Backpackers By The Bay

Really nice hostel, reception staff especially could not do enough for us and were super kind during our stay. There's hammocks and an outdoor gym which we loved! You're slightly outside of airlie centre, but very close to the greyhound stop, and we found that we didn't mind being slightly outside as it meant our hostel was always quiet and calm. The only thing that spoilt my stay was one of the staff members (Claire) coming into my room at 3am to have extremely loud sex which kept me awake for quite a while. I found this very disrespectful and mostly I wish she'd gone to her own room! Felt like I couldn't complain as she seems to be a fairly important staff member and it was certainly very weird to see her cleaning the kitchen the next morning! Apart from this we had a great stay, it was just quite unlucky.

Good location, about 5-10min away from city centre and harbour. But that's about it. I thought it was quite pricey for what we got, dodgy bedroom, not sure the floor has been cleaned and the sheets had writings on them. The bathroom were quite dirty as well. Not to mention that we didn't meet anyone upon arrival (keys were in an enveloppe hanged on the wall) nor when leaving. I guess it's a good spot if you want to party

A very cozy and eclectic hostel with great staff. Hands down the best hostel in Airlie. It has nice facilities, a really nice and fun outdoor gym, a nice swimming pool, chill hammock area, and has good showers and a very clean and stocked kitchen. It’s the only hostel that does long term stays in town and they have a very nice and welcoming community

Backpackers by the Bay is an amazing hostel and one of the best hostels I have stayed in during my time in Australia. From the moment I arrived I was welcome by their fantastic staff who were extremely friendly, warm and welcoming. They were such a great help and are a credit to the hostel (Amena and Marie). They helped create a welcoming and happy environment between all guests, ensuring long term and short term guests interacted, helping create a family style environment which many appreciated due to many being solo Backpackers. I loved the outside seating area/common area. It was a great addition to the hostel that allowed individuals to relax and chat, something the other hostels lacked. I loved movie nights with the other guests, the hammocks, large variety of books/games and pool table. I found it amazing that events were organised every so often e.g. games night, gender bender event and sports games, all with great hosts! The hostel was regularly cleaned by their amazing house keeping staff who were always on top of everything, from ensuring all required utensils were available and facilties were maintained. I could not recommend this hostel enough to anyone and am sad to leave. I do know that I will be back and will stay here again, recommending it to anyone I know visiting Airlie.

This hostel is in serious need of a full renovation and refurbishment. It is extremely shabby and in a derelict way. The walls in the dorm room were filthy and need desperate painting. The curtain was mouldy, threadbare and dirty and needs immediate replacing. The aircon unit was so old I didn't dare touch it. The only plug sockets were extension leads attached to the wall and nowhere near the beds. No individual reading light by the bed. A small metal box is provided (attached to a shelf) that you can lock small items in but it didn't look very sturdy or secure. The bathrooms reminded me of 90s UK school PE changing rooms and smelt like them too! Actually, the whole hostel smelt musty and of sweaty feet. Didn't look like any cleaning took place during my stay. The floors and carpets were filthy. Common areas too small for amount of people and the kitchen was disgusting. I wouldn't cook anything there. Fridges full to bursting so nowhere to store your items. The outside area was always full of smokers or full ashtrays so not pleasant to sit outside. The benches are falling apart and need to be replaced. The pool is so tiny you wouldn't be able to actually swim in it and there's no space around it to relax. Plus needs a good clean. Staff, though friendly, were all just backpackers with no knowledge of how to run a hostel and more interested in partying. Which happened very loudly in the common area until midnight. Lots of people living in the hostel long-term who seemed to dominate the hostel. Unfortunately the only other hostels in Airlie Beach are even worse! This hostel has great potential if only someone invested a bit of money into it and seriously renovated it to modern standards. It felt very overpriced to stay here given the facilities and the fact that it seems no upkeep is done.