It’s been a while between drinks with my hostel reviews
hasn’t it? Well no more. I’m back with another Sydney hostel review for you my
travelling friends! Sorry they’ve all been Sydney hostels so far – I promise I
am going to do reviews on other hostels in other cities too – it’s just that
Sydney is the city I visit the most and there are A LOT of backpackers hostels
in the emerald city!
Today I’m reviewing Sydney Central YHA. I stayed at this
hostel at least ten times now, and while it’s not as good as Sydney Harbour YHA
in The Rocks, it’s still got plenty of good things to list about it!
This little hostel gem baby is located a stone’s throw from
Central station in the Sydney CBD. As you may recall from my previous review of
Railway Square YHA, which is also located a stone’s throw from Central Station
but difficult to find and with many stairs to tramp up when you eventually do
find it, Sydney Central is a much easier walk and much easier to find I’m
pleased to report!
The walk from train station platform to front desk of the
hostel will take no more than 10 minutes, if that, and gratefully, there are no
stairs and no hills. Rejoice! The hostel is right next to a convenience store
and a café, and the endless eating possibilities of Chinatown are just a few
more minutes walk away. The Capitol Theatre, recently showing Les Mis, is also
nearby. If you really wanted some exercise you could walk from the hostel all
the way down busy George Street to the iconic Sydney Harbour in about 20-30
minutes, depending on your pace. And of course, being the convenient cater for
everybody city that Sydney is, you are flush with all things you could possibly
need during your stay at the YHA – ATM’s, medical centres, gyms, pubs, clubs,
supermarkets, parks, shops, cinemas, buses, trains and language schools just to
name a few - as they are all only seconds from your grasp when you’re staying
at Sydney Central.
When it comes to laying your head down for the night
everything from male or female only dorms are available, in four, six and eight
bunk set ups. You can also book private and family rooms (though these are
often the same price as a 2 or 3 star hotel nearby, and at least with a hotel
you would have your own bathroom and tv…just an FYI). Still, that being said,
in a hotel you likely wouldn’t have at your disposal two enormous communal
kitchens kitted out with everything you could need to cook a five course meal –
you don’t even need to bring your own cutlery. It’s all here. So too are walls
upon walls of shelves to store your food (complete with a label with your name
and check out date to differentiate your cornflakes from someone else’s
cornflakes). There’s even a free food fridge – one of my favourite things a
hostel can offer a budget traveller, and a genius idea to boot. The eating area
also has plenty of comfy booths as well as long communal tables that would make
Jamie Oliver bubble over in glee at the shared experience of it all. Vending
machines by the kitchen pump out everything from tea and coffee to icecream and
drinks.
The dorms on offer at Sydney Central are ample and spacious
– unlike some other hostels where 2 bunk beds are often cramped into the
tiniest shoebox of a room. Lockers in the room are large enough to fit three
decent sized bags, but you need to bring your own lock. Sheets are provided and
although the doonas, mattress protectors and pillows have seen better days the
only way you’re going to get a bad night’s sleep is if someone in your dorm
room snores (always a dreaded possibility!). That being said though, the hostel
can be noisy at times – every door in the place closes with a loud bang no
matter how delicately you try to close it, the walls are kind of thin and if
your room is close to the lifts you’ll hear every ding announcing its arrival
on your floor, or to the bathrooms you’ll definitely hear when someone uses the
hand dryer at 2am. Still, I’ve stayed at worse, louder hostels.
 |
| The bunk situation - some travellers are not the tidiest! |
Now, if you’ve stayed at Sydney Harbour YHA over in The Rocks
like I have and loved to pieces the way every bed has a power point next to the
light, you’ll be disappointed that this is not the case at Sydney Central.
Still, there are enough power points in other parts of the room to please
everyone. Select dorms have lockers which actually have power points inside
them, which means you can handily charge your laptop or mobile and lock it away
so there is no threat of it being stolen as it charges.
The shared bathrooms on every floor seem small – some with
just three showers and three toilets each, but I have never come across them
full, and never had to wait to use a shower. Perhaps during peak times there
might be a line, but truly, I don’t think there is a peak time in a backpacker’s
hostel – the people staying there are on holidays. They’re not living to normal
time frames! The bathrooms will be no more packed at 7am than they would be at
10am.
 |
| LOLZ |
The all important free wifi is available on the ground and
first floor only, but you can purchase a package if you want premium wifi
throughout all the floors during your stay. Good deals are advertised on many a
wall throughout the hostel and in the lifts - $112 for three night’s
accommodation with premium wifi being an example I saw in August 2015 that
would be hard to pass up if you’re a person who cannot live without being
connected.
Sydney Central also offers an array of other activities and
amenities for travellers – everything from a conference room to a cinema to
lockers for hire (with power points inside! Yay!) to walking tours and pizza
nights. The staff are friendly and you truly feel like you’re in the thick of
the big exciting world of backpacking when you are standing in the lobby of
this nine story hostel, your sheets tucked under your arm and your room key in
your pocket.
This hostel also radiates with the distinct feeling of being
a melting pot of gap year travellers and groups from schools, universities and
organisations. There is a lot of emphasis on and information provided about
travelling on to other parts of Australia, getting jobs in Sydney, learning
English, setting up bank accounts and help with tax – there is even a large
noticeboard covered in ads for cars, campervans and tents for sale from people
who have finished their gap years and are heading back home, eager to offload
the rusty old kombi they bought at the beginning of their stay and toured Oz in.
I was even approached in person during one stay by a guy asking every person in
the room individually if they were looking for a job. His in person approach
was a step up from the array of job ads posted on the noticeboard next to the
one displaying the car ads. Such extensive noticeboards and information aren’t
found at, say, Sydney Harbour YHA, which is much more of a tourist frequented
hostel, whereas Sydney Central is for the true travellers and gappies – those off
on an adventure not just for a week or two, but a few months or a year, who
want to be close to transport and all the things they’ll need to make a living
in Sydney for such a long length of time.
Sydney Central might not be as close to all the famous
Sydney icons as Sydney Harbour YHA is, and it’s also definitely not as new and
modern, but the prices reflect this, so it’s still a good deal and a great
place to base yourself during your trip to Sydney. Of all of YHA’s Sydney
hostels I’m pretty sure this one is the easiest to get to via public transport
and on foot, and I know in my book, that makes it a place I’ll be coming back
to!
Jorgs rates Sydney Central YHA 4 stars out of 5! Check out
their website at www.yha.com.au ! And while
you’re there, follow me on twitter @Brindabella24 and on Instagram @brindabella24
J
 |
| Enjoy the fun and the sun in Sydney - this city never disappoints! |
Until next time,
Jorgs
No comments:
Post a Comment