Little Devil Backpackers, Hostel Review, Huonville, Tasmanian

After a few days at The Pickled Frog in Hobart I managed to bag myself a job in Cygnet on a strawberry farm. A quick conversation on the phone to the farmer and I found myself googling “Little Devil Backpackers”, like he had advised. I gave them a quick call to check there was space and then hopped on the bus from the corner of Elizabeth and Brisbane Street to Huonville. The ticket cost me a little over 10 bucks and the driver said he would give me a shout when I needed to get off.

The bus pulled up 40 minutes later next to a big yellow sign advertising the hostel, which was tucked behind a car garage and a pizza takeaway. David, the hostel manager, was there to greet me and show me to my dorm. The hostel is made up of three sections; the camp site, the main hostel, and the shared house. My room was in the shared house, and because the season was drawing to an end there weren't many others in there.

Now, I feel before I go any further I should explain I arrived here at the start of April, just as most of the fruit picking seasons are finishing. Because of this the hostel was not full, but had a group of 30 or so people across the three parts of accommodation. The weather was getting colder, jobs were fewer and earnings were dropping. This is worth keeping in mind as I never experienced queues for the shower or fighting for space in the oven.

The shared house was nice, 4 beds to a room, a large living room with dining areas and a nice kitchen. There was one en suit room and one shower for everyone else. I can imagine that could get busy at the hight of season and the hot water for the house is mainly heated by solar power. The room also had a big wardrobe that we were able to unpack into as we were all going to be there for a while.

The camp site was pretty basic. The main site was in the garden of the shared house and there was a shed for the campers to cook in and store food, as well as having dining areas and some sofas. When I was there is was getting really cold and the campers tended to go through to the hostel on an evening rather than staying in the shed. I'm sure that its nice in summer, but when you could see your own breath as you breath, I found it a little depressing!

The main hostel had the reception desk in and a few computers. The kitchen was pretty basic, it worked well when I was there, but again I can imagine it got pretty busy in summer. There was a great island in the middle of the kitchen that made for a great socialising centre, there was always people sat around here enjoying a drink, preparing food, playing poker or just chatting. Off the kitchen was a living space with some couches, bean bags and a big TV.

The camp site shed didn't have any hot water to wash dishes in and they main hostel and the campers had shared showering facilities where you had to pay to get hot water.

This is a working hostel so everyone there were out on farms through the day. Little Devils provide a small fleet of vehicles made of utes, mini buses and cars to ferry workers to and from farms. These can be used on days off as well, by special arrangement with either Val or David, and at a cost per head.

I really enjoyed staying there for a month, it was great fun and I met loads of lovely people. Would I stay there again? Honestly, don't know. It is nice, lovely even. Full of great people and comfy rooms, the staff were nice and the there was always plenty going on. I suppose the question should really be would I ever want to stay in Huonville again? And the answer to that is no.

Hostel Review – Pickled Frog, Hobart

Standing close to the top of the hill on Liverpool Street is a large green building, impossible to walk passed without giving it a second glance. This is The Pickled Frog Hostel. Walk in through the main entrance and you will be greeted by a cosy reception room with communal computers, comfy sofas, a small bar, the reception desk and, in winter, a roaring open fire. This is where I found myself after 10 days working on a dairy farm in Wodonga, torn between wanting to spend some time not working and needing to find a job before winter crept in.

I was greeted by a chirpy Tasmanian girl, who gave me my key and sheets to set up my bed for the night and pointed me in the direction of the local farmers market. If you are confronted by a very large husky with dark brows and an grumpy face, don't worry, that's Blue. He is the hostels dog and is very friendly!

Moving from the reception space through to the communal area, there are sofas and tabled booths offering plenty of space to sit with friends or on your own and offers more warming fires. There is also a pool table and a large TV with a great collection of DVDs, there's almost always a group sat round enjoying a movie or two. The room is filled with charming cubby holes and comfy furniture to offer enough space for everyone.

The kitchen is just off of the communal area. It's not huge, but it does have enough pots, pans, plates, bowls, knifes and forks to go around. The hobs are a little, erm, quirky, but they get the job done and there's always someone around to help you out if you're struggling. The trick is that the hobs work using magnets, if it doesn't detect a pan on top it won't turn on, unfortunately it doesn't detect all of them. Most importantly, the kitchen is always clean. I don't think I sore any dirty plates left out at all.

The rooms were nice, standard hostel rooms; bunk beds, a couple of tables, one of the rooms I stayed in had a big wardrobe and full length mirror, which was a real treat! They also get cleaned daily, which is nice.

The bathroom may be the only negative thing I have to say about this place. There were only 5 showers for all the girls in the hostel, which meant there were often queues in the morning. Trying to avoid the queues I decided to have an afternoon shower instead but left the bathroom still dirty and now shivering, thanks to freezing cold water. I'm sure this isn't usually a problem, but you might want to consider getting up a little early instead. The toilets were clean though, so ups and downs there!

One of the really nice things about the hostel is they offer a number of free trips on different days. I took the free shuttle to the top of Mt. Wellington on Monday morning, which gave you a guided tour to the top and then the option to walk back or stay on the bus. I was on quite a budget so being able to go for a free day out was great – I chose to walk down so it took until early afternoon to get back into town. There are also yoga classes available and a few other bits and pieces.

I really enjoyed my stay here: the place was clean, the staff friendly, and the bar's pretty cheap. Located just a short walk from Hobart centre this is a great place to stay when exploring the city.

Hostel Review - YHA Bristol

Last weekend me and a group of friends took the 2 hour train journey from London Paddington to Bristol, if you book in advance it's dirt cheap. Now, I'm no seasoned expert in the world of hostel and budget accommodation (I'm no seasoned expert on any accommodation) but here goes my first review. 
We arrived at Bristol with not much of a clue where to go, when suddenly an amazing idea struck my friend "we aren't in London, that means we won't have to take out a loan to get a taxi!" a couple of quid later we arrived at the YHA Hostel on the water front, and let me tell you, it couldn't be in a nicer part of the city! The place is sat right on the river side and the view is just lovely; boats bobbing on the water and people wandering up the river and popping in and out of the bars and restaurants on the other side of the bridge. 
We were in a group of 6 and booked a double room and a 4 bed dorm. Both were lovely. The double room was pretty big (which was unexpected as they didn't pay too much more for it) and our room for four was a pretty OK size too. Most importantly both rooms came with en suites, which were also clean and lovely.

The staff were all really welcoming, we were checked in and relaxing in our rooms in no time, and there was always someone around if you needed anything...or if like me you were drunk and they needed someone to laugh at, but I'm OK with that.

There were a few common areas around on the ground floor with nice big screens, super comfy sofas, plenty of access to computers and the internet, and a pool table. 

All in all it was a pretty nice place to stay. Clean rooms, good location and friendly staff and a budget price. If I go back to Bristol I know where I'll be staying.

Originally posted 29/12/2012, but because I'm an idiot I deleted it!

Hostel Review - Terviseks, Tartu, Estonia

Earlier this year my sister and I went for a week in Estonia. A destination that I can not recommend enough, but ones again I am going to side track myself if I begin singing the country praises.

The second largest city in this little Baltic gem in Tartu. It is tiny. Like, really tiny. Google tells me the population in 2010 was 103,512, which makes it not much bigger than Bath. We were in Estonia for 1 week and planned to stay in Tartu for 1 night. The evening before heading off from Tallinn we searched for somewhere to stay and came across Terviseks. This lovely little place is located right on Town Hall Square, aka Raekija Plats. This is the perfect location in Tartu, right in the heart of the city. From here everything is easily within walking distance (to be fair, everywhere is within walking distance from everywhere).

Terviseks is on the right hand side of this square, with the common room looking strait out - what a view!

Unfortunately I got pretty ill after our 1st night in the hostel and couldn't get out of bed to take the bus to our next destination. My sister inquired with Liina, one of the Estonian girls working and living in the hostel, to see if it were possible to stay an extra night. Not only was it possible, they also offered to move me into a private room where I could rest up! My sister spent the rest of the day chilling in the hostel with Liima and Christian, who owns and lives in the hostel. We were both made to feel so at home! They took really good care of Sam and gave her suggestions of things she could do whilst I was sleeping.

The place was really clean and inviting. A no shoes policy made the place feel really relaxed and the huge sofas in the lounge area were great to crash out on with a deck of cards in the evening. They operate a self service breakfast - just help yourself to cereal or toast in the morning and wash your dishes when you're done.

I really couldn't recommend this place more. The staff were so friendly and cheery, the beds were comfy and warm, the bathrooms were clean and the common room had an inviting atmosphere. All in all, I just wish I hadn't wasted so much of my time there in bed feeling sorry for myself!

I hope to go back to Estonia to explore some of the other cities, in particular Parnu. If I find my self back in Tartu I know exactly where I will be setting up camp!

Posted 12/09/2013 but because I'm an idiot I deleted it!