Backpackers By The Bay

One of my best times spent here in Australia. I spent 4 or 5 months in this hostel for the extension and I absolutely loved it. The staff is great, the rooms are nice and the common areas are perfect for making friends. Everyone is in a good mood and the atmosphere is really friendly. ♡ I made friends for life and had a great time in Airlie Beach.

Absolutely amazing social hostel! Super clean with a great atmosphere, just a short walk to the beach. The staff are incredibly helpful and genuinely lovely, and the nightlife is brilliant — always something fun going on. Couldn’t recommend it more!

I lived in this amazing hostel 6 months and I could never dreamed with a better experience, the friends that I made there and the experiences were absolutely out of this world. Amena the manager did an incredible job running the place, completely dedicated to her job and you could notice that she loved doing it, this and the rest of the team made the place feel like a home and family. I am extremely grateful with everything regarding the hostel. The rooms were in comfortable, kitchen and common area were cleaned three times per day and reception always with a smile willing to help. Love this place deeply and will always consider it a second home. A thanks is not enough for everything Backpackers by the Bay did for me.

By far the best hostel in airlie beach for me. The staff is amazing and really makes it feel like a home. I have stayed here for 3 months and really enjoyed it!

Was a long term in this hostel and by far made my entire Australia trip. The staff, owners and managers are incredible and go above n beyond for any issues you needed. Felt like my home away from home but made so many lifelong friends during the months I stayed here for! Cannot wait to go back as the location is perfect and lots of activities around to do on your travels.

I lived in this hostel for 3 1/2 months and absolutely loved it! Brilliant staff, very homely vibe. Even after moved out I spent most my time there as the vibe, people and place is so good. Will miss it for sure. Shout out to the manager Amena for being the most lovely, friendly and helpful hostel worker I have ever met.

BED BUGS, DIRT AND UNAPOLOGETIC STAFF. A group of us stayed in this hostel for 4 days. On the second night I found one bedbug on my pillow on the top bunk of a bed that was located below an air con system. Upon research I found that bed bugs tend to live in electricity outlets including sockets and air conditioning units. I did not tell my group as a didn't want to cause hysteria within a clean and hyper conscientious cohort. We chose this hostel on the basis that the other more popular and better rated hostels in the town were booked out. Upon checking out myself and the main guest made the incident aware to a member of staff followed by management. We received no apology for this and in fact were blamed for potentially bringing this infestation on site. We presented to the management the fact that we had just begun our travels and had purchased new suitcases and clothing specifically for our trip. But of course we shouldn't have had to prove ourselves to a staff member. Bearing in mind there were dirty socks left outside our "deep cleaned" room upon our arrival. As someone that has worked in high end customer service and hospitality roles for many years, I am familiar with the procedures that should follow when a client comes to you with a query and a complaint. Rule number one is to be apologetic. We asked for compensation and were kindly provided with money to thoroughly wash all of our belongings which we were very grateful for. But sadly we didn't receive an apology for the occurrence and no ownership for the the incident was taken by the staff on site. When looking through reviews online after the matter this clear lack of empathy and unprofessional approach is apparent in the rude responses to customer reviews.

the hostel itself was pretty good, cleaned regularly, cool A/C in each room. however the people staying there are awful vibe. ESPECIALLY THE LONG TERM GUESTS, they have such entitlement to place and are not welcoming or considerate of short stay guests. ||unfortunately had to spent 4 night here, stuck inside because of rain. had long term guest storm in and out of our room drunk turning on lights at 3am brining multiple guests (4+) into our 4 person room during night INCLUDING MEN IN OUR FEMALE DORM, totally inappropriate and unsettling. (literally paid extra for a female dorm for a man to be in there …? ) ||when we told reception on check out all she said was that’s not good, lightly apologised and gave us $20… do better.lack of respect from long term guests in that building is awful and not acceptable to be honest. ||also whilst i was having shower girls were playing hide and seek (totally fine whatever) but pushed my shower door twice trying to open it whilst i was in there, thinking i was the girl hiding. totally wrong of them to do so.||counted down the days to get out of that place …