BASE HOSTEL

It's all about that Base...

I was recommended this hostel by a friend but to be honest if you are staying in Sydney you are staying at Wake Up, YHA or Base. 

Facilities 

So a massive plus point of Base is that it has a nighclub/restaurant/bar attached which its residents gets deals for. Read my post all about getting Sassy in Sydney and you will find out more! 

Wifi is not included in the price here so if you want it you have to pay for it-apparently something that is common across hostels in Australia. Word of warning, wifi here isn't great, if you can survive without it, don't bother. There are slot of free Telstra hotspots around. I got the standard wifi and was fine although skyping is not great and I would often have to move around the hostel for the best wifi. 

They do have a 24 hour reception. After a certain time you also need your card to be able to get in and you need your card again to use the lift on the first floor and for the stairs also. So all in all not bad for security. 

They do have a large kitchen and food storage area. The cookers themselves aren't great but there are a lot of them. They also have a hot water tap which is perfect for pasta etc. Keep your food labelled though as they do carry out checks every so often. Good luck trying to find forks in this place, there's about 3! Try to avoid the kitchen at busy times of the evening (between half 6 and half 7) because you could find yourself waiting a while. Furthermore, don't bother just after the breakfast rush either because it can get in such a mess because some guests disregard signs about washing up after themselves...

Near reception, there is a travel and job search area. I didn't use the job search people as such but they have given me advice along the way. The travel people were really helpful and managed to do us a really good deal on all the activities up the east coast. Word of warning, you have to book this in advance, all the good activities get booked up really quick! 

Breakfast 

You can pay $6 for an all you can eat breakfast here but if I am honest it's not worth it. You are better cooking for yourself! 

Showers/Toilets 

As we stayed on several floors during our stay I would say the fourth floor has the best showers, followed by the third but the first floor showers were not great. All floors were clean though, so I can't complain too much. 

Staff 

There is no continuity here between the staff at times. We had a discount that we have used from their own app here and some people would allow us to process it over the desk whereas others would not. Overall staff are friendly and can help with directions etc although I would not say they go the extra mile. 

Value for Money 

It's Australia so everywhere is a bit pricey to stay. This is the cheapest out of the popular hostels though. Furthermore, if you download the base app then you an get a 15% discount on travel not only for this base but also the accommodation across Australia and New Zealand. If you are considering travelling up the east coast they do offer a base card which gives you reduced accommodation prices- check it out to see if it's worth it! Plus they include a discount with the greyhound pass which is the easiest way to travel down the East Coast unless you are road tripping it.

Dorms 

The best dorm I stayed in was definitely the fourth floor. It was quite big, had good wifi reception and wooden floors. The washing facilities were also the best on this floor. The worst room was the first floor room we were in. There was no natural light. The third floor room was okay, although not exactly big for the ten people staying in there. There weren't loads of plugs in any of the rooms and if there were they would normally only be on one side which was very annoying. The rooms need to be cleaned and hoovered more!!

Location 

Perfect city location, right around the corner from Town Hall Station. Everything is in reasonable walking distance with the furthest being the fish market. Transport to both Bondi and Coogee beach is good from this spot aswell. 

As a hostel they also offer to pay $15 for your airport shuttle which is one of the reasons we booked with them in the first place! 

OVERALL

I enjoyed my time here at base, it's the cheapest of the bunch and for Sydney is not bad value for money at all. 

Imogen xoxo