Cstay Guest House on Magnetic Island - Picnic Bay, Queensland

Lara Z.

I really enjoyed my stay here! As a solo travelling girl, I felt completely safe. The location is perfect if you want to explore the island — there’s a bus stop nearby and a few beautiful walking trails around. The room, kitchen, and bathroom are clean, though nothing fancy — but for this amazing price, I’d never complain! The owner and their dog are so friendly, which made the experience even better. Thanks for the great stay — I’d definitely recommend it!

Marnie H.

I had a great time here, it felt like a home with the cute dog and small hostel vibe.
Kitchen and amenities were always clean.
Owner is very nice and location is great too.
Don’t expect party but you get to talk to other guests easily if you want 🙂

Mike C.

Booked for 2 nights and left after the first one.

Rooms are pretty normal. Aiircon was good. TV was not working. Bar fridge working. Power board needs replacement.

Reasons why we left after the first night:

Male bathrooms showers not working properly. Every time someone was using the toilets, the black water (waste water and sewage from toilets) was overflowing from the drainage.

Female bathrooms 2 out of 3 toilets were blocked, 1 out of 3 showers not working.

Common areas are not very clean, the place is not tidy at all, there is rubbish everywhere (tools, green waste, broken white goods, hand mixer, etc)
Kitchen full of flies, scourers needs to be changed more often (it was already falling apart)

Rubbish bins just right outside the kitchen, which brings more flies!

Overall, it is a place where you will stay if you are on a budget and don't mind the mess.

Chris C. A.

5* service. This is not the most luxurious hostel in the world but it doesn't matter it has everything you could need. Great location, Great people, Great social life, oh and big TV to watch the state of Origin my partner says! The owners a Lovley the kitchen and rooms are kept clean. The staff and long term residents are some of the loveliest people we have met in hostels after nearly three years travelling.

Loui, Adam (the owners) beautiful puppy keeps guests in check and always available for cuddles really helped my partners Anxiety having dog about and good talking point with other guests. Adam seems to be making regular improvements to the property to ensure contined improvement of guest experience. I see from other reviews complaints about wildlife Unfortunately the gekos and flies come with living in beautiful tropical island. Adam continues to find ways to keep flies at bay. The gekos are cute and there's also at least two rock Wallabies that live near hostel and noises of tropical birds, really feels like a tropical escape!

Really close to bus stop buses from 5:40 great for work in Townsville if you want to catch 6am ferry from Nelly Bay. Holiday/Business Backpackers ourselves

Cannot recommed Cstay enough! Really fosters community experience as it's small non chain hostel X

Asbjørn G.

Very nice rooms if on a budget. The rooms have a nice fridge and freezer and also a tv. The toilets and bathrooms were old but fine for us.

The only conplain we have is the kitchen. It was dirty and full of flies. We decided to eat out or only microwave food so we didnt need to be too much in the kitchen.

M M.

Pros: reasonably priced for individual room with fridge (inc freezer) and sink and A/C. Towels provided. Dog was friendly.

Cons: TV didn’t work in room, large cockroach came in due to gaps in door, hole in window screen, toilet & shower block needs a major renovation, so many flies near/in kitchen, not very sociable hostel…

If you’re a solo backpacker maybe Nomads or Roamer is a better option

R6695SLjamesc

We stayed at cstay magnetic island last night with my wife and her mum we booked 2 rooms , we stayed one night , bad experience ,my mother in law was horrified at first sight reception no one around phoned the manager he came down sloping his drink all over him self reception office filthy the grounds are unkept toilet and bathroom are outside in the dark ,dogs barking at us on arrival in entrance no hand rails anywhere path to rooms very easy to trip uneven not recommended for older people my mother in law found it very difficult to get up the front stairs no hand rails anywhere., to dark to go outside and get to and back to toilet , told manager we couldn’t stay another night first thing in the morning and under t the circumstance I requested my money back for the next night he lied to me and said he had a 2 night minimum stay I checked website not true $360 for one night I will contact fair Trading . Beware it’s best described as a backpackers shack.

Fed20

Starting with the pros: position. You can't ask for better than this at this price.
Rooms are ok, good cleaning standard. They are provided with a sink, it comes very handy, and a fridge. Aircon works pretty well.

Now there are a few things that, if fixed, would make the place better; starting with installing some fly screen for the kitchen. There are 5 doors always open and without fly screen, the bins are just outside the kitchen, definitely not helping to keep the flyes population on check. Even just some fly traps would help a lot.
The kitchen sponge was disgusting, old and destroyed, it would take nothing to swap it for a new one.
Some plants were overgrown and in the way of the walkway, no big deal but not the best either.
Last thing that didn't really fly for me, unlike the flyes, was the dangerously low fan in the common area, watch your head if you are taller than 1.80m, you might end up decapitated. And the maintenance guy that makes the common area unusable for the Guest during the night cause he watches the news on the big screen every night. Not a big deal but why fo you even keep board games then?

Overall good stay, I do recommend it for the price and location, do not expect luxury.
Bonus point for the dog Louie, very good boy