Aquarius Backpacker Resort

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.

Pros: *very fun activities (beer pong, quiz, etc) * perfect location * nice lounge area * nice staff Cons: * in a ten people dorm there is only one bathroom * kitchen is disgusting at most times of the day (people just left their dishes) * don’t expect to get a spot by the pool, very crowded there

I had a great stay at Aquarius. I upgraded to the studio room which was a loft style private room which was very nice. Both staff and the other lodgers were incredibly social. I participated in the 4:45am lighthouse tour and the ping pong tournament both of which were really well attended (and free!) Traveling solo it was awesome to meet some new people at the hostel!

Uncomfortable, dirty and disappointing. The mattresses were woefully bad/worn out, which on the first night left my back in bits. This was then followed by regularly spotting ants and/or cockroaches on the floors and walls. The bunk itself I realised was being held together by zip ties and would tip several degrees while trying to climb in/out. I’d booked the 8 bed as that seemed like a manageable number for the ensuite, however, the 8 bed dorms are more like 10 bed dorms as twin rooms are attached. Overall the cleanliness is grim and the ensuite bathroom isn’t any better, most corners an are caked in a concrete of soap scum, sand, and skin debris. Supposedly the rooms are cleaned twice a day, I’m almost certain that is a lie, as various marks and piles of sand remained for multiple days The common area is nice but it all has a very sticky unclean feel and the while some staff are lovely I found several to be utterly rude. The disappoin**ent was culminated when I got back to the hotel after staying with a friend for a night to find my bed taken by someone else. (The hostel believes that their house keeper made an error and made up the bed but didn’t check the tag, and a new guest then chose to move bed tags and steal the bed) Having complained via their app to make sure it was logged and asked for my money back as I no longer felt comfortable staying in the hostel, the hostel has been nothing short of a disgrace. Do yourself a favour and stay elsewhere. There are far nicer and newer places to stay nearby.

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.

After a small mix-up with the booking, the staff were great in accommodating me in a new room. I can not thank them enough as they made my overall experience incredible. The hostel was clean and the facilities on the site were perfect. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful throughout. I would highly recommend this to anyone travelling to/through Bryon Bay.

We went to the bar for breakfast - the staff are efficient,welcoming and pleasant. The breakfast offering is generous and tasty with great flexibility. The eggs Benedict were as close to perfect as I have had anywhere in the world and the pot of tea is so generous you sit all day.

I have waited till I visited other hostels before posting this review as I didn’t want to be unfair. Honestly this place is a dump. Rooms are cold and dirty (infested with wood lice). For you to use the showers you have to go outside in the cold before entering them. Whilst checking in the guy got his dinner and paid more attention to it than helping us check in, he was very rude and dismissive. I gave the two stars (generous) purely because it had a chilled environment downstairs and a free Pac-Man machine.

This hostel was perfect for visiting Byron Bay. The hostel is very high quality and has so many complementary features. It truly made the stay easy and convenient. It was definitely a deal for the price. I would highly recommend staying here!