Hostel Review: Kimberley Klub YHA, Broome, WA

Broome is the jewel of Australia’s West Coast. No doubt about it. It’s a treat in so many ways – cute village-like town centre, retro outdoor cinema, good nightlife and a gorgeous white sand beach with amazing sunsets and even camel rides. Yes, camels. And the best part is that it is totally underdeveloped. Like a secret that only a few of us know about.

This may be due to the fact that Australia is so massive and Broome is so out of the way that flights to and from aren’t all that cheap. Something I discovered when my tour ended in Broome and I realised I had to pay for flights out… But it’s worth it, trust me.

So as this was the last stop on my Aussie Wanderer tour (read more about it here), I didn’t have a say in the hostel-choice and we checked into Kimberley Klub YHA, into a 12 bed mixed dorm. On a side note, until this point I hadn’t stayed in a mixed dorm, and 6 people had been my maximum, so I was a bit ambivalent. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be though – pretty much the same as the 6 bed female-only dorms I was used to, but a bit cheaper.

I instantly liked Kimberley Klub. It is completely open plan when you walk in with open-air parts of the common areas (because it’s always sunny in Broome!). This makes it super sociable with pool tables and long wooden tables in the dining area – so you easily make friends.

Kimberley Klub is part of the YHA chain so standards are always high with

clean kitchens and bathrooms. There’s even an outdoor pool! There’s also a cool chilled out lounge area and an internet café that’s pretty affordable.

Also, it has a really nice bar area that sells Broome’s own Mango Beer. It’s the best beer I’ve ever had and I haven’t found it anywhere else in the world. Definitely try it if you’re there.

In terms of location, Kimberley Klub is pretty much all you could ask for in

Broome. Everything is quite spread out so it’s impossible to be walking distance to both Cable Beach and the town. Kimberley Klub resides in the ‘town’ part, but there is a free shuttle bus to the beach which takes about 5 minutes. I think that’s preferable anyway because at night you’re going to go out in town and it’s nicer to walk back from a night out than it is from the beach. I think so anyway. Friends of mine had pre-booked a hotel on the beach and regretted it because they were so far away from everything.

The weirdest thing location-wise is that you can walk to the airport from this hostel. Yes WALK. Broome is so small that the airport is in the town. So weird!! I literally checked out of my room on my last day, chucked my backpack on my back and walked 10 minutes down the road to the check-in desk. Again, WEIRD. But pretty cool you have to admit.

So I have to mention here my absolutely favourite part of Broome – the outdoor cinema ‘Sun Pictures’. It’s one of my highlights of the whole of Australia. It’s small and cosy with a retro 1930s-esque lobby, you sit on seaside deckchairs with big tubs of popcorn and watch the latest screenings in a pretty garden setting. I went twice. The best part is that you get little geckos climbing up the screen and every 20 minutes a plane will go over (because the airport is so freaking close) and you won’t be able to hear the film for a couple seconds. But I love that, it’s part of its charm! Have I sold you on it yet?

Also, another little Broome tip – there’s a live webcam on top of Cable Beach’s Sand Bar & Grill Restaurant, facing the sea. So I called my mum from right in front of it and got to wave to her in front of the beach! You can see it here: http://www.broomecam.info/

So needless to say even though my first night here was part of a tour, I stayed on for another week. Dorms are from $25, go on do it – book on Hostelworld here.