Reviews of Gili Buana Hostel & Backpackers Gili Air 3 stars

Best staff ever

Cheap clean rooms

Nice building in the middle of trees with small swimming pool

Expensive place named hostel for backpackers, however it was full of families and kids, invading the common areas and taking advantage of staying in near rooms to leave kids alone without supervision and playing without discretion in the swimming pool. Also, thin walls and old, uncomfortable mattress.

The team are amazing,

We booked a Deluxe room for 3 nights, since everything in Gili was fully booked. We understand this place is primarily a hostel, but when paying for three nights in a private room at a price well above the Indonesian average, we expect a level of service proportionate to the cost. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The room door had gaps that let in both light and insects. The shower had no curtain, so the bathroom was flooded every time we used it. On top of the salty water issue (which is common across Gili), we couldn’t flush toilet paper and were instead asked to throw it in a separate bin. When we pointed out that this information should at least be mentioned beforehand, the staff laughed at us. Breakfast was exactly the same as for those who paid the dormitory rate: sliced bread, margarine, pineapple jam, instant coffee, and tea. Not even milk was available. The building itself, made of wood, creaks at every step, so you can hear all movements from other guests. Overall, we absolutely do not recommend this place.

Staff

Breakfast, you have one option just (bread and butter ) they should make more options for customers.

Great pool!

Chill area was small and dorms were full with misquitos

I liked the swimming pool and the outside common areas are beautifully decorated! It’s also a nice touch that they rent out scooters and bicycles to save customers time in finding one!

The air con in our room barely worked which was frustrating as it’s very very warm and it would’ve been nice to cool down after a long day in the heat. The wi-fi essentially doesn’t work ever so I had to use my 4g the entire time. I ended up even having to top up my 4g plan as I had to use my laptop to do some admin work. Also, my partner and I had a private room and bathroom where the drain had an awful smell of rotten eggs coming from it…our room smelt awful the entire time. To top it all off when I wanted to shower to go to dinner the water completely stopped working in our room and it made us over an hour late to our dinner plans! When we asked the reception for assistance the lady simply laughed and joked about us jumping in the pool for a quick shower….I understand people have their own individual sense of humour but it was very annoying considering we had plans and it made us very late for it. It just felt like it was one thing after the other.

Comfy beds, hot showers, nice swimming pool, welcome drink was lovely

Nothing really but breakfast was abit meh

The cool water in the swimming pool and a comfy mattress in the bed were the best of this place.

Unfortunately, the hostel was disappointing. I booked it just for one night because my boat was canceled and my previous good hostel was overbooked. The bathroom is messy and filthy all the time, and it seems never cleaned during the day. the is no shampoo, just a towel to use. In the corridor between rooms were blocked by a full dryers of clothes. The toast and butter for breakfast were really small and disappointing.

Pool area

Personal have had Silly questions and not really professionnal. Dorms are oldish and not well furnished. No gathering space except the pool area. People just looking at their phone, no speaking. Doors of the dorms are really tricky and showers are oldish a

Great stay. Great staff. Very friendly and accommodating. Thank you. Terima kasih! 🙏🏼

For a shared room it was ok, I had single bed, it was comfortable.

Of course this is all my opinion but: No descent place to store my stuff in the room, 3 beds and only 1 title cabinet that u can't even close... I dont like living out of my backpack. No descent place to dry clothes, it's in the hallway, it doesn't dry there... The bathrooms had a weird smell and were not the nicest, but acceptable Breakfast, yeah well not the best, you just get bread, butter and shredded pineappl... maybe some jelly or optional to get something extra. For all that I think the price was high for what u get compared to other places I have been.

nice staff, pool and good location.

No AC in a 16 dorm bedroom in high season. Got a heatstroke. Bathrooms a bit far from the rooms.

Well located, calm place to chill out and meet people. I booked the cheapest dorm bed at first for 2 nights without knowing it was a 11 persons dorm wirh not working AC and didn't like it. But I liked the place so much that I took 3 other nights in a 3 persons dorm and it was absolutely perfect! Staff was amazing.

Water tank was empty often when I wanted to refill my water bottle (so you should refill your bottle in the day to make sure someone in the staff can change the tank if needed). Bring your own soap for shower.

The room was clean and spacious. The welcome drink on arrival was a nice touch!

Showers were cold, smelly and only a couple worked. Also the same with the toilets….. it’s a shame as overall it had the potential of being a great place!