After a few days spent in Melbourne in 2018 and 1 month in 2019, especially for the Australian Open, I had the opportunity to test no less than 6 hostels! I give you here my opinion on each one of them.

• For comfortable budgets

• Space hotel

If you really have a comfortable budget (especially in the summer) I recommend this hostel. This is really the must of hostels! I had the opportunity to stay there in May so the rates were still reasonable ($ 32 a night) compared to over $ 45 in summer time! They make weeks formulas including two dinners. The first time I entered this hostel I felt like a real hotel. It is located at 380 Russel Street in the north central part of Melbourne. I have not tested in summer but I imagine that given the range there must be AC.

Positive points :

– Cleanliness
– Mini bathrooms (once entered you will have toilet, sink, shower for you)
– Very large kitchen, recent and with lots of tables
– Large individual cupboard + shelf with light and personal electrical outlets
– Bar with pool on the ground floor
– Rooftop with spa, gym, movie theater

Negative points :

– The price
– Slightly off-center (even if the center is not very big to walk)
– Atmosphere a bit colder than in other hostels

• United

Although it’s a bit cheaper than the space hotel ($ 32 in summer) this hostel is still one of the most expensive in the city. I stayed only two nights (no availibility in other hostels) and it did not feel thrilled more than that. It is however very well located 250 Flinders street. My room did not have AC, just some fans.

Positive points :

– Location
– Nice common spaces
– Bar with organized games in the basement and a drink offered for each reservation

Negative points :

– Not a lot of bathrooms
– The fan above the head (yes because I do not like it at all!)
– The price

• For parties

• Ritz for backpackers

This is the hostel where I stayed at the beginning of my stay in Melbourne. Well, at St Kilda, 169B Fitzroy Street. Actually I was a skint and I said to myself that with some free food at least I would not starve! But the hostels celebrations is not too much of my thing, at least in Australia where the occupants spend part of the night sitting on the ground on the sidewalk to drink goon … The rooms are overcrowded because as the groups want to stay together (and not always room for renewal) couples sleep in a single small bed to leave a bed (so free) to friends.

Positive points :

– Location (near beach and chapel street)
– Free food (pasta, rice, pancakes)

Negative points :

– No respect for the no party-goers, no management by the managers
– Some bathrooms need to ne renovated
– The kitchen is quite small
– The relatively high price for quality
– Manager not always very nice
– Two people max who can work in exchange for the bed

• The lower end hostels

• All Nations

I stayed here for one night on my first visit to Melbourne ($ 25 in low season). It’s located 2 spencer street. I was coming back from the Great Ocean Road and had my plane early the next day. It’s a little less good in range but it’s still correct. But it’s common showers (male / female) and it’s not really the luxury. There were only workers in my room who had left the window open all night (in May!).

Positive points :

– Location (near the southern so perfect for the skybus)
– Not expensive

Negative points :

– Old fashionned
– Noisy (train AND tram)

• Greenhouse

Stayed 2-3 nights while the Europa hostel was full ($ 29 / night in the summer). It is located 228 Flinders Lane. The hostel itself is very good but the attendance is not always top. In any case I had a bad experience. Workers who come back in the room drunk at 4am, are very very noisy, not able to lie in their beds. There was someone else with me who had a surprise drunk guest in bed because he had fallen 😯 He had requested to change rooms the next day but the next was obviously worse … I saw in Google that it was closed for a while, they may have done some improvement work.

Positive points :

– Location (direct in the center but not on a big artery and close to the police station)
– Nice common areas
– Security (access to each floor with a badge)

Negative points :

– Potentially not that great company

• The best

• Europa

For me it’s the best hostel I tested in Melbourne. I found that the managers had taken all the good sides of the hostels of the city trying to do the same. So certainly it’s not as “top” as the space hotel but it’s much more correct in price ($ 27 per night in summer) so we can not expect as much in infrastructure. It is located at 310 Queen Street. For me it’s the best value for money in Melbourne.

Positive points :

– Mini bathrooms (once you enter you will have toilet, sink, shower for you but not as well ventilated as the space hotel)
– Cold room (but be careful with the theft so pack well in bags so that your food is not easily “catchable”)
– Individual closet + shelf with light and electrical outlets + curtains in the beds (after it’s difficult to go to hostels without!)
– Free food (pasta, rice, pancakes)
– A lot of possibility to do housework in exchange for housing

Negative points :

– Slightly off-center (even if the center is not very big to walk)
– A bit too open to everyone (easy to get in) so it happens that there is a squatter on the sofas
– Common part (chill) rather small
– The rooms in the basement are really hot in summer

PS: I did not try the really low-end at $ 15 a night because some serve squatting homeless and drug users. Look at the reviews before booking!