The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps
Price? S$95/~A$80 per night Accommodation Type: Airbnb Room, Private Toilet (airbnb.com.sg/rooms/913192) When? 2 nights in October 2013 Our experience? We were flying in from Melbourne and our friend drove us from the airport to the airbnb place. And by the time we reached the place, it was already dark. We couldn’t …
Price? ~S$115/A$99 per night Accommodation Type: Airbnb Room, Ensuite Toilet (airbnb.com.sg/rooms/990963) When? 4 nights in October 2013 Our experience? We missed our flight to reach Melbourne at night, so we caught another midnight flight and reached the place very early in the morning. And even though, we had to trouble Wendy (the host) to …
We arrived at Halls Gap (Grampians) after our Great Ocean Road drive and stayed for a night. Our accommodation is Grampians Eco YHA, an eco-certified youth hostel that has been designed with the environment in mind.
Price? ~A$27 to A$30 per person per night
Accommodation Type: Hostel, 3 Share Mixed Room
When? 1 night in October 2013
www.yha.com.au/hostels/vic/regional-victoria/grampians-halls-gap
Nice Design and Eco Friendly: We were blown away by the hostel’s design, both the exterior and interior were nicely blended into its natural surroundings. The whole place, except the room, looked classy in its wooden form. It was also designed to be eco-friendly. Moreover, instructions were pasted everywhere to remind us to be eco-friendly!
Maintenance: The place was clean and well-maintained, even the toilets were in tip top condition. It’s not run down like other youth hostels I stayed in the past.
Location: The accommodation is only 2 mins drive away from the city center, Halls Gap. However, most of the time we spent our time in the nature, so it didn’t matter much. Just being in the vicinity of Halls Gap was convenient to access the nature trails.
Toilet: The toilet was near to our room, so it was convenient. However for some rooms, the guests have to walk through a hallway of rooms to reach the toilet. So depending if you prefer convenience or privacy, request a room to your preference.
Not crowded. Diverse guest profile: The place was not crowded probably because we were there during the low season. Another thing, we were surprised to see quite a number of elderly folks around this youth hostel. But we could see that they were young at heart! They did not mind sharing the toilets and kitchens and were friendly. We did simple cooking with maggi mee and spam from the supermaket, but they whipped up a storm!
Kitchen and dining hall: Talking about the kitchen, it was clean and had all the necessary appliances and utensils for cooking and eating. Most guests were courteous and cleaned up after use. Their dining hall had a nice window scenery too.
No free wifi: We had to pay to use the WiFi connection, but we decided to go offline.
Reception Hours: The receptionists were friendly, that is if we could find anyone at the front desk. They’re not there 24/7. So, the check in time is strict, otherwise do tell them if you will be late or early for someone to be there for you. But you can check out any time. Simply drop off the keys in a box when you leave. However this was bad for us because we needed directions to Melbourne when we were leaving the hostel. No one was there to help us out. Thank God, they had already came in for their shift and were in the back office. So when we rang the front desk bell, someone came out to help us.
Highly recommended! Nice hostel as compared to many other hostels I have stayed in. But if you are looking for service, mini fridge, etc, remember this is still a hostel, regardless of its nice design.
By the way, we got their mixed shared triple room because it was still quite expensive for us to get their private rooms. Hence, we paid by per bed, and hoped the hostel was not crowded and no third person would join us. And in the end, we did have the whole room to ourselves without getting the private room! :)
Related Posts: Great Ocean Road Self Drive Itinerary (1/2) Drive to 12 Apostles from Melbourne (2/2) Warrnambool and Port Fairy of Great Ocean Road Accommodation Review: Pebble Point (Princetown)
Travels During October 2013 | Updated in July 2016
Disclaimer: All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. Travel.joogo.sg and/or the author shall not be held responsible for any injury, loss, expense or damage of any kind whatsoever suffered or incurred by any person who accesses or uses the information and external websites stated above. Full disclaimer here.
If you have been following our Great Ocean Road self drive itinerary, you will know we made a stop at Warrnambool. So if you are staying for a night like us, read on for our review of an airbnb in Warrnambool. And find out more about …
If you’ve been following our Great Ocean Road Itinerary, you will see that we had purposely stopped over at Princetown and not the popular towns like Apollo Bay and Port Campbell. That’s because we wanted to try Glamping at Pebble Point! It was our first …
▲ Accommodation | ▲ Perth, Margaret River
Riverview Tourist Park (www.riverviewtouristpark.com)
Price? A$320 (incl. VAT) for 3 nights, via booking.com
Accommodation Type: Chalet with Kitchen (3 Guests)
When? October 2013
Where? Margaret River
Our experience? We arrived just after 7:00 pm and the reception was already closed. Wanted to use the payphone that was outside their office to call them, but… the line was dead. Fortunately, we managed to borrow a local mobile phone from someone staying in the park and contacted one of the staff (via their emergency tel no.). Turned out our keys were in the key drop box and we could have just gotten them without calling. Anyhow, in the box were our keys, the map to our cabin, and a complimentary packet of milk (which was a nice touch).
What say us? “Comfortable Cabin”
✔ Overall the stay was comfortable.
✔ It had most things we needed – a comfortable bed (2 in fact), a fully equipped kitchen (microwave, refrigerator, cooking utensils, etc), and a clean toilet (with towels).
✔ Location was not too bad. Short drive to the main road and visitor centre.
✘ One thing to note is the heat, or the lack of. We were there in October and it gets quite chilly at night. The heater was at the kitchen (central), but the heat wasn’t strong enough to reach our beds. So even with the heating and blankets, the room was still not warm enough (for us anyway). So if you’re afraid of the cold, be prepared to wear an extra layer before you sleep.
✘ Oh, the wifi was non-existent from our cabin. We had to make our way to the common area/kitchen to get decent wifi.
Recommended? Recommend for families travelling on a budget. The cabins are great for families IMO. Or if you’re just looking for a no-frills place to crash for your Margaret River visit.
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Updated: 11 December 2013
Disclaimer: All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. Travel.joogo.sg and/or the author shall not be held responsible for any injury, loss, expense or damage of any kind whatsoever suffered or incurred by any person who accesses or uses the information and external websites stated above. Full disclaimer here.
▲ Accommodation | ▲ Perth Baileys Hotel Motel (www.baileysmotel.com.au) Price? Groupon Deal of A$135 for 2 nights and wi-fi When? October 2013. Where? 150 Bennett Street, East Perth, WA What say us? “Average but comfortable” ✔ It was a comfortable stay. Everything in the room was as advertised. Clean room and toilet. Room …