Launceston Backpackers

Staff were really rude and unhelpful. You have to pay for bed sheets - which is VERY old fashioned for hostels these days... Otherwise you just get a blanket (not duvet) to make your own bed - like in jail. Everytime I went to speak to staff to ask for bed sheets, they literally ignored me - literally didn't even acknowledge my presence, until I got frustrated and walked away. Very weird, unfriendly vibe from staff.

Big living room area, on site parking, great location

Many details were bad, for example way too few bathrooms for number of guests (only one on our floor), extremely short reception hours, gate shut until 8am making it impossible to leave the parking spot early, etc. But the worst was the behaviour of who I suspect is the manager. After a very long drive we parked into the on-site lot, not noticing the sign saying it'd be closed until 8am since we were just keen to finally get some rest and we didn't anticipate such a ludicrous policy could exist with no early morning reception to resolve (our fault for gaving semi-decent expectations I guess). After seeing we'd only got 1 key for the 4 of us we called the manager to ask for another since the reception was already shut, and despite it taking many calls to reach him, this already irked him (rather than him apologizing for the delay), despite it being their fault for giving a single key and having very short reception hours. Fine. Then after having noticed the parking lot issue (as 3 of us needed to leave early) we had to call again: this time it took him even longer and when he finally did respond he threw a childish temper tantrum because we'd called around 10pm (so not even that late). Then he threatened to kick us out if we dared call him again for asking him to do what is supposed to be his job. Just pathetic behaviour especially considering his feeble attempt at a tough guy act throughout the process. The next day he offered a half-hearted apology which is appreciated (and the reason I didn't put 1/10), but fact remains that this sort of conduct is appalling especially considering our needs were due to *their* terrible policies and ineptitude. Steer well clear if you're looking for a positive hostel atmosphere.