Brisbane Backpackers — Hotel in Brisbane City

A CAUTIONARY TALE - BRISBANE BACKPACKERS RESORT HOSTEL

Just a word of warning for anyone who is thinking about choosing this hostel for long-term stay in West End, Brisbane. I'd been living here for nearly 8 weeks, initially in a 6-bed then a 4-bed for the last 3 weeks. Last Wednesday I left for work at 8am as normal, stayed at a friend's that night and returned to the hostel the following day after work around half 5. When I went to my room the key card wouldn't work which isn't unusual - but when I went down to the desk to get it reset I was horrified to discover that all of my personal things had actually been removed from this room and put elsewhere, as apparently the room was needed for a group booking. Now as you can imagine living here for almost 2 months none of my things were packed away. I had everything in the cupboard, items in the shower, clothes on my bed - and most importantly all of my diabetes medication in the room fridge. I couldn't believe that I had been away for the room for one night and this happened with absolutely no warning. When I asked why nobody had contacted me - the manager claimed not to have my details - which isn't true as I've messaged them directly on Facebook before. The hostel knew I was working full time, so obviously I'm not around during the day - when they packed up all my things into black bin bags and left it in another dorm. One of my items which had been thrown into the bin bag were my glasses - which I'd left in the cupboard next to my glasses case. Unfortunately nobody had the common sense or decency to put the glasses in their case before chucking them in the bag - and now they are bent out of shape. My insulin - which I need to keep me alive - had been moved into a different fridge. How long it was out of the fridge for I have no idea. The worst part about this is the managers attitude towards me in what was obviously a visibly distressing situation. Yes I'm a backpacker - but I'm still a human being who deserves to be treated with respect. There was absolutely no genuine empathy from him - he didn't want to try and understand why I was so upset and thought saying sorry a couple of times and refunding my stay for the week was enough - probably because it was half 5 and he actually told me he wanted to go home. So just know if you're staying here currently or thinking about booking in here long-term, that at any moment, and without warning, a complete stranger could be packing up all your things into bin bags and moving you into a different dorm - and don't expect them to be...

BBR is the best hostel I've stayed at in all of Australia and my 14 other countries. I stayed here for two weeks and loved it. Most of the time there's a great atmosphere outside with really friendly people all on their own personal journey. Everyone's good but no one is perfect, so here's where they can improve: 1) Buy a fly trap or electric zapper and use it at night. The fly problem is just that, a major problem (mainly when trying to enjoy a nice meal I made from their kitchen). 2) The hot tub is more of a cold tub. Although it's warmer than the pool, the hot tub doesn't reach over 32°C. 3) The 24 hour menu is pretty much all frozen food they just deep fry. I could have gone to Cole's and bought a frozen box if I wanted something that's gonna give me a heart attack. Positives: 1) The staff is super friendly and helpful! I really enjoyed seeing them everyday. 2) The rooms are pretty decent. Mine had the best balcony overlooking the scene below. I was only bothered by the noise a couple nights but I never had a hard time sleeping because of it (I slept right by the balcony door and usually had it open a little). 3) The old guys living there right now are a hell of a bunch and you've gotta get to meet them! Some days Todd will make a gourmet dinner and for $10 it's all you can eat! 4) The TV room is great and their sound system is 5 star... When it's not being taking over by George, a super old chap that I think is trying to live out his life in the hostel. But he'll be gone in a few days as management is kicking him out (he's caused a lot of trouble there). I plan on staying here Everytime I'm in Brisbane and I'll also be doing business with them for group travel packages. Thanks BBR team!...

I had a great experience for the last 2 months. Rooms and kitchen were cleaned thoroughly everyday, it has a swimming pool and a basketball court if you’re bored, laundry was affordable and it’s not cash only like at most hostels, the people staying there are very cool I definitely made some friends for life, staff was always smiling, nice to people and cool especially the night receptionist Matteo but there is another night receptionist who is the complete opposite. A month ago my mate and I were playing chess in the common area after midnight and he came up to us and said we have to leave, I get that people have to leave if they are too noisy but I don’t think chess is a really loud game :) same thing happened yesterday night we respected it and went inside to continue our game, some people around unrelated to us were noisy so he had to kick them out but then he told us go as well, when I told him we weren’t making any noise he told me I saw you guys being noisy as well (clearly a lie) and when I told him we were just playing chess he said you should’ve kept the others under control as if that’s my responsibility :D and then told us to get out. He definitely has some issues and is on a power trip, clearly got bullied in school or something. I hope they will deal...