272 Clovelly Road, Clovelly Beach Bus 339, X39, 360, 353 Tel (02) 9665 1824 or 1800 551 415 Websitewww.clarksatclovelly.com.au
BUG Review
Clarks is a big hostel geared to travellers on a working holiday, but there are also some Australians staying here as permanent guests. It has the usual kitchen and TV lounge and a couple of outdoor decks with seaviews.
Price Dorm bed $25-40 Prices are in Australian dollars and are inclusive of all taxes.
Credit Cards American Express,MasterCard,Visa
Reception Open Mon-Fri 9.30am-1.30pm & 4.30pm-6pm; Sat 10am-1pm
Marvellous... great place to socialise and party, July 8, 2005
Reviewer:
Robert Beard
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(4)
Atmosphere
(4)
I was there in the summer - very social hostel... a great atmosphere... met my wife there, so am biased, but still a top place to stay. Bit like a uni halls during freshers week. The walk to either Clovelly or Coogee is easy... and theres buses into town from over the road. Plus lovely thai restaurant down the street.
1 of
1 people found this review helpful
Was this review helpful to you?
(Review ID: 9353)
Clean and friendly but noisy and not a great location, June 19, 2003
Reviewer:
Adam Drummond
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
saw things this way
Maintenance
(3)
Cleanliness
(3)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(3)
This is a clean enough hostel with a fridge in the room and en suite bathroom. good security and a fun atmosphere round the place. But the location is pretty poor. if you want a day at the beach it is only 15mins by bus from the city - but a 10min walk from the hostel!Staff were friendly but seemed to be pretty inexperienced and really just backpackers themselves hard to find out about things from them and they were quite abrupt. Fun atmosphere if you want to get pissed every night but pretty noisy for everyone else. Overall, not a bad hostel but you can do better.
Was this review helpful to you?
(Review ID: 9354)
cheap, May 31, 2003
Reviewer:
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(2)
Cleanliness
(2)
Facilities
(2)
Atmosphere
(2)
I guess from the other reviews you either love it or hate it... well to buck the trend I'd say it was average. The plus points were the value for money. One of the cheapest double rooms we found in Sydney plus with TV, En Suite and fridge. Room could have done with some sort of fan for summer and/or heater for the colder weather though! Reasonably clean.The location is not a plus point. It's near Coogee but there's a huge hill to get back up on the way back! It isn't convenient for the city as the bus ride takes ages.The staff were not too bad, although when leaving we were pursueded to take a cab to the airport at 5am and book it ourselves and were assured it would be cheaper than taking the advertised shuttle bus that they say they book for you, because the guy couldn't be bothered to dop anything about it I'm sure... and it ended up being twice the price they told us it would be!
Was this review helpful to you?
(Review ID: 9355)
uuggg dont go there, March 31, 2003
Reviewer:
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(1)
Cleanliness
(1)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
(1)
funny how the 3 reviews below were all written within 2 days of each other eh!! This was honestly the worst hostel i have stayed in whilst in OZ. Its full of bedbuds and cockroaches and thats just the staff who work there.
2 of
2 people found this review helpful
Was this review helpful to you?
(Review ID: 9356)
FUN!, March 11, 2003
Reviewer:
Mathew Gibbs
( mgibbs74@hotmail.com)
from Scotland
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
I've been travelling around Australia for nearly a year and this is one of the best hostels I've stayed in. (along with The Old Fire Station in W.A and The Arts Factory in Byron!)What makes it one of the best is that its great fun there and I made lots of friends. (and with 100 + guests there's always some fit girls there!)There is something organised every day - whether it's BBQs, parties or nights out together. There's a real good vibe there. Everybody's having a good time.I certainly did!!!
1 of
1 people found this review helpful
Was this review helpful to you?
(Review ID: 9357)
great fun!, March 10, 2003
Reviewer:
John Fotheringham
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
I've stayed in lots of hostels around Australia and my favourite three were... The Old Fire Station in Perth, The Arts Factory in Byron and The Castle in Sydney.There's always something happening there - BBQ's, parties, organised nights out and stuff like that. Some hostels just have a good vibe to them and The Castle is definitely one. If you wanna have a fun time check it out!
Was this review helpful to you?
(Review ID: 9358)
BRILLIANT! *****, March 10, 2003
Reviewer:
Mark Nash
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
The people who have written the bad reviews are obviuosly a bunch of winging wankers with nothing better to do with their time.I found the The Castle to be the best hostel I have stayed in Australia. This was my first and last port of call and in all my travels I had the best time here. The young managment make sure that everyone has a good time and always have something for you to do. Lots of FREE stuff like Pool Comps & Wine nights, Surf Gear and the BEST Free bbq you will ever see where you can fill you plate up with great food. So to the bad reviews they seem like a joke, go and find out what a great place The Castle actually is
Was this review helpful to you?
(Review ID: 9359)
dont anywhere near it, March 3, 2003
Reviewer:
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(1)
Cleanliness
(1)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
(1)
I somehow get the idea that all the positive comments about this hostel have been posted by the staff themselves. Having been in oz for 6 months now its amazing that as far away as cairns people have heard of this place and everyone that has stayed there has said how rude and ignorant the staff are
1 of
2 people found this review helpful
Was this review helpful to you?
(Review ID: 9360)
the best place i ever stayed, January 18, 2003
Reviewer:
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
Anyone who did not like it are no backpackers. Its fun and the beaches are close its 5 min and if you want to go to another beach they have beach drop offs every day . The buses to the City and Bondi Junction are right outside . The hostel it self is very clean and has a nice atmosphere. They are very helpful with every thing .They have free bbq ,poolcomps,out on the town nights ,and many more. I hade a great time .If you are looking for a good hostel its here
Was this review helpful to you?
(Review ID: 9361)
Obnoxious Staff, December 6, 2002
Reviewer:
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(1)
Cleanliness
(1)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
(1)
I have to agree with the first two posters here. How anyone can say the staff are helpfull is beyond me. The hostel is hardly in the ideal location, being neither here nor there and so you have to walk for ages or get the bus to get anywhere. The advertisments state beaches are only minutes away but fail to mention the hills you have to walk up and down and Bondi is miles away, even though their advertisements make it out to be just down the road. The staff are the most obnoxious, unhelpfull and downright rude people I have ever met. Any question you ask is answered with downright rudeness and everytime I spoke to them I was left speechless by the remarks they made and really could not believe their arrogance, especially when you are paying their wages. They obviously have a hatred of backpackers and think you are the scum of the earth but you can't complain about their behaviour to the management because they are the management! If you want to go to the beach everyday get a hostel in either coogee or Bondi but don't bother with Castle Backpackers, no way don't go, I'm telling you!!!
