264 Charles Street, Pialba Bus 16, 18 Tel 1800 111 442
BUG Review
This hostel does not have a very good location. It is in a nice old house, but it is not very well maintained. The outside kitchen is dirty and poorly equipped, but there is a nice swimming pool in the front plus a lacklustre TV room and internet access ($5 per hour). The atmosphere here is quiet and reception staff seem bored and can be unhelpful.
Price Dorm bed $22 Double room $45 Prices are in Australian dollars and are inclusive of all taxes.
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Reception Open 6.30am-10pm daily
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Pros:
beautiful fraser island
Cons:
the hostel itself
louisein0z07
saw things this way
Maintenance
(2)
Cleanliness
(2)
Facilities
(2)
Atmosphere
(2)
i stayed here with my travel bug voucher, what a mistake. from the leaky rooms to the common area with no one in it because beer prices are a joke. rude owner doesnt mind yelling rude words at travellers for throwing a ball in a pool while we were swimming. 4wd company treats you bad and old cars with 250000 miles on the clock and a rust hole in floor about 10cm wide. fuel is 50 litres and we went over by 3 litres and got charged 4 dollars. underbody insurance, well i never saw any documents with this even mentioned. was this a money making scam???...the food is very cheap you can buy it at aldi andy you get about $100 worth for 3 days!!!...where did our 250 go that we paid for food. owner gets rude if you want your own vegan food. he wouldnt take my 25 dollars and said to buy my own..the food system is a rort and a joke.please everyone dont book to stay here whatever your agent is, your bank account will thank you for it
Pros:
fraser island trip - was excellent from start to finish
Cons:
waking up early...not enough booze!!
Whodaman
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(4)
i am a british guy travelling australia for 3 months, when i was in hervey bay i stayed kookabura backpaker before and 2 night aftr my frasier trip. While here i had a good time in an older hostel, but always clean and maintained and kept orderly. The food rocked!!..was very good and cheap. my fraser trip seemed very well organised and staff knew what they were talking about and gave us some good tips which really helped us. i got 100 dollar bond back at end of trip and vehicle was very clean and in good condition, not like others i saw on island while we ere there. this place might not be the newest but it has been one of the cleanest, cosy places to stay where i left having really enjoyed my stay there, keep up the good work to all the staff i met and if i come back to aus i will stayt again
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5 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 10657)
basic hostel with a nice atmosphere, January 20, 2006
Reviewer:
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
I stayed here as part of my package to go to fraser island, the rooms and general hostel areas are basic but always kept very clean and tidy. The fraser trip was well organised and we had an excellent time and all 7 of us got our bonds back (which was even better). I had to write a review after i read the previous guy complaining about paying $900. we were told that the excess for our vehicle was $1000 and we only pay one seventh of that if we do bad damage, so how that com es anywhere near 900 bucks i do not know. I am an australian who lives in england now and i must say that this place is clean, tidy and evening meals are great and only cost 5 bucks, the pizza night on the weekends is good. SO people don't judge that other negative comment, go there and have a lot of fun at fraser island, enjoy some great food and cheap drinks. Overall i am pleased....thanks
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1 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 10658)
Wonderful and Friendly, January 10, 2006
Reviewer:
Pros:
n/a
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n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
My boyfriend and i came here from Germany, and stayed for 10 nights, we only booked for 7 but the staff allowed the extra as we had no other place to go. We found the place older, but clean, relaxing, fun and full of great people. It was affordable, and we had great food there, which is super cause when your overseas there is so much else to worry about let alone the food, but this food was Great! We really liked the German bus-driver too, he made the stay a hoot! Thanks, we reccomend the kookuburras! - Dorothea and Boyfriend
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1 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 10659)
good clean bed bug free, January 8, 2006
Reviewer:
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(4)
Atmosphere
(4)
It is an older place but a few things make the stay great.The swimmingpool is a cool place to refresh in the heat and the plastic sheets a bit annoying but at the same time I know it is clean and has no bed bugs like a lot of other places. Sheets are suplplied free of charge and the friendly bus driver takes you free of charge to the bus stop and wakes you up in the morning so you don't oversleep and miss your bus. I did not need to worry about food shopping as there was dinner to choose from and the esky for the fraser island trip is being packed to your wishesmarianne from germany
2 of
2 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 10660)
Boycott Kookaburra, January 6, 2006
Reviewer:
jeff gails
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
saw things this way
Maintenance
(1)
Cleanliness
(1)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
(1)
Attention all backpackers. The owner of Kookaburra backpacker is a filthy, lying cheat. My girlfriend and I rented a 4WD from him, and by no fault of our own, the 4WD broke down on Fraser Island. So not only did that ruin our trip to Fraser Island, but the owner charged us $900 for repairs. Please, do yourselves (and us) a favor and BOYCOTT KOOKABURRA. Thanks.
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2 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 10661)
Quiet, friendly and cheap, October 15, 2005
Reviewer:
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
Hey this place might not be the newest place I have stayed in but has been the friendliest. The tour they organised to fraser island was awesme and well worth it. from the moment i got picked up on the bus by a nice young man working his 3rd day there to the great food and heaps of advice about fraser. this place is a1. well done to all the staff i met and i will see you again next time i am back australia
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(Review ID: 10662)
Not Great, May 24, 2005
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Pros:
n/a
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Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(2)
Cleanliness
(2)
Facilities
(2)
Atmosphere
(2)
The only reason we ended up in this hostel was part of a Fraser package.If it had not been free I would not have stayed there the 2nd night.Double rooms were couch beds and dorm beds had plastic on them that were near impossible to sleep on.Walls were also paper thin so if you are looking for sleep this is not the place.Staff on the other hand would encourage you to stay there as they were so nice.Food was also cheap and ok.Showers have glass partitions!!!!!!Another thing we found annoying is the fact you have to buy your drink from the hostel for going to Fraser!!
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2 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 10663)
Looked after us well in difficult circumstances, July 12, 2004
Reviewer:
Fwoggieuk
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
saw things this way
Maintenance
(5)
Cleanliness
(5)
Facilities
(5)
Atmosphere
(5)
My brother and I ended up Kookaburras as part of a wanderers package - we were going from Melbourne to Cairns. We were meant to only stay 2 nights - one before Fraser and one night after. At first sight I wasn't fully impressed - it is a bit worn out, air con and a swimming pool woulda been nice, but not at the price I'd paid. However, despite a major heatwave (45C+ in the day in the shade!) it was still relatively comfortable. My brother ended up with heatstroke after we'd done Fraser because he was a dickhead and didn't wear any hat, shirt or suncream, and they happily gave us a lift to the hospital so I could get him sorted out, then made sure we could stay (he was too ill to travel on) despite being extremely pushed for beds. For that we're both very grateful. Excellent staff (mostly other backpackers, but unfailingly polite), dinner was also very good. Nice porch out the back under shade to relax in. Excellent and organised tour to Fraser.It might not be new, but it makes up for that in sheer effort, charm and character.
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1 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 10664)
great if you like plastic covers on matress, April 13, 2004
Reviewer:
johnb
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
saw things this way
Maintenance
(2)
Cleanliness
(2)
Facilities
(2)
Atmosphere
(2)
i stayed here about 2wks ago firstly it did have a good atmosphere however the plastic matress made a horrible noise when you turn at night i don't know about this free food thing cos when i asked them i was told there is NO free breakfast or dinner they try to arrange an offer where you spend i think it was $12 and could eat as much pizza as you like but on the night i was there nobody wanted reason being i went down to pizza hut for there all you can eat buffet and a lot of the people staying in the hostel was there! shows how good the hostels dinner offer is? also somebody mentioned in a previous review abot people waking you up at 5am there absolutely right don't plan on sleeping much later than that sorry if this review is not what you want to here but it's what i saw when i was there hope it helps
