Aquarius Backpacker Resort

A good hostel with good facilities, including pool area, social area and kitchen. The people who work here are friendly and you get a free welcome drink on arrival. Dorms are swept through and hand towels replenished in bathrooms everyday. However, the biggest downfall was the bedrooms. The mattresses are thin so it feels like you're sleeping on the metal rack on the bunkbed. There are no curtains or bed side lamps for each bed. Also, was in a 10 bed dorm with no curtains for windows and one bathroom to share which isn't practical. Despite this, the atmosphere of the hotel is good.

The location of this hostel is perfect you are minutes from the beach and smack bang in the centre of town. I stayed in a single room which was very clean, comfortable beds with proper duvets, not just sheets and blankets, which I prefer. The staff were friendly and you could sign up and organise trips from reception. The thing I found was that for a hostel the social areas weren't very social. The lounge area was quiet a dark place with a few sofas and tables but not very conducive as a great socialising area. Its like they are trying to extend the bar into a nightclub which doesnt work during the day. I can't explain it but it just didn't feel very welcoming to me to go and sit in there and try and talk to people. The kitchen as well needs updating. It's very cramped and dingy for such a big hostel hosting so many people, again not an area I wanted to spend to much time. The fridge is overloaded with stuff and it says it gets a deep clean every week but I don't know how with the amount of stuff in there. For how bright and airy the rooms are and the pictures advertise it the kitchen and lounge are very dark and drab. Lastly the bathroom facilities I had access to, the single toilet cubicle constantly ran out of toilet roll, they need to leave extras somewhere around because you had to go down to reception to ask for me, so check before you start your business and secondly the shower room was constantly littered with people's wet towels and shower mats as there was no laundry basket to put them in once finished with. It wasn't very nice to walk in and play dodge the soggy towel. On the back of the doors it has a sign that should be updated as to when the rooms have been cleaned. I checked in on the 1st november and out on the 3rd and the whole time I was there these signs never changed from the 31st October.

I booked two rooms and both had amazingly comfortable beds. The staff was very friendly and helpful. We arrived late in the evening as we were traveling through and had no issues rocking up to get a room. It was one of our most enjoyable stays on our road trip.