This was a great hostel to stay at. I found the place through lonely planet and found this place to…read morebe an excellent option. I stayed here for 3 nights, did tons of hiking, and found the owner and workers to be awesome sources of options for entertainment. Also, one evening it was chilly and the owner stopped in and made spiced wine, perfect to ward off the chill. I highly recommend this place.

I am a traveler , and this place is the most diverse place I've ever seen. Amazing staff and great…read moreamenities. Besides the loads of money you'll save sharing a room with strangers, you have a chance to meet new people. They offer free pancakes in the morning, snacks for sale, and laundry. If you arrive early they have locked luggage storage. The view from the deck! No hostel can top it. A view of the bridge and opera house. And the location is so perfect for touristy things. They are in a safe neighborhood called "the rocks" with plenty of things to see and eat. 5 minute walk to the trains, buses, and taxis.

I enjoyed staying here except for the two that I was paired with. I had just flown 20 hours, was…read morenow 15 hours ahead of my normal time. They kept coming in and out of the room getting beer until 3am. I finally got up, took a shower, slept in the lobby until it was time to go to the cruise port. I would have paid for private room if I knew my experience would have been this. I was offered a different room but didn't want to be that person and wake up someone by going into their room at 3am.

A beautiful hostel with a romantic feel…read more We stayed in a private room, complete with gorgeous headboard, towels, a sink, flat screen television, and balcony. Staff is great for information about the Sydney airport!

Pretty much the worst hostel I have ever stayed in. I've stayed in dozens. It's very very odd - and…read morepeople who stay for more than a little while realise all the weird strange behaviour - almost felt like witchcraft - going on in this place. Bullying staff and management, actually emotionally abusive. The decent one or two staff members don't know how to handle the crazy staff. Staff play mind games with guests, varying between being your best friend and your worst enemy, keeping everyone off kilter and on edge. If you have any sense of vibes, you will immediately pick it up - if you don't, you'll figure it out. Lots of weird quiet guests in the shadows, saying really strange things to people, lots of mind games - and the management kick out anyone with no notice or explanation - about 10 people kicked out over the course of 2 weeks for having harmless fun or "not telling, just go - rumours". Then they struggle to fill the beds, so they have heavily discounted rates. No other hostel I have ever been to engage in such bizarre high school power dynamics. Basically they just let guests sort things out and don't do endless rumour and innuendo. Takes a while to figure out, as there are one or two of us groups who have all the fun. The staff get uptight and close up any social outdoor seating and the tv room after about 11 pm. Even if you're not disturbing anyone. You have to wait till they go home, but they make sure everything is locked up so that no one can actually relax. Then, they go around blacklisting at other hostels anybody who says that they want to check out early, or who they kick out, to try to prevent them from checking in anywhere else, even if they haven't told them what is supposedly done wrong. That's how insane they are. Or for minor misdeamnours. The hostels humour them, and then ignore them. Many guests left early as they felt uncomfortable, several of my mates left, we all went to a hostel elsewhere and relaxed and laughed and felt way better - the other hostels had all heard of Billabong and laughed when we mentioned it, their reputation as the last place to be for travellers precedes them. Guests are aggressively threatened and rebuked for peacefully congregating one minute, and then sidled up to the next, very strange. Then, they will be smiling and collecting stories on somebody else and threatening them. It's just a very strange place. Most who say "it's great!" stay short term before they realise. All outdoor areas are smoking and staff flaunt the no smoking section of the outdoors, so everybody else does, too, which is great if you are a chain smoker like most of us and sucks if you are not or are tying to give up - absolutely no chance in this place. Kind of smelly, dark rooms and cramped bathrooms, too, with no privacy or space to put anything. Gendered bathrooms with no transfriendly signage. Not a diverse place at all. Never any soap in dispensers. PS don't believe the reviews on Hostel World as they are are not independent and reviews can be changed or deleted by the hostel. Their response will come in hard for as much deflection and excuses and projection that they can because that's what they do. Sent from my iPhone

This was just what I needed!…read more I had to get escape Sydney for a bit, and was amped to check out the sand dunes in Newcastle for the weekend. So I took the train 3 hours up, and walked the 2 blocks from the station to the YHA. And talk about prime real estate! As soon as I walked in, I almost see the house's history seeping through the walls. After a quick tour, it was pretty obvious that this was an old gentlemen's club back in the day. It had that look about it - the old dancing hall, quaint private rooms, and of course a beautiful grand stairwell pouring into the front room. Due to its classic Victorian architectural design, it was easy to get lost in a nice, relaxing perch just about anywhere. The old dance hall, however, has been declared the main room for eating and social gathering. In this room you can join one of the many circles of travelers around the TV, the small library and book exchange, or any of the tables spread all over the room. I went up to Newcastle alone, but instantly made friends at the YHA. There were quite a few backpackers looking for work in the area, thus becoming leaders of the next night's random pub crawl through town! The hostel staff were great as well. One of the guys on staff at the time admitted that they didn't coordinate many events until last minute since the travelers kind of predicted how the nights went. And it makes sense really. Unless you're an obsessed fan of Silverchair, people come here mainly to check out the sand dunes; therefore forcing their nights to be cut short for the next's morning's early outing. But if you're night is free, the nightlife is well worth the time. Oh and fyi, If you ARE a Silverchair fan, you are in luck! I've been told that no matter what there's always someone in the hostel who can tell you where to go to find any of the native band members. Btw I love that people actually still care about this. Woo! 1990s! Silverchair yeah! Anyway stay here. This hostel is rocks. There's no way a place this grandiose could let you down.

Roomy and friendly backpackers occupying an interesting historical building with lots of character…read moreand original features. As the name suggests it's close to the beach, there are also many bars and restaurants nearby and the bus terminus is a short walk away. For supplies, there's a convenience store (Foodworks) just a few minutes walk across to the opposite corner of Pacific Park or there are supermarkets (Marketown and Coles) if you travel west across town on the bus. We stayed in a large dorm for the first night before moving to a private room once one became available for the rest of our stay. The shared dorm accommodation we stayed in was basic and comprised of four sets of bunk beds (it was a large room though, they weren't packed in), lockers and ensuite facilities, and was situated just off the main reception area and hallway. There are other shower and toilet facilities located throughout the building if one of your roommates is taking too long in the shower! The private room was upstairs and comprised of two single beds, bedside table and wall mounted TV with built in DVD player which was a bonus we weren't expecting. No frills but perfect for the price for the budget conscious traveller. The one drawback from our stay here was the lack of air con - the summer heat was stifling at night, and opening the window just let the mozzies in as there are no insect screens. The kitchen is in the basement of the building and does get busy at certain times, but I was always able to grab a space to prep my meals. There are gas hobs, one countertop mini oven, fridge and freezer space plus lots of shelf space. There's a dining area just off the kitchen, and there are coin operated laundry facilities on this level too. There's a large common room on the ground floor which used to be a ballroom in the days that this building was home to a gentleman's club, and it still evokes its grand past with wood panelled walls and leather couches. Comfortable and with lots of space to chill out and socialise. There's a TV and DVD player with a large selection of DVDs, board games, books, table tennis and pool table, and access to the small outdoor space with BBQ. The staff here were very friendly and welcoming and the hostel felt like more than just a bed for the night, there was a good community feel and I enjoyed spending a bit of down time here too. The boards were updated every day with weather forecasts and events and suggestions of things to do in Newcastle. You can also get free hire of surf boards and body boards from the staff at reception as well as book day trips (we did the Hunter Valley wine tour - would highly recommend!).

Home of Hunter & Co locally made beer!…read more A great spot to stop for lunch or why not stay in the motel where rooms are well priced And the food oh my good - one dish can easily feed three!!!! I'd recommend this place for the Hunter Valley to do list

Waited 80 for food and was told our food could be thrown out when we asked about it…read more Service apart from this one person was great. The wait too long with kids however. And others in our party received food 30 minutes prior to us. Nice looking venue.