Boardrider Hostel/Backpacker & Budget Motel

I could meet good people from every different countries and had good times here. The location is perfect, they have a job centre where you can find a job, or work here in the hostel if wanted. I will miss the place!

The hostel is simple and perhaps could do with a little modernising but for the duration of my stay has been clean and generally tidy - there are people cleaning/tidying every few hours it seems! It's a great place to stay if you're a backpacker on a budget, especially with the weekly price deals, and as they have their own dedicated job centre for guests it's awesome for finding work in the Manly area. It literally takes two minutes to walk to the beautiful Manly beach and you can even see the ocean from some of the rooms and from the common area balcony. This is an amazing place to make friends with a relaxed and sociable atmosphere throughout the place (and the rooftop bar is very cool). Overall, I would definitely recommend this hostel for laid-back, sociable backpackers looking for friends, work and a beachfront lifestyle.

My first ever review because this is the first hostel to feel like "home". If you're after a relaxed and community/family feel to your stay then you will love Boardrider. Everyone is so welcoming, from the staff to the backpackers. There's definitely a feeling of trust as the staff don't shoo you out of the communal areas (like in other hostels at 10pm) so night owls like meeee are free to chill and socialise as late as you wish. The TV area is massive with loads of sofas for movie nights (free popcorn yeahhh!), or you can chill on the rooftop or balcony. Like I said, the community vibe is a massive plus and everyone seems to trust each other, I even came back after a month I missed the place so much! Of course, the location is perfect too with the beach, shops, bars & beautiful coastal walks near by!

We arrived in Manly in the evening only to find our original booking at another hotel had been cancelled, after phoning around we got hold of Gordon the night manager he managed to get us a room last minute.

This hostel is in a fantastic location, literally minutes from the beach, bars, restaurants and shops. As I am travelling alone, this worked out to be the perfect hostel for meeting new friends. On arrival I was greeted by a very friendly face on reception who let me know about events going on around the hostel which is great fun, from movie nights to a boat party through the Sydney Harbour (amazing!!!) (and just $20 when staying at boardriders!!) there is a great communal area with a large tv room and ping pong area. The balcony view is lovely looking straight out to the sea. I really enjoyed the roof top BYO drinks bar and the parties that followed. I would definitely recommend this hostel :) I stayed in a mixed dorm room which was clean and spacious. Perfect!

Had a very bad experience staying at this hostel. The night guard was unfriendly and the rooms were dirty. There was a weed smell all over the corridors. At midnight they started to play loud music on the rooftop which could be heard in the bedroom. The bedroom was too hot, and we couldn't cool it down. A cat came in our room while sleeping and my friend, allergic to cats, woke up frightened in the middle of the night because the cat sat on her while she was asleep. Also way too expensive. From all the hostels I've stayed in in whole Australia, this was definitely the worst one!! And also the most expensive one.

While the hostel isnt immaculately clean and can be kind of noisy some nights (although they do provide ear plugs at reception), this is still one of the best hostels I've stayed at in all of Australia. Most of the people working here are backpackers and their are events on every night so the vibes are incredibly social. Like a big family. There is also a job program where the coordinator (who is really helpful) helps you find work. I was here two weeks and did a couple labouring jobs for money just to help with my travels. Would definitely recommend this hostel to anyone!

Hostel is in a great location, minutes from the beach and lots of great little bars and restaurants close by, the hostel itself is what you would expect, we stayed for 3 days and no cleaning was done in that time but wasn't too bothered, room booked was a double room but basically 2 single beds together, free wifi, kettle, coffee and tea and toiletries usual things you would expect, also quite a few cockroaches (to be expected in hostels) The main issue we had was that the table tennis table was directly above our room which meant from around 7:30 to past midnight all you could hear was people jumping around above us so after a long day in the sun there was no chance of a nap. Good communal area and balcony and rooftop area, From what I could see I Think most rooms have small balcony. Overall not bad but just a standard hostel wouldn't say it's would class as motel as advertised, Also i booked through Expedia and chose to pay before I arrived but it seems Expedia don't take the payment and I had to pay on arrival, luckily I had my card or this could have been an issue.

This hostel was awful. Staff was incredibly rude upon check-in and check out. The room was disgusting. Other guests had left surfboards and garbage on empty beds in the room. The floors were completely covered in filth from dirty socks and underwear to rotting bowls of fruit under the bed. The trashcans were overflowing, no AC. The keys only worked sometimes to the room doors. Bathrooms and kitchen area were also filthy. The only perk was the location. Even with the close proximity to the beach, I would NEVER stay here again. Save yourself, book a different hostel!