5-11 Egan Street, Newtown Bus 422, 423, 426, 428 Train Newtown Tel (02) 9550 3236 Websitewww.billabonggardens.com.au
BUG Review
Billabong Gardens is a nice purpose-built hostel behind a terrace house, which is centred on a courtyard with a swimming pool. It has a fully-equipped kitchen plus a barbecue and TV lounge with free internet access including Wi-Fi. Most rooms have en suite bathrooms and all beds come with linen. Private rooms have fridges and TVs. The hostel has good security with lockers in the dorms. There is also secure off-street parking ($5 per night).
Price Dorm bed $25-27 Prices are in Australian dollars and are inclusive of all taxes.
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Reception Open 8.15am-noon & 6pm-10pm
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Great hostel. Stayed here Feb-Mar and again in May. Friendly staff who are very helpful. Free internet and better yet Wifi!! Newtown great for eating out and also has easy access to city. I would definitely recommend this hostel and having stayed in some of the bigger ones in the city I can say that this one has a much better atmosphere. Will stay here when I am in Sydney again!!
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(Review ID: 9715)
Xperience one of Sydneys Best Kept Secrets!, January 11, 2006
Reviewer:
Chris G
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(5)
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Wifi Happy :-) Great hostel, great facilities. How many hostels or even major hotels do you know of that provide you with FREE wireless and internet access! I first came to this hostel in July after travelling up the east coast for 3 months. On my return to sydney I was searching for a hostel that was cheap and friendly. At first I stayed at the Funk house in Kings Cross. What a dive!!! Though the atmosphere was fairly good, the hostel was both dirty and smelly and security poor! I was starting to get tired of these big hostels and looking for somewhere with a bit more... and I certainly found it at Billabong. Ive been here now for about 5 months! This is a great hostel to set up base if your looking for work. Staff are both friendly and helpful. Billabong offers small dorms of only 6 people, provides free linen and cutlery and rooms are both clean and simple!Billabong can provide travel assistance, but this is limited. This hostel is popular and can get quite busy! My only real criticism is that when it does get really busy there does not seem to be alot of social space left to chill out. Overall Billabong is a great Hostel to stay, and Newtown Rocks!!!!
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(Review ID: 9716)
Excellent friendly hostel, January 5, 2006
Reviewer:
Chris
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I came to this hostel after staying in the city centre for 2 weeks. I was getting tired of the big hostels and looking for somewhere with more atmosphere... and I certainly found it at Billabong.Great hostel and a great group of friendly people. Rooms are quite simple but clean and the beds are very comfortable. You are provided with your own set of plates / cutlery etc so no having to seach round the kitchen for the last knife and fork. Big kitchen with plenty of fridge space, hobs and an oven. Some nice outside spaces to sit around and have a drink and a chat. Staff are friendly and very helpful.Newtown is a pretty funky kind of place - it rocks!
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(Review ID: 9717)
Beautiful memories, December 3, 2005
Reviewer:
Miroslav Blagojevic
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I spent there my first three months in Australia. It is the place where you can meet such interesting and nice people. With good balance between work and fun. You can have good fun and, in the same time, work or study. You can find there everything you need. Actually you will find more than you expect, (free internet access is just one example). What I especially liked was friendly and relaxed atmosphere, thanks to kind staff. If you stay there once you will never ask yourself about accommodation in Sydney.
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(Review ID: 9718)
top drawer, August 26, 2005
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Anonymous
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Everything you need in a hostel... clean, quiet, spacious, helpful staff, secure, you can get a good shower and a good nights sleep and it's close enough to everything.. shops, city centre, nightlife.would stay again
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(Review ID: 9719)
Nice Crowd. Cool Place., August 15, 2005
Reviewer:
Jamie
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This place is full of students and bands. So it's a pretty cool place to hang out. Met some nice people, went to some great local bars, went to see the bands that stayed here and just had a shitload of fun. The hostel itself is clean and pretty quiet. Good beds, showers etc and free internet is a big plus. This is not a party place - which I like, others may not. We went out in Newtown instead and had a lotta laughs.
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(Review ID: 9720)
Cheeky staff!, July 16, 2005
Reviewer:
Lulu
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The folks at the front counter really know how to have a laugh - usually at my expense but they're solid people. This is our second time back to Billabong and it's funny to see some of the same people here from 6 months ago! A bit sad really but it says alot about what this place is like - a real home for working travellers.Oh yes, the staff... cheeky as! There's a real homely feel here, they have a dog and a cat, and are always up for a chat. A good place to hunker down and get a job in Sydney.
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(Review ID: 9721)
The best place i have ever stayed, June 21, 2005
Reviewer:
Dawn Dolton
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I loved this hostel and i have returned to it again after being away for a while! The staff are brilliant, really helpful and friendly and they know their stuff about Oz. The place is very homely, clean and has free internet which is brilliant for us on a budget! The kitchen has a proper oven (no more 2 minute noodles, shop bought pizza!) and is big, clean and well equipped.The rooms are great, really clean with nice bedlinen and most have en-suite which is a real luxury!All in all this is a really really nice friendly hostel, i have reccommended it to all of my friends!
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(Review ID: 9722)
Good value and clean, June 10, 2005
Reviewer:
Jaap Scholten
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I've been in Australia about 6 months and stayed in a lot of different hostels. Ranging from outright dirty to very clean, and from extremely friendly to grumpy and unhelpfull. Recently I stumbled on this web site and read the reviews of Billabong Gardens and was a bit surprised. There are some really good reviews but also some people who were very negative and who almost seem to describe a different place from where I stayed - dirty, run-down and unfriendly. So I feel I have to write a few words just to let you know how I experienced it.Billabong is a well above quality hostel. Different from many other places they employ professional cleaners who clean each and every room every day, including the dorms - I know because they woke me up several times and the bathrooms always smelled clean (a little less bleach next time please). The facilities are excellent and, importantly, everything works - the kitchen is large, clean and has pots and pans so you can really cook a decent meal. The TV lounge has a row of fast internet terminals free of charge. There is pool but indeed it is small. Nevertheless ok for a dip or lazing in the sun a bit. The courtyards is great and lots of people gather at night for a drink. Yet the place is not overly noisy at night and the management really monitor as much as possible that things don't get out of hand and people can get some sleep. The people at the front desk are really helpful, have lots of information and they seem to know everyone by name - different from those massive places like Wake Up where you feel you're just a number. As a result the atmosphere is really good and everyone agreed it was one of the bes places they stayed in - which is exactly how I feel. So check it out and don't get fooled by some of the reviews below. By the way, maybe most important, Billabong is in Newtown, a really great area full of street life and great pubs and restaurants and very few tourists - it's one of the most popular areas in Sydney for local people but few backpackers seem to go there. It's only about 10 minutes into the city on the bus and you can walk to central station. I saw more live music in Newtown in two weeks than in my entire period in Australia and ate the best Thai food in the beer garden of the Bank hotel. Recommended!
