points about this hostel were the filthy kitchen (cockroaches, dirty crockery everywhere, could never find a cup,spoon etc!) We were on side B of the hostel which we found out on the last day was the worst of the two so if you stay there, try and get side A!! The kitchen, showers and t.v room are so much better on side A.
Also...BEWARE OF THEIVES!! Lots of people seem to enjoy stealing others food all the time and we met a few people who had had most of their weekly shop taken out of the fridge! Not good when your a backpacker on a budget. If you're put on side B you can still use your keycard to use Side A so do so when showering, cooking or watching t.v as their facilities are so much better and cleaner!!
I must say that the night time activities they put on were great whilst we were ther. On monday nights they take you to a pub that does $7 steak meals and it was the best steak we ever had and on wednesday was free wine & cheese which was a great laugh where basically everyone gets bladdered!
So really, if you need somewhere cheap to stay but can turn a blind eye to a few negative bits then homebase would be a good place to stay!!
