After a few attempts to contact this place I finaly managed. They didn´t accept Visa and I had to deposit the full amount, when arriving in South Africa.

When arriving at the backpackers we got a room in what looked like a crack house from hell. There has been no maintenance done what so ever for at least 20 years - but the worst was the stench. After a while we managed to lokate the sorce of the worst oder - a rubbish bin that someone had releaved themselves in, was standing next to our bed.

I´ve traveled extensivley alla over the world, and often with very little funds. But this was the absolutley worst place I´ve ever seen through out my years.

This backpackers is located ON the beach: great! There's not much else around here but thats fine for a few days. Best beach spot ever! Nice people that were running the place though not very business-minded. The whole atmosphere was great with a nice fireplace inside for the cold nights, relaxation to the max. The rooms are quite basic but it's an experience. Dont stay here if you want a Hilton experience, stay here if you're up for a great time!

A few months ago I made a telephonic booking with the backpackers. Subsequenlty (over a period of three months, several emails and phone calls) I have not been able to get a booking confirmation out of them. I followed up today to pay a deposit for my upcoming holiday in 3 weeks only to find out that they have NO RECORD of my booking. No need to say that it cost me half a day of calling around to get alternative accommodation for the Xperiod. What a shame that the place is not managed properly - it is the closest one can possibly get to the beach in the Knysna area and is a truly beatiful spot. Business must be really good if they solely rely on walk-ins.

I stayed at Buffalo Bay backpackers as part of a 10 month trip through Africa with my wife. We rented a car and drove all of south africa and did public transport for the rest. When we arrived in the parking lot we thought that we had arrived in paradise and we had heard before hand what a great location it is. It was, but the hostel itself was run down but that was not the biggest problem. I can't possibly imagine that the owners were on hand. The lady running the place was just plain rude and didn't care one way or another if we were happy. We greeter her on arrival and she just rolled her eyes and pointed at reception. I thought she must have been another guest but turned out to be in charge. We booked three nights in advance and each night they do a set menu dinner and every night we were there it was the exact same meal and it was bad and over priced. I had many BBQ's (braai's) while we were in South Africa but this was just not able to stomache. There was hardly anyone staying there and the showers were filthy. Luckily it is only a short walk to town where there is a great restaurant overlooking the water with ice cold beer. The beached in each direction were amazing and among the best we saw in SA. It is a real shame that the backpackers has such a great location and they just don't seem to care. We stayed at budget backpackers the whole trip and this was the worst one by far. The best being the Karoo Soul in Outdshoorn. My advice would be to stay in Knysna and visit Buffalo Bay as a day trip or there is a municipal campground in town near the restaurant.