Nomads (Formerly Base) St Kilda

Australia , Melbourne - VIC
ST KILDA, MELBOURNE, 17 Carlisle St, St Kilda Victoria 3182, 17
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75 reviews shown

10/10

Exceptional

11 Jan 2026

Marc

Clean location with friendly helpful staff. One of the best hostels Ive stayed in easily.

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

17 Jun 2025

Carl

Place is excellent, thou rooms etc are not as clean as could be. It is very British and overall the vibe is groovy.

Business Self

2/10

Poor

13 Mar 2025

Paul

Sorry to sound like a whinger didn’t mind the partying but people coming and going all night and morning a little disruptive ie 12 an 1 am 2am. The guy in the room had some sort of alarm he slept with going off every 10 minutes so I left at 2.30 am a sleepless night. Can’t remember a worse sleep. Definately not worth $130 for that experience, in fact I would t do it again if I was paid $300

6/10

Pleasant

18 Jan 2025

Andy

Very noisy environment

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

21 Sep 2024

Lorraine

Great as everything is there and close to cafes, eateries along with walking distance to Luna park and Palais theatre and the like. I did have to use my earplugs that were provided.

Leisure

10/10

Exceptional

01 Apr 2024

Verified traveler

Lively and fun hostel

Self

10/10

Exceptional

10 Mar 2024

Lara

Great stay, chilled enviroment and easy to get around

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

16 Feb 2024

Debbie

Simply Wonderful

Fabulous stay from the happy friendly welcoming staff
Our private room with balcony was awesome ( so better than the apartment we had come from ) the room was clean spacious and we slept so well
Thou this hostel is for the young ( being in my 50’s ) it was wonderful to see all the activities and fun times everyone was having
Would stay again

Friends_and_family Friends

4/10

Poor

28 Jul 2023

Michael

Spiders!!

Spiders in the beds, yep literally.

Business

8/10

Excellent

24 Jun 2023

Belinda Hui Yi

All the staff were incredibly friendly and helpful for literally anything. I was new to the country from Canada on a working holiday visa and they were so kind to give me pointers for phone plans, health care, opening bank accounts, booking trips north of melb.

Quentin from the front desk most notably was my favorite. He was the one who checked me in and out during my stay. He made me feel so comfortable and at home.

Really recommend this place for an affordable stay and a place to meet people from all over the world. So perfect for someone new to the country and trying to find their bearings.

Business_and_leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

25 May 2023

Alexis

best hostel ever to meet people!

the BEST hostel ever if you wanna meet people and have fun:) very social crowd and you can make such great friends it's amazing × boozy bingo is a must and the guy who hosts it with the cool leggings is a legend :)

2/10

Poor

24 Apr 2023

Niall

Avoid

First hostel I have been in where no charging points, staff rude, it really is a free for all here..

Self

6/10

Pleasant

08 Apr 2023

Grant

No hot water for a shower. I was looking forward to a nice shower. There was no soap either!

Leisure

4/10

Poor

19 Feb 2023

Lauren

Pro comfy bed con filthy scum he everywhere dirty shower carpet filthy room stank blind had bad party stains the rooms are past tired

Business_and_leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

18 Sep 2022

Mark

Amazing vibe. Friendly staff and guests.
Highly recommended.

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

21 Mar 2022

Kirah-may

Great vibe. Clean nice private room and bathroom. Nice style and great bar. Perfect location.

Leisure Partner

2/10

Poor

14 Dec 2021

Matthew

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

19 Apr 2021

Verified traveler

Great staff!

Self

10/10

Exceptional

30 Mar 2021

Verified traveler

Really chill environment, staff were friendly! Liking the fact that we can use phones as our keys

Friends_and_family Partner

8/10

Excellent

16 Feb 2021

George

Good

Partner

8/10

Excellent

18 Apr 2020

Irvin

Perfect location for tour

We chose the hostel because of it was close to the beach, places to eat and drink, and for our next day tour. The hostel was clean and had a great laundry facility. Breakfast was a typical hostel one. The staff was very helpful.We enjoyed our stay there.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

04 Mar 2020

Not

Was CRAZY so that I had to have my second night at a hotel. It was a fun place but just too crazy for sleeping earlier than 2.00 am. Super friendly staff!!

Friends_and_family Friends

8/10

Excellent

21 Jan 2020

Maryanne

Great staff, good friendly vibe.
water in shower was tepid not hot, air conditioner did not work. Double room did not have double bed

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

16 Nov 2019

Verified traveler

Good place to socialise and make friends! Good transport links to the city

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

04 Aug 2019

FARHANAH

Luna park hotel

Simple yet amazing room. They provided the ear plug, make use of it.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

01 Mar 2019

Jacqueline

Great service and location :)

Lovely service at reception. Great location! Rooms are clean and aircon worked well except to remote to control so if you turn it off you have to go down to reception to get them to turn it on again. The bathroom was quite difficult to get in and out of the shower due to the way the sink was really close to the shower the door couldn’t open all the way.

Friends

2/10

Poor

18 Feb 2019

Verified traveler

VERY UNCOMFORTABLE mattress & pillows great friendly helpful staff

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

03 Nov 2018

Verified traveler

Okay ish

Each room has its own toilet and shower, so it's pretty convenient. The hostel has a bar that has activities late into the night that can be heard from the rooms, but reception provides free ear plugs. The bed is clean, but the room can be messy depending on your room mates. It takes some time to get used to, but overall it was an okay stay, not great, but not bad either.

6/10

Pleasant

29 Oct 2018

Joy

For the amount I paid for a private room and bath I expected a little more than I was provided with. The window was locked so I could not open it to have air into the room, I was cold all night as there was no provision for an extra blanket and no facility for making a cup of tea unless I went down three floors, stairs and scrounged around for a cup to use. Other than that, the place is in an excellent position in St. Kilda and the staff were more than helpful.

10/10

Exceptional

06 May 2018

Alex

It was just loose af all the time. Come here if you like going out meeting people and partying

6/10

Pleasant

17 Sep 2017

Verified traveler

The room was ok, but I had to put up with the smell of marijuana. It was very strong, I had to get out and go for a walk.

10/10

Exceptional

11 Sep 2017

Jacob

Nice hostel close to the beach and trams.

Good hostel and good lively entertainment provided. Close to trams that get you around.

4/10

Poor

16 Jul 2017

Jackie

Good location but poor standard

Check-in was a bit tedious as it requires self-service check-in on a tablet. Staff charges wrong amount on credit card which I later corrected. Confusing signage to the room. Staff often chat with each other ignoring customers standing waiting at the counter. Walls in the room are far from being sound proof. You can tell when they provide ear plugs. Pub on the ground floor goes off till early morning. Only redeeming qualities are the cleanliness and the location is good - close to shops, tram stops, and St Kilda Pier.

Partner

2/10

Poor

15 May 2017

Helen

Unless you don't like sleep, don't stay here

I didn't get one night of good sleep at the hostel. Despite the 'house rules' stating that once upstairs guests should respect others in the building and to keep the partying to the club downstairs, this did not happen. Every night there were people on the hallways, shouting, screaming, banging on doors and being rude, crude and disrespectful. If you asked them to quieten down or leave the noise just got worse. I will not be staying here again and will recommend anyone going to Melbourne not to stay here either. The staff tried to help but it wasn't good enough.

2/10

Poor

04 Feb 2017

Verified traveler

Did not like check in on I pad then re doing it

No tea or coffee available, just stayed at Flinders in city and was included. Staff were brusque. Check in procedure was stressful. Would not recommend and will not stay again. Lift was out of order. Had to lug suit case up 4flights

10/10

Exceptional

22 Jan 2017

Verified traveler

Awesome hostel!

It was great close to St Kilda beach. Clean, nice staff and also many awesome activities during the week.

8/10

Excellent

07 Jan 2017

justyn

nye

Solo 2 nights was very comfortable an that

6/10

Pleasant

10 Dec 2016

cas

Close to Palais. Young adult hostel

Very loud til 3am. Tiny room came with ear plugs. Great shower with request to use it for only 4mins. Bed comfy. Suitable for party mad young adults

4/10

Poor

08 Dec 2016

Verified traveler

Location by the beach. There are no daily activities. No atmosphere at all

They said they have daily food specials on their bar, but their kitchen was closed during my stay which was 4 days (fake specials?)

Would never stay there again.

8/10

Excellent

06 Nov 2016

Verified traveler

Close to tram, close to beach.

Easy to find, straightforward check-in, relaxed atmosphere.
The place is actually great. Walking distance from St Kilda beach. Easy access to public transport.
Supermarket & restaurants nearby.
But despite staying on the 1st floor & on the far side from the bar, the noise was still very intruding.
If you're easily disturbed by noise, you probably can't sleep before 1am.

4/10

Poor

05 Mar 2016

Verified traveler

Need a new dj...

Hotel is close to acland st, which is great, as you need to stay out as late as possible to avoid the terrible karaoke, and the even worse mix of music that the over excited first time backpackers were screaming too until 2am.. being awake all night is fine, backpacking is awesome, but there is never an excuse for playing probably the worst music that was ever made.. just around the corner are actual talented musicians and beautiful dj sets, then returning to the 'friends' soundtrack, viva las vegas and 50 other rubbish songs is a crap end to a great night. Just because you have a hostel full of 20 yr olds is no excuse for playing this commercial garbage.

10/10

Exceptional

16 Feb 2016

brooke

Sick as

Sweet venue, close to everything.
Staff were awesome and the partying was insane. Will stay again when coming into the city.

6/10

Pleasant

02 Nov 2015

Jemma

Better then expected, good location.

Better then expected, good location. But had an issue with a very noisey toilet. Locked section for private rooms was very well thought of.

2/10

Poor

27 Oct 2015

Angela

Dont bother unless you are young and carefree

Dreadful experience. \"car parking' is extremely limited and needs to be pre-booked. Our booking was 4 women travelling together, with a note explaining the same- this was not read- even when I booked in they didn't have the courtesy to tell me that we had been split into two rooms (mixed dorms).
Never again!

Family

8/10

Excellent

28 Sep 2015

Verified traveler

May have been noisy as very close to the night club only one level down if your not out all night. Parking maybe difficult make sure you book a spot.

10/10

Exceptional

23 Aug 2015

Catrin

Couples ... BOOK A PRIVATE ROOM!

We spent two weeks at base Stkilda and enjoyed our stay! Paid extra for a private double room but was well worth the money, large bed and bathroom and plenty of room for clothing but sadly no wardrobe. The room linen didn't get changed for the whole two weeks which was disappointing but could get clean towels everyday which was great. Excellent location of you want be away from the busy city and a 1minutue walk to beautiful St Kilda beach and the Penguins at the end of the pier. Kitchen was always cleaned but young travellers find it difficult abiding by the \"clean up after yourself\" rule which is no fault of the staff. Mixed review on the hotel workers, some friendly others not so much! Al round a great time in Melbourne, even if it was a bit chilly!

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

01 Jul 2015

lana

Great for a backpackers.

It's a great place to stay considering the price it's a shame that there is a club next door so while my partner and I were trying to sleep after a long day all we could hear was screaming and squealing from people next door till 2-3am in the morning every night

10/10

Exceptional

30 Jun 2015

Emma

Home away from Home

For the price and environment of the place I give it 10/10

Family

8/10

Excellent

24 Jun 2015

Verified traveler

Great stay

Stayed in a private room. All amenities you'd expect, big bed, tea and coffee, private bathroom, full length mirror, towels, air con/heating, tv, hairdryer. Plus a huge balcony, great for summer. Basically what it says on the tin - a private hotel room in a hostel! Cheap and cheerful. Not shiny or new but we didn't expect that. Everyone was friendly, couldn't hear the bar from our room on 3rd floor. Loved St Kilda, amazing location for a hostel and not too touristy.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

13 Jun 2015

emily

Nice and central perfect base to explore St Kilda

We had a private room with own bathroom, was very very small but the bed was comfy & clean. Rooms are pretty hot as I think central heating flows through the entire building. there was a split system if needed.
Free parking on the other side of the road & cheap meals & drinks & entertainment in the bar.

10/10

Exceptional

18 May 2015

georgina d.

Overnight stay to go out in Melbourne

I really enjoyed staying at the Base.
The reason is it was very reasonably priced!
I only wanted to stay in my room for a few hours as I was going out on the town, so didn't want to pay a lot of money for my stay, so this suited well!
Easy to get to via the St Kilda Tram!
Room was basic but very clean, neat and comfortable!
Staff were lovely!

8/10

Excellent

26 Feb 2015

dave

Party central!

I didn't stay after booking in as another place that I wanted became available. Loss of payment but I decided the place would be too noisy for me anyway. Was tempted though as it's certainly full of activities, people and fun! Really great atmosphere. If I wasn't here to work I'd be in there to play!

6/10

Pleasant

23 Feb 2015

Handy location, reasonable rates

Arrived in the morning to store my bag (free storage), then returned at 1am and checked in. The fellow at the desk was friendly & helped me retrieve my bag (could have taken anyone's if I chose to). Facilities on the ground floor looked good, the bar was pumping out some loud music, but I couldn't hear it on the 3rd floor (girls sanctuary). Entered the room in the dark - by small torch light (out of respect for those sleeping) & found the empty bed. Room seemed clean, a/c was on - then seemed to turn off when it was needed most. Windows open so noises from the street (sirens & trams) kept me awake, until another girl arrived at 3.30am to turn on the bathroom light and leave the door open waking up a few of us, to then go to bed with the light still on! Only when I spoke up 10 mins later was it turned off - oh so considerate.
My booking was to include a fluffy towel, toiletries & a free drink - I received NONE of these, I may have been able to go to reception & request them, since it was 24hr manned - coz I thought the towel, etc would be awaiting me on the bed - but since I was due to leave at 6am - I didn't bother.
As for my impressions of my short time at the hostel, it wasn't the modern room I expected (from what I could tell in the dark), but despite not being able to sleep due to the hot weather, the bed was clean & comfortable, as was the bathroom. The staff were friendly and helpful, and the location was quite good. Would consider staying there again if the need arose.

6/10

Pleasant

18 Feb 2015

Verified traveler

Not bad

Away from the city .. But nice town

Family

2/10

Poor

17 Feb 2015

Verified traveler

Not bad

I ordered 2 beers from the bar for us and paid $50 and the bartender return $7 only ! Saying she gave me the rest. That was on 13/2/2014 .. Female bartender with black hair

Hostel is ok

Family

10/10

Exceptional

16 Dec 2014

Andrey

Facilities: Nice ; Value: Cheap; Service: Friendly; Cleanliness: Pleasant;

8/10

Excellent

01 Dec 2014

Lauren

Facilities: Good, Above average; Value: Affordable; Service: Sufficient, Polite; Cleanliness: Spick and span;
Was pleasantly surprised by the state of accomodations, really lovely and eco-friendly to boot.

8/10

Excellent

25 Nov 2014

Barry

Facilities: Modern; Value: Affordable; Service: Friendly; Cleanliness: Spick and span;
The lockers in the rooms should come with a lock & key!

6/10

Pleasant

19 Nov 2014

silwe

It's a good place for under 40 years this I found it nose levels high on the first floor but good time for young students

8/10

Excellent

17 Nov 2014

Verified traveler

Great little place

Great little place to stay. Close to everything st kda has to offer. Friendly helpful staff

10/10

Exceptional

25 Oct 2014

Tamara

Facilities: Basic, Unpretentious; Value: Fantastic, Incredible value for dosh; Service: Go the extra mile; Cleanliness: Pristine;
Perfect for people travelling around Melbourne and those who just want nice things close, without forking out a lot of money.

8/10

Excellent

22 Oct 2014

Ann

I stayed in a private room basic facilities and away from the bar

10/10

Exceptional

18 Sep 2014

Emma

Facilities: Above average; Value: Economical; Service: Go the extra mile; Cleanliness: Pleasant;

8/10

Excellent

11 Sep 2014

Chinese Jimmy

All inclusive back packing.

Cool place, intense bar on premises with specials if that's what your into. Nice international cloud of people, really sincere and helpful staff. Groovy neighborhood for foodies, beach goers and party animals.

8/10

Excellent

09 Sep 2014

Jimmy

Who's ready to party?

In a nutshell, only book this hostel if you like a good time. Music pumps till about 3am at the weekend and till 13 most nights. Some people dont like it, i personally loved it! Rooms are ok, not enough plug sockets for 8 people sharing and housekeeping is adequate. Staff are good too, some better than others. Food from the kitchen was terrible. Well run events nightly, especially the quiz and bingo night. Stayed here for 2 weeks and will definitely be back

Family

8/10

Excellent

30 Jul 2014

samantha

Cheap hotel/pack packers in st kilda

We stayed in a private double room. The bed and mattres were super comfortable. Water pressure im the shower was awesome. Good location, close to tram lines, round the corner from ackland st in st kilda, great price, staff were always friendly and helpful. Had a bit of noise from the street, could hear trams going past but it didnt bother us too much, they supplied ear plugs for those who wanted to use them. There is a bar down stairs with really cheap drink specials most nights. We didnt get any noise from the bar.

8/10

Excellent

10 Jun 2014

Matt

Friendly Cheap Backpackers Hostel

Was just after a cheap place in the area to stay for the night as I was seeing a band (& making the most of the long weekend). Was greeted very cheerfully & shown around. Room was perfectly fine for what I was after - had a TV, double bed,& adorning bathroom. Very enjoyable & affordable overnight stay

10/10

Exceptional

25 May 2014

joel

Facilities: Brand new; Value: Great deal; Service: Go the extra mile; Cleanliness: Spotless;

10/10

Exceptional

19 May 2014

Sherri

Facilities: clean and welcoming; Value: Bargain; Service: Friendly; Cleanliness: clean;

10/10

Exceptional

04 Apr 2014

Sam

Facilities: Above average; Value: Great deal; Service: Professional; Cleanliness: Pleasant;

6/10

Pleasant

28 Feb 2014

Francisco

Expensive booooozz

10/10

Exceptional

17 Dec 2013

Happy

Facilities: Good; Value: Affordable; Service: Courteous; Cleanliness: Spotless;
Brilliant location. Public transport at the front door.

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

11 Dec 2013

Yuan

Noisy but good value!

Three are three security person at gate, impressive! Good value if u like partying.

10/10

Exceptional

13 Aug 2013

Susan

Facilities: Home away from home; Value: Fantastic; Service: Go the extra mile; Cleanliness: Spotless;
Close to where I had to go

10/10

Exceptional

06 Aug 2013

Karina

St Kildare break away

Great service, friendly atmosphere. Lots of information on tours around Melbourne or around the country. Internet cafe, clean and tidy foyer, a small smokers area. Loved the bar area, cheap drinks music was pumping and just a great place to meet and greet people. They also charge a small fee for breakfast and serve bar meals too. Did I say cheap drink,lol...