The Pickled Frog — Hotel in Hobart

I don’t usually leave negative reviews, but my experience at The Pickled Frog was frustrating enough that I feel others should be warned.

I booked this hostel because it advertised free WiFi — but it simply doesn’t work. At all. This isn’t a one-off issue either. After checking recent reviews, it’s clear the WiFi has been broken for months, yet they continue to promote it as a feature. When I raised it, I was told, “I’ve not heard anything,” which was hard to take seriously given how widespread the complaints are.

To their credit, the manager has set up a temporary WiFi solution — but it only works in the reception area, and reception is locked at night. So unless you plan on sitting in the front room while it’s open, good luck getting online after 8PM. Like many others, I’ve had to spend extra topping up my mobile data just to stay connected.

The TV room advertises “We have Netflix,” but that’s another misleading claim. The TV has no way to access Netflix. Instead, staff play pirated movies in the lounge during the evenings, which is not only unprofessional but just uncomfortable to witness.

The hostel is absolutely freezing at night — guests were waking up cold. There’s clearly not enough heating, and for somewhere in Tasmania, that’s not just inconvenient, it’s unacceptable. On top of that, the check-in email I received didn’t include the correct door code for my room, so I was locked out on arrival. A poor first impression and completely avoidable stress.

While I didn’t use it personally, several other guests warned me not to bother with the on-site laundry. It’s $5 per wash and $5 per dry, but apparently the machine doesn’t clean your clothes properly and the dryer leaves them damp — so you end up having to hang everything up anyway. A waste of money and time.

Personal belongings were also stolen during my stay. While that may not be the hostel’s direct fault, it says a lot about the overall environment and guests. Speaking of guests, there are a few who actually live in the hostel and this has gone to their head. They act like they own the place as they bully and isolate those who aren't in the clique.

Honestly, I could go on — but it’s not my job to document every issue raised by other guests. That said, all it takes is one evening in the common room to hear a stream of horror stories from people who’ve stayed here. Most seem to agree that the management adds complaints to a list, never fixes them, and just shrugs it all off with a “she’ll be right” attitude.

This place added more stress than comfort to what’s meant to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I really regret choosing this hostel. Absolutely would...

"Low-key hotel with free wi-fi" is a bold description considering there was no WiFi during the whole week of our stay.

The men's bathrooms were among the worst I've ever seen in a hostel and are almost by themselves the reason for this grade. Only one tiny sink in the entirety of the floor for everyone, you can imagine how you would have to rush in the morning. The soap box next to the tap was also empty for the time being. The showers smelled like pee, had no doors (but the girls get to have doors for some reason) and only 2 little hooks to hang all your belongings. And of course the toilet seats were often covered in poop 💩

The 14 beds dorm smelled, which you can expect if you're gonna go by this option of course, but some aeration system (like windows you can actually open) wouldn't hurt either. And why so little plugs? 14 people and you have only 4 energy sockets, that sucks.

Finally, the fridge in the kitchen was pretty damn weak (can't save some meat in there for more than 2 days) and also smelled like dead fish..

Despite this stuff really annoying me, some other aspects of the hotel were very good however. The kitchen is spacious, with many stoves and OPENED 24 hours. This is a great feat that more hostels should consider having.

The common area also is massive, with seats and tables for everyone and many plugs to charge your devices (although half of them don't work). A big TV with Netflix is really nice, pool table and arcade games. The vibe, finally, is very festive. If you wanna meet people, it's the place to be, but if you wanna rest it's really not.

Overall, I can't go over the bad things I started my review with and would say I didn't like my experience too much. It's more of a low than a high, but if we could put half stars I guess the place would deserve a 2.5 more than a 2. It's very mid - and yet you can easily see how it could become top tier with...

To preface the rest of this review, my friend and I spent four nights in a damp, freezing cold tent after our stay at the Pickled Frog, and had a ten times more comfortable experience. While the staff were lovely, and there was a friendly social atmosphere, the lack of hygiene in this place was enough to drive us away a day early. For nearly $40 a night, this place is not worth it.

While the women’s toilets were fine enough, the men’s bathroom was feral. There was a permanent layer of condensation on the ceiling, which would drip down on my friend as he would brush his teeth. Under this layer of water you could clearly see mould. There was little ventilation and a permanent stench.

This same stench pervaded the bedrooms, which were just as damp and cold. The window of our six person dorm was covered in condensation to the point where you could not see out of it. This was condensation from within the building…There was a row of half-drunk glasses of water and off-smelling juice, which suggested that these rooms hadn’t been properly cleaned for a while. The beds were awful. They would squeak with the slightest movement - I’d definitely recommend some WD40. The duvet was somehow crusty and damp at the same time, and smelt like it hadn’t been washed.

It should be noted that the kitchen was fine, there is a social vibe in the common area, and the staff were very knowledgeable about Tasmania and helped us plan the rest of our trip. But unfortunately the negatives outweigh the positives.

Overall, our experience could be summarised as smelly, damp and cold. We’ve stayed in hostels all around the world and this is the most unhygienic. A dehumidifier or two would work overtime...