My daughter and I stayed at the Albury YHA for 2 nights recently. The hostel is not in downtown Albury however we had a hire car so that was not of concern to us. When first arriving we were a little confused because it's part of a caravan park rather than exclusively a hostel. However we found that to be a bonus because the hostel part itself is small and the grounds are lovely. There are 6 rooms and one toilet upstairs, and toilet/shower blocks plus a kitchen downstairs. The kitchen is called a guest centre and is available to all in the park, though we didn't see many using it. Most caravans and the cabins would have their own kitchens and televisions, so there would be little need.
The thing we noticed straight away was that the hostel was very clean. Our room had 4 beds but we were the only ones in it. The carpet was grey and the blankets were grey, but everything was clean! There was none of that grot factor that you sometimes see in a hostel.
The kitchen was what really sealed the deal though. The kitchen was clean! Ye gads. I have stayed in lots of hostels and continue to do so because a) I don't see the point in spending a lot of money for somewhere to sleep when a bed in a room will do, and b) I like the interesting people I meet at hostels. Often, however, hostel kitchens can be slightly feral places. Not this one.
I made a comment to the friendly lady who was busy cleaning in the morning. “Gee, this hostel is clean!” “No it's not, we've just had a busy patch and the whole place needs going over!” she replied. “Just look at those windows!” Said windows looked pretty good to me.
An unexpected bonus was the provision of bathmats in the shower block. Each day a fresh stack of laundered, folded bathmats appeared, with a laundry basket for the used ones. Given that our carefully packed bath towels got left in the car before leaving for the airport in Perth, we were particularly grateful for the bathmats, which served a double purpose.
All in all I'd give it a thumbs up. I always enjoy a well run ship and the staff at this hostel are very friendly, helpful, and onto it.
Our house was unfinished at that time, so my husband Cam has been very busy since then getting it completed and preparing to relocate to Melbourne, where he will be working this year. It is now over 4 months since we have seen him and my son Tom, who will remain behind in Margaret River, having just left school and gone out into the big wide world as an independent lad.
