Hostel Review: Calypso Inn Backpackers Resort

By Bobbi-Jo // 11 June 2010 // Comments: 0 // Related Categories: Best Backpacker Job, bungy, cairns, Hostels, Review

If you’ve been following my trip for any length of time, you’ll know that I’ve spent a lot of time in hostels over the past three months. It takes a fair bit of differentiation to make an impression, which Calypso Inn Backpackers Resort certainly managed to do. While the entire concept of budget accommodation dictates that certain luxuries are sacrificed for price, a stay at Calypso leaves you feeling more refreshed and relaxed than you would ever expect to at a hostel with highly competitive backpacker rates.

Clean kitchens and rooms usually top the list of must-haves. But as with most service-oriented businesses that elevate themselves from good to great, real success can be found in the details. Calypso Inn, located an 8-minute walk or a 2-3 minute free shuttle provided by the hostel from the center of Cairns, pays honest attention to the things that can really make or break a backpacker’s experience.

With dorms and private rooms available, Calypso provides its guests with not only a clean and safe place to lay their heads, but also a fun one. There’s always light music playing, usually with a Caribbean lean, that gives the place an open and relaxed feel. Zanzibar, Calypso’s full bar and kitchen located in the center of the property, is ready to serve up big meals and great drinks at excellent prices. They don’t waste the opportunity to let you know that the money you save by eating and drinking on-site before braving the streets of Cairns can go towards a snorkel or dive trip or even a bungy jump. This isn’t just a line: with most meals under $12 and a glass of wine hardly breaking the bank at $4.50, you can have a great time without having to call home for more cash. And did I mention that the food is delicious?

There’s always a friendly face waiting for you at Calypso’s reception area, which doubles as a travel desk. Reception desks are usually a backpacker’s best resource for planning the details of their trip, one that should be made full use of in Cairns, an area so full of “things” to do that it’s easy to get lost or led astray. Off-the-beaten-path type activities like spear hunting for crabs with aboriginals or heading up to Cooktown on a 4WD experience are recommended by experienced staff that can answer all of your questions and give you a full picture of what to expect. Good or bad.

Eric the ATM is often out of cash, which can get a bit annoying if you want to grab some cash to buy a drink at the bar, but there’s an ATM just around the corner. Air-conditioned rooms, a kitchen area that is open 24-hours and the charming Pocahantas sheets on the beds are just a few of the details that enhance your stay at Calypso. It’s a little bit of paradise and a little bit of home at the same time.

If you’re looking for a party hostel, Calypso probably isn’t your bag. That doesn’t mean that they don’t know how to throw a party. I can assure you that they do, and very well. But most nights the 11pm shuttle is stuffed with bar-hoppers heading to town, leaving the hostel itself fairly quiet if you’d like a peaceful sleep. During the week there are trivia nights and pool competitions in which you can win substantial bar tabs, and on the weekends there are barbecues and occasional special events (fancy parties, film festivals, live music). There’s almost a perfect mixture of the craziness of Cairns and the relaxed vibe of beach culture present at Calypso, something that you are very grateful for if you’re at the end of your trip and experiencing travel overload or at the very beginning of your trip and would like to ease into the Australian experience.

There is no TV-room, a flaw to some, but an real asset in a place like Cairns where going out and taking part in the tropical world around you is encouraged. However long you’re planning on staying in Cairns, add on an extra day just to lay around the hostel, meet fellow travelers, wade in the pool and fully enjoy the pace of life at Calypso.