You know that feeling you get when something goes wrong? That sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach? That's the feeling you get when you arrive at the St. Arnaud. And it never leaves you for the whole time you're there.
We'd read some poor reviews before booking and had desperately tried to get accomodation elsewhere but as it was the week of the Melbourne Cup this was the only place with any rooms. It was obvious why. It's awful. The place looks like it hasn't been decorated for 30 years, really grotty. In our first room one of the beds was broken. How this didn't get discovered by the staff before I slept in it is beyond me. The carpet in the room was filthy, and the room was in desperate need of being redecorated. The wiring of the fire alarm looked illegal, with many other wires running off it.
In the morning we asked for our money back, for our whole stay, as we wanted to go elsewhere. No chance. They don't offer a refund, unless you request one a week in advance! Before you've seen the place then.
Not wanting to give up too easily, I asked to speak to the owner. The woman on reception was reluctant to put us in touch with him and said he wasn't contactable on the phone although she'd just spoken to him. She said that we should email him, as he was at the time was out of town. So we did, but we could only do so to the booking email address. He clearly didn't bother reading the message, if in fact he ever got it, because he never responded.
We ended up in 2 further rooms, neither of which was an improvement on the first, although we didn't encounter any more broken beds. Although when we asked for a kettle for our room, we were given a broken one.
The hostel as a whole hasn't been touched for years and looks old and dirty. There aren't many bathrooms considering how many people can stay here and the state of them puts you off having to use them and you're not guaranteed hot water. How anyone reviewed this place as 100% is baffling. No-one we talked to at the hostel liked it and they all wanted to be somewhere else. It's not cheap either so there really is no justification for the state of the place other than the owners obviously don't care. My advice is to keep on looking for another hostel.

My wife and I booked a couple of days here and it is the worst accomodation I have ever seen. The rooms are small and smelly, the bed was uncomfortable. The bathrooms are from the 18th century and were not even on the same level as the room. We tried to cancel the second night, but they would not refund. The staff were rude and uncooperative. The manager was bellicose, belligerent and downright hostile.

At best this place could be called a run down backpackers hostel, only it isn't even that cheap - we found cheaper alternative accomodation in St Kilda http://www.stkildastayz.com.au/ and it was clean, comfortable, amenable, and better located.

Find somewhere else to stay!

I stayed in St Arnaud Guest house for 8 days in a single room on may 2010. General speaking, the location of this hostel is the best feature of that. Close to some shops and walking distance to tram station. However, being close to tram station brings about some drawbacks which is being noisy most of the time. At midnight, you should expect a noisy tram passing the street make you wake up every 10-15 minutes. But still we cannot call it so bad. The worse things I experienced in this hostel where I will never get back were BEDBUGS as hostel is very old and filthy with old wooden furniture. Yes! Bedbugs!. After 5 nights staying there I came to know that all my body was itching, and red rashes could be seen on my face, arms, hands and legs. I did not know anything about bedbugs and this kind of insects till that date as we did not have such insects in our area. So I thought that it would be allergy to the linen or such like. When I referred to the management of hostel to change my linen, she got very worried and anxious, which I did not know why. She started to inspect my beds and linen and gave me some Anti-histamine and said that you have allergy and there is no bugs. That time I understood that there may be some insects. so the seventh night I did not sleep at all to check for any probable insects. Yeap!!! I found them. Lots of bedbugs were looking for human blood!!! I got a movie also which can be presented upon request. In the morning, even after watching the movie of bedbugs, the management of hostel again refused it and requested me to leave the hostel. off course I definitely would not stay there even if the begged me. Obviously, it is very old and filthy hostel and I would not recommend to anyone. I would not stay there anymore.

Advertised as a budget hotel/guest house-in our view it should be classified as a backpacker hostel and a rather grubby one at that.Photos seriously flatter this place.Dark and dingy,no wardrobe in room,carpet was really dirty.Lounge was thoroughly depressing,shower room very ,very basic with constantly dripping shower head,garden was an apology for a garden and kitchen was workhouse rather than farmhouse style.A thoroughly depressing place .