Sleep, swim, drink, eat, BUNK (Bunk (Brisbane, Australia))

Member Name: aylawarner

Product:	Bunk (Brisbane, Australia)
Date:	11/06/09 (79 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A superb hostel - everything

Disadvantages: Nest of little visitors but this didn't phase us

Bunk hostel is just on the very outskirts of the city centre of Brisbane (about a 10 minute walk) near the nightlife and entertainment of Fortitude Valley and directly next to Chinatown. If you arrive by bus or train into the Brisbane transit centre, the courtesy Bunk van will come and collect you.

The hostel was really lovely - clean and modern and was probably one of the best looking places we stayed in. This may be due to the fact that they not only offer hostel accommodation but stylish loft apartments too. The hostel offers a variety of rooms from singles, twins, doubles and dorms, all with stylish modern décor. We booked an 8 bed dorm costing us $28 a night per person (roughly £14). The dorm was lovely and one of the best we came across with a screen down the middle of the room with 4 sets of bunks on either side giving each bed some privacy. There were enough big lockers for everyone to use and an ensuite with separate toilet and shower rooms so we never had to wait around to use them. There was a huge window completely covering one side of the room which gave us lots of light and sun.

Now, before I go into the bad experience we had here, I really must say that we absolutely loved this hostel and, apart from this, there was no bad parts. On our side of the room (furthest away from the door and in the darkest corner of the room) we found out that we had a nest of baby cockroaches. I first came across them when I opened up a locker and there were a couple inside. At first I didn't really think anything of it and just used a different locker instead but I was quite surprised as the place didn't look like it would attract cockroaches. However, we kept seeing more and more of them - they were crawling all along the floor and wall past our beds, in the lockers, and our lower bunk as well as the girls' bunk next to ours, even had a few on. We spoke to reception about this a few times and each time they came up to our room, sprayed some bug spray and got rid of the ones they could see, but there was obviously a nest under the skirting board as they just kept crawling out. My husband and I ended up sharing the top bunk bed and the girls in the next bed also shared their top bunk because we'd seen a few on the bottom bunks. I know they can climb walls and reach the top bunk but the further away we were from them the better. We just tried as hard as possible to keep our mouths closed while we were sleeping! On our departure though, management had been told about of the situation and we each got a discount so it ended up working out that we only paid for one person each night seeing as we had only used the one bed. I was so happy with the staff and their service and they were so helpful and friendly and didn't even hesitate when we complained. They were however very shocked to see even a single cockroach in the hostel as they'd never had any before. All other guests in the hostel hadn't had any problems either. I think it was just that we were in a dark corner of the room, which was always hot with the sun shining on it, and the nest was just unfortunate for us. The place was truly spotless and this is somewhere that you just wouldn't expect any bugs to be.

Anyway, onto other parts of the hostel. The reception area is large and has a tours and activities desk where you can book up anything from local activities to other popular attractions in Australia. For local attractions, in most cases, the van will take you there for free. There is an internet café with lots of computers with speedy internet and the hostel offer cheap international phone cards which you can use on the hostel's phones. Upstairs, they have a large kitchen with plenty of room to keep your food in and you can stock up in the huge supermarket just a 10 minute walk away. The kitchen has all the equipment you could need and plenty enough to go around and lots of tables to sit at.

Another reason to stay at Bunk is due to the bar and restaurant attached to the hostel. Birdee Num Num offers some great deals at happy hour on both food and drink, a BBQ on Sundays, and even a free BBQ at happy hour for those staying in the hostel! Obviously you have to make sure you get there early though as all backpackers will be there as soon as they hear the word 'free'! The bar itself is open until late with great music and is a great place to meet other likeminded people. As well as having many people from the hostel there, there were also many locals and other travellers in the bar and we met and enjoyed the evenings with a great group of people. I will be doing a separate review on the bar soon! The hostel's pool is actually in the bar area where you can relax in the cool water at the same time as enjoying the music and a drink in a plastic cup!

This is a really fabulous modern and funky hostel which, despite our little bug problem, I'm still giving 5 stars as the hostel really does deserve it. And I hate and freak out at any bug like crazy which means that the place must have been truly fantastic! I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again and would probably be the only place I looked at in Brisbane. If you're thinking of staying here but are put off by the cockroaches, please don't be, as there are loads of rooms so it's very unlikely that you'd end up in the same one as us (plus they're probably all gone by now) and none of the other rooms had this problem anyway. Bunk was a brilliant place to stay, have fun and enjoy the sights of Brisbane.

Summary: Awarded Best Hostel in Queensland Award 2008