It’s almost that time of year again in Sydney. Around New Year expect to find a severe lack of available accommodation, with hostels introducing minimum stay periods once again. The thing is, it’s Sydney in summer. When you have beaches such as Bondai and Manly, not to mention the various walks around the city, its no wonder that you might be hard pressed to find somewhere to stay. So I’ll drop this gem of a hostel on you; Sydney YHA.
Having done the tour of Australia (or a large portion of it at least) I’ve stayed in my share of hostels, some pristine and some really grotty. Towards the end of my stay though, I decided to throw in a shorter trip to Sydney just for the sake of it. I really don’t remember why I decided to choose Sydney Harbour YHA but I did. Must’ve been something to do with location; that’s usually how I decide these things.
Located in the Rocks, to get into the half glass building you need (or needed) to trek through a bit of an eccentric underground area. An archaeological excavation site; the Big Dig. The thing is that it’s quite a little educational sort of mini-museum. It’s different. It’s awesome. I’ll bring you back to location a little later in this post, but for now I’ll show you what the accommodation itself is like.
Say hello to Travis. He turned out to be my American room mate, drinking buddy and Sydney sightseeing partner. Any of you hostel naysayers should take this is; met a really cool guy and went exploring the city with him. Go travel alone, you’ll meet people. We ended up sharing the 4 bed room with 2 Swiss travelers, which is a bit funnier / more interesting if you’ve kept up with the blog. Anyway, the point is this; it’s clean. Really clean. There’s plenty of space here, the room is nice and bright, the artwork on the wall is actually quite funky and check out the size of that mirror!
The problem is that we had to share a bathroom. Yeah, you got it. Detrimental to the whole hostel experience was sharing this bathroom with 3 other people (Again, regular hostel stayers will understand why this is so luxurious). Back on track, the bathroom:
I have never, ever, in a hostel, had a room or bathroom this modern and clean. It was amazing. Heck, this bathroom is better than the one in my own home. Serious brownie points from me for that one.
The next thing is something I’ve heard has been growing in popularity. Many of you know that when you’re staying at a hostel, sometimes there are less savory people around and you don’t really want to be leaving your valuables in plain sight. Lockers are a pretty integral part of your hostel experience, particularly if you’re out exploring; no one wants to be carting their backpack everywhere. The best part about the lockers at Sydney Harbour YHA? Apart from the fact that they actually LOCK. Power outlets. Charging your phone or camera at night while it’s locked away, certainly puts the mind at ease.
One of the best parts of the Sydney Harbour YHA is its facilities. I can’t say I really got to use them, my stay was short and I was out exploring whenever I could be. You can find out a lot more information about the hostel itself on their website. So I won’t really go into that too much. What I will do though, is tell you about the AMAZING rooftop views that this place has to offer.
These two beautiful pictures are maybe slightly ruined (not really, but you know what I mean) by the huge cruise liner that was in the harbour the day I arrived. It did leave, I didn’t have chance to get the picture without it in, because there is far too much to do in Sydney than just sit around waiting for ships to move!
If at this point you still haven’t figured it out. The roof of this hostel has views across Sydney that include Sydney Opera House. But wait! There’s more;
You even get a roof top view of Sydney Harbour Bridge. What more can you ask for?
So if you do find yourself staying in Sydney, and you want to be centrally located in a nice, quiet, clean hostel, then Sydney Harbour YHA might be a good place for you. If you’re after a hostel buzzing with nightlife and party goers, then maybe not so much. To each his own.
If you have any other recommendations regarding places to stay in Sydney, let us all know. Besides that there are plenty of review sites, so its always worth giving them a look over before you book. What is excellent for one person might not suit you. Now go and enjoy the Sydney sun.
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