Guesthouse Name: Elizabeth Hostel
Address: 490-494 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, 3000, Australia
I stayed at the Elizabeth Hostel in Melbourne. I booked a private room with a shared bathroom for the rate of $63.75 AUD ($43 USD). Staying in a private room in a hostel is a good budget option when travelling in Australia, and this is about as cheap as it gets for a room in central Melbourne.
If you’re just looking for a cheap room then you might be better off to search on Airbnb. New airbnb users can get a credit towards their first stay by using this link. For this stay though I was only here for a night and was leaving early, and I prefer not to have late check-ins or early check-outs with Airbnb stays.
The Elizabeth Hostel is located in an old office building on Elizabeth Street in the city centre, near the Queen Victoria Market. The little building is now dwarfed by a cluster of apartment towers that dominate this end of Elizabeth Street.
The reception and lounge area is on the first floor, and here there is a common area and some tour information. The reception is open 24 hours, which is an important consideration if you have a late or early arrival. Check-in wasn’t available until 2pm so I left my bags there until it was time. I like staying in private rooms in hostels as you get the benefit of meeting fellow travellers, without having to sleep in a dorm.
My private room was a typical spartan hostel room with just the bare minimum furniture. I just didn’t want to be in a dorm room, so this was fine with me.
The room had a work desk and a fridge, and a fan.
The toilets and showers were in separate rooms. The toilets were a bit small, as you can see with the sink being uncomfortably close to the urinal. The showers were kept clean and had decent space.
There is a kitchen on the second floor which looked big enough to handle a hostel of this size. There is no breakfast service here, which I wasn’t planning for as my flight was so early.
There is a separate TV room in the common area where you can watch movies.
There is free wifi in the common area but not in the rooms. You can buy wifi if you want wifi in your room. I would not normally stay in places without wifi in the room, but as this was a transit stay I made an exception.
The location of the hostel is ideal, being in a walkable area of the Central Business District. I started this Melbourne trip at the other end of Elizabeth Street at Flinders Backpackers, so it was good to get another experience of this part of Melbourne.
Overall this was a good place to stay if you are looking for a private room in a hostel.
Book the Elizabeth Hostel online or search for more hotels in Melbourne.
Also read my other Melbourne hostel reviews at Space Hotel and Melbourne City Backpackers.