Ok; so I should have done this as I went along instead of months after getting home from my travels. The fact is, I was too busy sunbathing, exploring and drinking goon to bother blogging even more when on the road.

However now I have a bit of time on my hands, I’m going to try and re-jig my memory as much as possible to provide some reviews and information at the various places I’ve stayed on my travels. Hopefully these will prove useful to people who are choosing places to stay and of course, if you’ve stayed at any of the places I have, then feel free to comment and leave your own feedback!

Anyway, without further ado, here’s my honest opinion on Sleeping Inn Surfers Paradise…

Background

Despite having been on the road for two weeks, Surfers Paradise was the first time I felt like a backpacker. After all, my previous stops in Singapore, Sydney and Coffs Harbour had been with the family in nice hotels. However after Coffs, me and my step brother Chris said our goodbyes jumped on the Greyhound up to Surfer’s Paradise for six nights of partying.

Having Chris around for my first stop on my adventure was a great help. Even though I’m an extremely confident guy and more than happy to do things independently, it was good to have someone around who had done it before and could give me a few hints and tips! In other words, he introduced me to goon.

Location

The coach journey from Coffs took over six hours (we forgot about the time difference between New South Wales and Queensland), so when we arrived in Surfers Paradise we were shattered and it was pitch black. Sleeping Inn provides a limo pick-up service from the Greyhound drop-off point, however we were too late for it so had to walk.

Thankfully, despite our concerns, the hostel was less than a five minute walk from where we were. In fact, it was around a 5-10 minute walk to pretty much everything in Surfers Paradise which was absolutely perfect. To sweeten the deal even more, there was a bottle shop a few hundred yards up the road – result!

Verdict: 5/5

Facilities

For a first stop, this was a pretty decent hostel. In fact, it was more like an apartment in the sense that our dorm had a shared living area (including a TV!) and kitchen as opposed to one for the whole hostel. I’m not sure whether we just got lucky or this was the case with all dorms. We also had three balconies which was nice as well as a shared bathroom for our dorm.

The shared areas were cleaned every day by the staff, although it still felt a little bit grubby somehow. I don’t think you can really blame the staff for being unenthusiastic though, as they were working for accommodation and not receiving a wage. In all honesty though, if I didn’t have my foot taped up I probably wouldn’t have noticed all the loose hairs knocking about.

It seemed at pretty much any time of the day too there was a film on in the hangout room by reception. Even though this isn’t really my idea of how to spend my time backpacking, it could be useful for those who fancy losing themselves for a few hours. There was also a pool table and a shed-load of computers for guests to use.

The swimming pool was relatively clean, although the fact the rooms are practically built around it meant a hungover lie-in was pretty much impossible due to noise! Ah well, can’t have it all. On the rare occasions the pool was quiet in a morning, the heat of the rooms thanks to the totally ineffective fans made sure you woke up in a puddle of your own sweat!

Verdict 3.5/5

Atmosphere

Surfers Paradise really did remind me of places like Magaluf. This isn’t a slant on the place at all; you know what you’re getting when you go there. Thankfully, Sleeping Inn realised this and catered to the needs of the party animals. If you’re looking for a quiet time, maybe don’t stay here.

The hostel organised drinking games every single night whilst we were there, which is a great way for solo travellers to meet new people. What’s more, they often arrange free entry for those going out with the hostel at night. When you’re backpacking on a budget, this is obviously brilliant news. In fact, I think I had the cheapest night out of my life one night; managing to spend a cool €4.

Verdict: 5/5

Price

With the cheapest room on Hostelbookers coming in at $22 for a 10 bed dorm, this isn’t the cheapest hostel around. As mentioned above though, the convenient location and great atmosphere do make it pretty decent value for money.

Verdict: 3/5

Should I stay there?

Scoring a very respectable 16.5/20, Sleeping Inn Surfers Paradise is a very good hostel if your idea of fun is partying til you drop. Granted, the chances of a quiet night are pretty low, but if you’re looking for somewhere that is heaps of fun and right on the doorstep of all the shops, restaurants and clubs then this is the place for you.