For any of you backpackers out there that may be reading this be warned: MAGNUM'S IN AIRLIE BEACH IS THE WORST HOSTEL WE'VE EVER STAYED AT.
In hindsight, I suppose we should have seen it coming when, at 6:30 in the morning, after our bus driver had stranded everyone on the bus at a closed Greyhound station (don't even get me started on this), in chatting with other bus riders, we told someone where we were staying and his reaction actually registered on the Australian Richter Scale. He regaled us internationally known stories of their bed bugs. Though a bit concerned, we nonetheless arrived and checked in. We typically don’t room with dead and live cockroaches, but this time we were, I suppose, willing to overlook our unwanted dorm-guests. Upon visiting the kitchen, we were not sure what to be more appalled at: the fact that kitchen had one dirty refrigerator, or the fact that the girls sitting at the only table in the kitchen were merely killing time until they were through washing all of their belongings because they had gotten bed bugs from the hostel.
Let’s focus first on the kitchen: the size of a large bathroom, I’ve seen better outfitted kitchens on episodes of “Gilligan’s Island”. No stove, no range, sometimes a toaster, one table, a dirty fridge, no pots and little utensils. Anticipating the exasperation of incoming backpackers, there’s a small note taped to the wall that states that their kitchen is no different than most hostels’ kitchens (a lie) and is not intended for regular meal prep, but only supposed to be used as a breakfast kitchen; should you want full meals other than breakfast, the hostel’s bar and restaurant offers a wide array of meals. Brilliant. Even more brilliant? This self proclaimed “breakfast kitchen” is closed from 8 to 9 am every morning, which, I believe, is breakfast time.
And to top it all off, if you do hire a bed for the night, it comes with only a sheet; to hire a top sheet, blanket, or pillow comes at an additional cost.
Needless to say, Gen and I opted to camp.
