The hostel location is lovely, set in the woods, however you do have to leave your cabin to go to the unisex toilets and showers. This does take you past some trees which had a Koala in them so some advantages to the walk.

The room itself was fine although very small, there was hardly anywhere to stand with 4 bags in the room. The heating was also either on or off meaning that it was either very hot or very cold.

There is no internet despite it being advertised.

The manageress, Kim, lied to us about the rooms that were available, telling us that they were expecting a large school party so all the rooms were full so we would have to have a more expensive room when I fact there were numerous empty rooms (we looked through the windows).

We were charged a higher rate than was advertised in the leaflet and on the YHA.com.au website. Apparently they couldn't make money on the YHA rates and so they had to charge more, which rather defeats the point of the standard YHA rates.

On the upside Paki who also runs it was a nice guy and found us a koala to look at!

This place was cold, damp and noisy! We were the last to arrive out of the double room guests and therefore got a box room which didnt have a sink or cooking facilities whereas the others did and cost the same price! The staff were sarcastic and rude at check in and check out. The whole place is actually holiday cottages with one cottage turned into a small hostel. Staff only care about the cottage guests. We had to move our car down the road for a cottage guest to be able to park theirs on site!

The noise was the worst part about staying here. The double rooms have thin walls between them and an attic room above which had small children running around and making lots of noise.

The only good thing about this hostel was we were only there for one night. Such a contrast down the road at Apollo Bay Eco hostel where they offer 5* hostel facilities for the same price - stay there!

I have been here a week, It is now the 23rd of July on a Saturday and I am sitting on a balcony looking out into the beautiful forest that surrounds the cottages. I myself stayed in a 4 berth cottage and shared my accommodation with a variety of travelling Backpackers from around the world. I have been suitable impressed, considering the very modest cost of accommodation to the facilities that are provided for the back packers. The Kitchen and toilet areas are incredible clean and well maintained. The manager and manageress of the facilities were exceptional nice and inviting to my accommodation and went out of there way to ensure that my stay was pleasurable. I was most surprised to have breakfast outside with the local bird life. That real made my week to be able so close to such beautiful birds. The surrounding area to Lorne and its variety of shops and cafe's were welcoming and for book readers they have a wonderful book shop that is well maintained with current reading material. The bakery made exceptional doughnuts and coffee.

This is our second stay at the YHA..we came back for the peace and quiet..yes..there were some small problems that the new management had to deal with..simply put..they were totally thrown in the deep end together..over the busiest period ever..previous management were the problem..however they have tried very hard to bring the standards up by what we saw on our last visit there..cottages and backpackers were spotless..friendly staff..and the reception does close when it is very quiet..however there is always someone around and a telephone call away..as we are long time travelers (2 years)..we have found many places that are totally unacceptable..but by backpackers standards..this is by far one of the good ones..and we will definitely be back...be rude to staff and it will backfire..being pleasant at all times to everyone works..we know..it works for us every time..thank you to the staff at Ocean road backpackers for a most enjoyable stay..we will be back in the summer...Sharon Mather and Aloma Wright