Pretty much the worst hostel I have ever stayed in. I've stayed in dozens. It's very very odd - and people 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.
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