Only spent a night, but it was quite pleasant. I tend to be a little picky when I'm staying in hotels and hostels, usually because I would be travelling with a rather uptight girl...ok, not uptight, to be honest, OCD was the problem, if you have any experience there, you'll know how it can be. As it was, this time I was alone, and just needed a place for a night, wanted to mix with a few different people, and check out some hostels in Adelaide. So I chose the Blue Galah, primarily for the location - I know Adelaide well, and wasn't requiring the bus station (a lot of the hostels in Adelaide are quite close to the bus station, while the Blue Galah is pretty well smack bang in the centre of town) so I thought this perfect. Basically on the corner of King William St and Rundle Mall/Hindley St, overlooking King William St from the great big balconies (which happily double as a socialising area) you can't ask for a better spot to watch the city. Not that you'll have any night-time skyline views or anything so to speak, but you can definitely watch the drunks stumble home, or even stumble with them...
Anyway, yeah, decent facilities, the staff are quite good, but the manager is great and actually set up a bar on the balcony to sell us really cheap drinks (and good! He had some of the Lobethal beers there, a local micro-brewery, one of the many around Adelaide doing some really good beers). There's pool tables etc, TV room, games and books and most of the things you'd expect from any half-way decent hostel. Breakfast in the morning, very basic, but even toast is better than nothing. There's probably more, but I wasn't really in the mood for a huge meal so didn't investigate much further than to establish that there was indeed a well equipped and maintained kitchen, with food storage areas for guests etc. To be honest I cannot remember sleeping in the bed I had (scratching my head trying to work out where I ended up...hmmm...I think I crashed on a couch in the common area for a while, not in a trampy bum kind of way, I wouldn't have scared off any travellers, or made the place look like a doss-house...surely...) Anyway, yeah, very clean (including showers, toilets etc), well run, I've been in some real dives so take it from me, this place was acceptable at least, and probably even to be recommended. Just wait till I hit some other Adelaide hostels so I have a comparison. The rates seemed quite acceptable, but being Australian it cost me a little bit extra, I think usually it would be AU$17-24 per night, different weekly rates perhaps. As always, let me know if I missed anything, I’ll happily answer any questions I am able to, just email me...

I've been traveling all around Australia last year. I have been to different hostels in major cities but Blue Galah goes beyond imagination...

The only pro is the location, right in the centre.

It's the dirtiest place I've ever been.

In the extremely dirty toilets USED toilet paper was swirling around, the kitchen had probably been cleaned centuries ago, the rooms were small and smelly and it was loud. The terrace looks like the setting of the movie 'The Day After' AFTER the nuclear explosions.

Absolutely a NO!

Daniel from Denmark.

I spent about 5 days here during my stay in Adelaide. I will try to highlight the good and the bad for other backpackers.

Rooms were a decent size. I was in a 6 share and there was room to put bags and stuff on the ground. Roommates were a bit messy but thats not really the fault of the hostel. The kitchen is a bit too small for the number of people staying here though. If you do alot of cooking, be warned, you will have to battle for space and equipment.

There was TV room/common area that was a bit cramped, but as a plus there was a huge balcony to eat your meals or hang out at.

Everything else was pretty much standard.

My last note is to MAKE SURE you get the right pin code for the main doors. They lock the main doors at night and you can't get in unless you have the right code. We got locked out late one night because the guy at the front desk gave us the old code. We spent the night outside waiting till about 5am for the cleaner to show up.

Other than that bad foul up, it was a decent hostel. The location is really good, probably the best part.

these guys were a great help. i needed some help and advice on where to go and what to see in and around adelaide and they were able to give hot spots to hit and recomend places to go. They also got me some great deals on tours around south australia. Very friendly service and atmosphere with good, clean facilities. Great location too!