Swansea Backpackers — Hotel in Tasmania

Worst place I've stayed in Tasmania.

Overpriced for what it is by about double. Poor by backpacker standards and shocking by any other. Small poorly maintained rooms, no heating or cooling, beds not made, towels a decade old from an op shop, staff with poor English and no local knowledge, no information available about the town or surrounds. Reminds me of a prison. A modern prison or remand centre. If you've visited a prison you'll see what I mean when you get here.

Characterless place, unwelcoming, with a keypad entry locked front door for security so you can't even come in when you arrive to check-in unless you happen to find someone to let you in - and the back door to the same area isn't even locked! You can just walk around the corner and in the back! It's like it was designed to make people feel unwelcome and inconvenienced but achieve nothing else.

The town is terrible for takeaway. The worst town in Tasmania. The prided fish and chip type shop is 2x or 3x what it's prices should be and utterly revolting, the pizza place is worse than dominos at 4x the price, and that's it - there is nothing else. They need a good regular takeaway shop to open up.and out both places out...

If you're thinking of staying here, keep driving. I've stayed in dozens of backpacker accommodations around the world and this is in the top 5 worst. The place is managed remotely and staffed by travelers, which may be a cheap way of operating, but in practice it means the place is filthy. Kitchens, bathrooms, living areas only seem to get a cursory once over with a sponge or vacuum. The ovens are covered in old food and therefore useless, and it doesn't feel safe to use the crockery because no one cleans up after themselves. There is no hostel culture, no organised activities or any one person seemingly in charge - everyone just sits on the couch on their phones. Private rooms are $85, which is outrageous considering the rooms consist of just a double bed and a bunk, and you have to pay $5 to use the laundry on top of that. As a comparison, at the backpackers in Bicheno, a private room for $85 includes a TV and a heater, free laundry, and a semi private kitchen area. My advice, if you're car camping or cycle touring: drop in for a shower if you're desperate ($5), fill up your water at the sink, and keep going to Mayfield where you can camp for free. You won't...

Visited at the start of the year and was really disappointed with the service and facilities. For $40 a night for a single night stay, I would rather sleep in my car. Bedding facility was ok - had curtains for privacy. The dorm's fly screen was broken and couldn't wind in the window. Had two smokers smoking outside at 2am. Bathroom was dirty, taps were broken and had spiders and their webbing hanging from the shower window. Wasn't pleasant. I booked for two nights, but seeing how terrible the first night was, I ended up packing my bags and left. Upon speaking to management, they didn't want to refund me for my second night. Would have been nice to have the money returned. I believe they are undergoing a renovation at the moment. This would definitely be a good step seeing there's not many other places to stay around there - especially if you're looking for budget accomodation when visiting Freycinet National Park.

Hi Chris. I see you have recently taken over the place and given it a revamp. I would've stayed with the previous owners. It looks much better now....