Ah hostels, you either love them or you hate them, and personally I believe if you've never been to a hostel before you're missing out terribly; not only as a young traveler but as a general human being. There's something about being thrown into a small space with a group of complete strangers from all walks of life that's every so slightly nostalgic. While most of us won't have fond memories of school it's a completely different experience when we flock together out of a mutual interest.
The very first hostel I ever stayed in was the Art Factory Lodge in Byron Bay, a haven created by hippies and artists in the 70's. I came across the Art Factory Lodge possibly a year before I even visited the area as I'd had the idea to take a little, spontaneous trip up to Byron. Unfortunately that particular trip never happened, but when I did end up traveling to the area the Art Factory Lodge was still fresh in my mind. It's no surprise that most travelers are drawn to the hostel, with its carefree atmosphere and impossibly cheap prices. While the local caravan park is charging $34 each for just a tent pitch barely large enough for two people you could stay in a fully-fledged, nomad approved hostel. It's a short walk to the town center and beach at about 10 minutes. Although it's the furthest hostel from Byron its seclusion allows the place to stretch over 5 acres.
The hostel offers a number of choices when deciding what kind of accommodation you want. Although I chose the standard six bedroom dorm you can also opt for an eight bed, four bed, double rooms, teepees, cabins, tent sites and a lot of themed rooms ranging from $32-$105. Unlike your average hostel it accommodates both the shoestring travelers and city slickers alike. Of all the hostels I could have chosen to be my first I will be forever grateful that I happened to book the Art Factory Lodge due partly to the unbelievable people I met in that dorm, a guy from Perth on business, a girl from Chicago who'd just arrived from a three month trip to India and a Canadian traveling North to work as a horse wrangler, as well as two London girls who stayed in one of the incredible teepees.
As for things you can do that's where this hostel really shines; it tries really hard to entertain its guests. The hostel is part of the Art Factory Village which includes the Byron Lounge Cinema, Buddha Gardens Day Spa and Historic Byron Bay Brewery that has some amazing gigs and live performances in the evenings. The Art Factory Lodge itself hosts a multitude of workshops the likes of yoga, didgeridoo making and African drumming. Within its walls the communal games room includes a pool table and table tennis, outside you'll find a large pool, volleyball court and basketball. A MAD Travel Shop is located right next to the reception allowing you to book any number of day tours or longer trips. Thankfully there's a BYO policy so after a quick trip to the bottle-o you needn't even leave the hostel for a hectic night.
The Art Factory Lodge costs $34 for a six bed door with prices varying for different accommodation types. A $10 deposit is required for sheets.
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