BUG Review
The Federal is a large old building in dire need of a renovation. There are mostly workers living here, but it has more facilities than the other working hostels. The dorms are rickety with peeling paint, the bathrooms are aging and dirty and the dated TV lounge has graffiti covered walls. There is a large bar with pool tables and a dancer's pole that has live music every Friday. The hostel has a relatively good atmosphere here compared to the others in town, as the hostel's bar is a popular night-time hangout.
Price Dorm bed $23-25 per night, $133-140 per week Prices are in Australian dollars and are inclusive of all taxes.
Pros:
The Beer Garden and the t.v room are awesome!!!
Cons:
nothing apart from the dirt!!!
dingoviking
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Maintenance
(1)
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(1)
Facilities
(2)
Atmosphere
(5)
After arriving in Bundaberg to find the rest of the hostels fully booked we agreed to stay here for one night RELUCTANTLY!! This then became home for next 6 weeks!! This place has the best beer garden in the world which parties all week and doesn't stop for nobody! And when your all out it has a great TV room with a massive selection of dvds which came in very handy on a Sunday afternoon when you just couldn't face another beer!!
The staff are extremely friendly and helpful and will work round the clock to find you work!!So the morale of the story is, don't believe the lonely planet book because this place really is an experience!!!
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(Review ID: 10075)
Japanese prisoner of War Camp, March 24, 2005
Reviewer:
Kevin keegan
Pros:
n/a
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n/a
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Be aware when entering this hostel you are signing your life to one of abject misery and slavery.I was whipped up and down the fields of fruit by savage Aussie redknecks and left to wander the unrelenting outback to find my own way home without food or water after being sacked for sitting on a plant.If you can , get out now, if not, settle down to boxes of Stanley wine, smokin weed, fighting with locals and upping sticks to the Big Orange , Mundubbara, the El Dorado of fruit picking.....where even more delights await
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(Review ID: 10076)
Experience the fruit picking and Bundy!, March 17, 2005
Reviewer:
Pros:
n/a
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n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
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(4)
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(4)
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(4)
Go to Bundy and pick som Z... I don´t dare to spell any further, my back is already hearting.... It´s the best place, stay cool, be happy and be gentle with the fruit!!! The staff is friendly, you meet lots of friends, you work, you see animals, never forget the snakes in the fields..., you experience. Go here and you will never forget the Feds in Bundy!!!!!!!!
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(Review ID: 10077)
Lord have mercy......, November 5, 2004
Reviewer:
torstd
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n/a
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n/a
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This is just the worst place ever, and I even had to "celebrate" my birthday here!!! Please don't do the same mistake....
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(Review ID: 10078)
dont ever go, June 2, 2004
Reviewer:
kazzie25
Pros:
n/a
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n/a
Imported Review
saw things this way
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well, I didnt even get to see the dorm rooms and I still wouldnt recommend anyone to go here. I booked me and my friend into a dorm, we arranged a pick up from the station. 20 mins after the bus had dropped us off the pick up still hadnt arrived, we calle dand they said they would be there in 5 mins. half an hour later they came and when we got to thwe hostel informed us they only had one of us in the book and were very moody. They offered us a mattress on the floor in the lounge until they could sort us out two beds the next day. NO THANKS. We left that night to a motel. I should have known how crappy the place was by the reviews and the fact that they left what they thought was a single female in a deserted bus station for 50 mins. dont go there.
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(Review ID: 10079)
BL**DY AWFUL, April 6, 2004
Reviewer:
Welsh Cath
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n/a
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n/a
Imported Review
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Just don't bother!
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(Review ID: 10080)
just chillin out!, February 24, 2004
Reviewer:
Daryl Hallard
Pros:
n/a
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n/a
Imported Review
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Maintenance
(3)
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(3)
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(3)
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(3)
Well alot of people bag the fed,i'v spent three weeks here so far and it's not to bad.The staff are great,good for a laugh and easy to get along with.The rooms are not the best but hey it's a workin hostel so it has a bed and thats good enough.The bathrooms are not the best but i'm not here to rate them,just to shower and get down to the beer garden got $4 jugs at happy hour,so a good place to meet people and get pissed.
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(Review ID: 10081)
rustic but absolutly great, February 17, 2004
Reviewer:
Nina
Pros:
n/a
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n/a
Imported Review
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
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(5)
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(5)
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I spent 3 weeks in bundaberg in November 2003, and now, over a year leter, whenever i think of my trip to Oz i always think of bundy and the fun times i had at the federal. Ok lets face it, the rooms are small and when i was there the bathrooms had no locks, but it was part of the charm. We all looked after eachother and it was almost like i was part of this great big family. The owners, allthough a bit unorganised, always remembered your name and they did organize work for you straight away. And to all of you who complained of the work, fruitpicking is physically hard and it is long days, but picking flowerbulbs in bundy was the best fuitpickingjob I had during my travell, and i picked a lot of fruit!Anyways the absolutly best thing about this hostel is the beergarden in the back. After work everybody hangs here and complain about work, while drinking inexpensive beer, mixing with the locals and listening to the jukebox. Weekends are always fun, because there is always something going on in the pub. And if the little restaurant is still there make sure you treat yourself to some of the food, it's cheap AND tasty, how often does that happen?And ask the chef if his wife can make some of her butterbreadcake for you - it's absolutly fabulous.Finally i would like to say that some of my fondest memories from my trip to Australia are from Bundy. Go there and experience real hospitality
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(Review ID: 10082)
AWFUL!, January 3, 2004
Reviewer:
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n/a
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Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(1)
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This hostel is pretty poor - I've stayed in some pretty bad places, but this really takes the word 'bad' to another limit! Where shall I begin!...the rooms are awful (VERY small, little light, lacking storage, dusty floors...) and the beds have got to be the worst beds I've come across in an Australian hostel!! Thin, falling apart foam mattresses on metal frames - after a hard day picking fruit, they won't do much for your back!! The facilities aren't too good either, although the kitchen is kept relatively clean considering. Perhaps I just got the worst room and had a bad experience (unfortunatly I really couldn't bare it so I checked out after a few days even after having paid for a week - the expense was definatly worth it!) But on the positive side, the staff are friendly and learn your name. And yes, they do get work straight away, but it can be pretty nasty work and I've heard of much better places to go fruit picking!!
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(Review ID: 10083)
My greatest Xperience, September 27, 2003
Reviewer:
Doron Schreeuwer
( sdoron79a@hotmail.com)
from Sedot Yam, Israel
Pros:
n/a
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n/a
Imported Review
saw things this way
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(5)
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(5)
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Well, boyz and Girlz..what can i say about the Federal backpacker???When I got to there on the beginning of May 03, I were shocked from BUNDY and the Hostel.But friendly management and great atmosphere made it as one of the greatest experience of my trip. I would like to mention, the facilities aren't the best. But who care about that? they are still good and useable - for one who spent few years in the Army there will never be complains about that. (-;there are normaly 4-6 people in small rooms, but hey! you only sleep there - and you find out i know what I'm talking about. (the size doesn't matter in this case)The work would probably would be Zuccinies picking.."fuckin Zuccinies" you will hear that a lot.But there is life after work, also in the place! and there were nothing like that in my trip, or life, nor the army days.There is the Beer Garden and the Happy Hours on weekneds..so great, so unforgetable. I might go again, cuase there's something about Bundy and Federal.
