The Absolute Cheapest Melbourne Accommodation in 2025

Are you planning to visit Melbourne and looking to stretch your budget to the absolute maximum? I've taken a deep dive into the accommodation options available in Melbourne in 2025 and will reveal the absolutely cheapest places to stay in this wonderful city.

Why spend more than you need to!

But first, some parameters.

Obviously people have different needs.

I'm limiting my search to solo travellers for now. I will NOT limit myself to certain booking providers. Travellerspoint does have affiliate programs with some accommodation providers and links in this post earn this site some commission, but if I can find a cheaper option on one we don't have a partnership with - it will still be included.

Findings

This probably won't come as a surprise, but dorm beds are almost always the cheapest, most convenient option available.

The absolute cheapest price I could find for a dorm bed across all my date searches in 2025 was $28.80.

There are two contenders though that sometimes have comparable prices. And I'll give them a shoutout first.

1. Homestays

I found one homestay priced at $28/night. Unfortunately it is out in Altona Meadows which is a little far for my liking (probably ~1 hour into the city by public transport). This option also had a minimum stay of 7 nights and I struggled to find any availability. Consequently, I ruled it out of contention. Another option for $30 in Hoppers Crossing had a lot more availability, but also is quite far out of the city. There are some options at $50 though which are more reasonable distance. A homestay typically does include a private room though, so it's probably a more comfortable sleep than in a dorm room. The easiest site to find home stays is through Homestay.com - definitely worth trying your luck there if you are up for staying in someone's home with them.

2. Caravan Parks

There are a couple of caravan parks close enough to the CBD that I'd consider them as an option if you are travelling with a tent. The price as a solo traveller is not great, because you are paying for a site and can't spread it over multiple people. But if you have just one other person with you, you can share an unpowered tent site at Big 4 Melbourne from $29 per person, which for all intents and purposes is as cheap as the cheapest hostel. This caravan park is located in Coburg which is not particularly close to the CBD, but it's also well connected by public transport and just one suburb over from Brunswick which has plenty of nightlife.

One downside staying out of the centre of course is that you will end up having to pay for transport to get into the city. One huge advantage is that if you have a car, then you won't need to pay for parking. Factor that into your calculations.

The absolute cheapest option though?

The absolute cheapest place to stay in Melbourne in 2025 is Pint on Punt Backpackers.

The cheapest price to stay at Pint on Punt was a very low $28.80. This price does not show up on any of the booking platforms. It was only available when booking directly on their website and is referred as a Base Camp Discount. This discounted price is not refundable. The room is a 6 bed dorm room.

The Pint on Punt Backpackers is located in St Kilda directly above a pub, the Windsor Ale House. For reference to the uninitiated, beer in Melbourne is typically served in a pint and pot sizes. A pint is about 500ml.

St Kilda is probably the most popular area of the city for backpackers to stay in. It's a little out of the CBD (20 mins by tram), but it has a beach and some great dining options and nightlife.

By the way, if you are trying to work out whether St Kilda is right place for you to stay, you may want to read my other article on the best areas to stay in Melbourne

Some other hostel contenders

The closest contenders were.

Melbourne City Backpackers (CBD) had special prices at $30 for some dates in August .

Summer House Melbourne (St Kilda) had prices at $32 on special for a few dates during the year.

Tram Stop 14 Backpackers (Fitzroy) was priced at $33 during June.

Europa Melbourne (CBD) had prices from $33 on special. Depending on your actual dates, you may find some of these on special and prefer them.

Booking Direct

Despite finding the cheapest possible price available when booking direct, this was far from a consistent experience. Almost all the hostels were actually cheaper on the booking platforms like Hostelworld, Booking.com or Agoda. The only way to know for sure though is to check them yourself unfortunately. You also possibly could email or phone the accommodation and see if you they will give you a better price. For longer stays that may well be worth a shot.

Couchsurfing

There is one other option worth mentioning that is worth considering, and that is Couchsurfing. It involves joining their community and staying with other community members free of charge. That could literally involve sleeping on a couch. The only cost here is a fairly low monthly or annual subscription fee. For the real penny pincher, this is very hard to beat! And it's a great way to meet local residents of Melbourne as well.

If you are looking for something maybe a little less cheap - have a look at our Melbourne accommodation page for lots of options in the city and surrounds.

Notes on the methodology

To ensure the results are spread fairly across the year, I searched across multiple dates of the year. The searches were mostly for one night. Since some places are only available with minimum nights of 3 or more, I also did searches for week long stays to see if any good results came up. I searched across meta search engines as well as direct searches on the accommodation websites to see if they offered anything cheaper. Airbnb was also checked but didn't deliver anything cheaper than $50

About the Author

I'm Peter, the founder of this website, Travellerspoint. I live on the outskirts of Melbourne.

Last updated 20 Feb 2025