379 King Street, Newtown Bus 422, 423, 426, 428 Train Newtown Tel (02) 9519 2099 or 1800 219 999 Websitewww.theabbeyonking.com.au
BUG Review
Abbey on King is a very clean and secure hostel above a café near Newtown station. It is well maintained with top quality fittings but facilities are limited to a TV lounge, Internet access and a small, but fully equipped, kitchen. Although on first glance it seems a bit sterile, the atmosphere is actually pretty good making it a good value accommodation option.
Price Dorm bed $15-24 Single room $30 Double room $50 Prices are in Australian dollars and are inclusive of all taxes.
Credit Cards American Express,Diners Club,MasterCard,Visa
Pros:
Can't think of anything. Leaving?
Cons:
Staff rudeness
lfc124
saw things this way
Maintenance
(1)
Cleanliness
(1)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
(1)
My partner & I booked into stay at this hostel mid-week, as were attending a gig in Enmore that night. We have stayed in many hostels over the past few months travelling & this was without doubt the worst we’ve ever encountered – the stuff of travellers’ horror stories, that we didn’t think actually existed! The place & staff were shambolic, amateurish and highly unprofessional. This included a middle-aged Aussie whose attempt at polite conversation was to discuss how "the UK had started to go wrong when they gave passports to Black people." This in itself started to make our skin crawl but was only the beginning of the nightmare that is ‘Abbey on King’.Upon our arrival at 6pm, reception was closed so we had to seek the owner, who was more interested in his carpet cleaning machine. After waiting for 15 minutes to be sorted out, and after a lot of confusion & messing around, we paid our $70 (they tried to charge us $80 despite telling us $70 on the phone earlier) for a double room and were then told that we were to stay in another building nearby. This turned out to be a house down a dingy alley-way, that was a dark, damp hovel of a place, apparently in the ‘process of being renovated’ but I don’t think they’d even started! The lights didn’t work, the ‘beds’ had been slept in and were unmade. There was no covering on the walls or the floor and the bathroom was small and filthy. There was someone's stuff lying all around the bedroom which had two saggy mattresses. Enoch Powell was ready with clean sheets to make up the beds but we didn't stick around long enough and decided to leave. The place was downright creepy & even though we didn’t know where else we’d go, we knew we didn’t want to stay here. The guy who showed us around just said rudely "I don't care, I don't need your money, I've got plenty of it." The sheer nerve of trying to charge $70/80 for this was beyond belief, the staff were rude, racist & unfriendly – I wouldn’t stay here if they paid me & I advise you to think twice about it! A joke.
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(Review ID: 4692)
Quiet and homely place to stay. Not for those looking for a party hostel., May 3, 2007
Reviewer: trainee diva from Newcastle, North East England
Pros:
Highly secure, friendly, comfortable, homely.
Cons:
Doesn't have much of a buzz about it.
trainee diva
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(2)
This is a great hostel to stay at if you need a good nights sleep, and don't want to be living in a party atmosphere.The hostel itself is very secure, people can't just walk into the building, they have to ring and book first.Facilities wise, they have a TV lounge, and a smallish kitchen, which is ok, but nothing special. The bathrooms and showers are ok, but could do with some updating.There is not a great deal to do at this hostel, but the location more than makes up for that. It is located in Newtown, which has a buzzing cafe culture and night life, and is also a 5 minute walk from the train station (where regular trains will get you to Sydney CBD in about 10 minutes).There is quite a homely feel to this hostel, and would suggest that it is suitable for those backpackers who needed somewhere to stay while they were working.
