This is good for youths, groups and young people. The hostel is extremely clean, however the kitchen needs improvements. It would be much appreciated if the hostel provides some foods and drinks for free, as most of them are students. Your prices could be a bit lower. As for your bedding, you need to have warmer bunks and provided beds.

I was a bit unsure when my boyfriend suggested we stay in a hostel, however I would definately do it again.

We stayed in a double room (shared bathroom). The room was large, lots of light from big window, with a double & single bed, TV, table, chairs & tea & coffee making facilities. All the communal areas & bathrooms were clean to a high standard.
Kitchen was big with plenty of room for everyone to cook, lots of fridges & shelves etc.
Pool is a bit chilly but nice luxury. No one using pool or sauna so we enjoyed them to ourselves.
We hired bikes from hostel everyday which was a great way to get around without a car.
Only thing I wouldn't recommend was the YHA cycle tour on Sat afternoon. The guy who led the tour knew nothing about the local area, couldn't answer any questions & got us lost!
The hostel is in a great location. It was about $23 taxi from airport for 2.

We decided to stay at the Canberra YHA for 3 nights on a work trip because we had both stayed in many YHAs (around the world) and have found them more than sufficient when you are out all day and really only need somewhere to sleep (and sometimes something to eat).

However, I don't believe Canberra YHA was up to scratch overall. The building and decorating was fairly new and the sheets clean, but a few things need to be noted:

- All three nights we spent there it was too noisy. A 'TV Area' was located directly outside our room (number 127) and other guests sat there yelling at the TV way beyond the curfew (11pm). I went out and spoke to the viewers one night (at 12:45am) but whenever we approached YHA staff (more than once) they seemed reluctant to say anything. This was pretty disappointing, we remained polite about it but we simply wanted some quiet so we could get up for work in the morning!

- Other posts have stated the guest kitchens are not up to scratch and I would completely agree. We could only locate a drinking glass once in three days and one morning there was only a single tea towel to share between 5 kitchen 'stations.' Surely this is unhygenic and bordering on a food safety issue. Hurry up and restock that kitchen, YHA.

- There appeared to be something wrong with the cooling / heating, as a result our room was very stuffy. We thought it might just be us, but the morning when we checked out the room right next to us had the door propped open with the bin to circulate the air. A ceiling fan would be a logical design solution to this.

- Try and get a room at the back of the building because even though we stayed during the week there was yelling out on the street, occasional glass smashing late at night, and other guests making loud outdoor mobile phone calls (all hours).

I cant say we had a comfortable stay. I'm quite looking forward to catching up on sleep back at home!

I love YHA but there is work to be done here. I'd definitely think twice before staying again. I may enjoy it better if I was in a room higher up and at the back of the building. Oh, and check if a school camp is staying at the same time if its the school term, this could spell disaster if you are attempting to plan a relaxing trip.

The YHA backpackers is well located in Canberra, really close to the awesome string of shopping malls which was convenient. I ended up sharing a dorm room for one night which was quite good, the other occupants were really friendly which was a bonus, but the room was poorly ventilated and the acoustics were not that great. The next door room had lots of knocking and shouting going on at night (after the curfew) and the door to our room squeaked terribly which made the whole act of discretely moving in and out while other occupants were sleeping quite difficult. On the last night I stayed in a private room, which was huge for just myself, but it was the only option as a lone traveller wanting a single room. The private room was quite nice, own TV, strangely quiet even though it was only a few rooms from the dorm room, but for the price I paid I could have stayed at a nearby hotel and had my own ensuite as well. The kitchen is really well designed and breakfasts were very relaxing in the dining area and the internet cafe out the front.