Byron Bay has maintained a sense of the lazy, windswept beach town for which it became famous. It pairs some retro chic with stunning scenery in a quiet part of Northern New South Wales, sandwiched between the bright lights of Sydney and the flashing nightclub lights of the Gold Coast. Plus, Chris Hemsworth lives there, so could it get cooler?

I chose the Vali Byron Hotel for its location, but also because it offered a comparatively reasonable price for my two-night stay. There was a reason why it wasn’t as expensive as some other top hotels in Byron Bay. Find out why in this Vali Byron Hotel Review.

Location

Vali Byron is centrally located in Byron Bay, albeit down a bit of a side street. The alley is normally fine, but you will find it’s used as a place for some homeless guys to park up. I found them very friendly and the side street was usually relatively busy. It’s not far to the main drag.

Like most of Byron Bay’s hotels, Vali is within walking distance of Main Beach, Belongil Beach and the main restaurants in the town, meaning Byron’s busy but chilled atmosphere is close at hand.

The Room

My room was a large double on the first floor, with access to an enclosed terrace (which otherwise looked on to a car park). It was nicely decorated and the bed was big and comfortable with crisp white linens.

There was a fridge and a kettle in the room, so I stocked up with snacks and was able to enjoy a coffee out on the terrace first thing in the morning. Wi-fi was free, but not particularly fast.

The Price & The Problem

Everything seems to be going a bit too smoothly with this review… I booked two nights via Booking.com for a total cost of $390 AUD. That’s not super cheap. However, no hotels in Byron Bay are super cheap. The compromise here was a shared bathroom. I read all the reviews on Tripadvisor, and people seemed chilled about it and said the shared men’s facilities were kept spotless.

On my corridor, there was a shower block in one room and, separately, one single toilet with a sink in it. The shower block was clean and tidy, but the bathroom got dirty pretty quickly and seemed to be cleaned once per day. I wasn’t a fan.

You need to know there ARE rooms with proper ensuite facilities, there simply hadn’t been any available at the time that I booked. I think this would make the experience much better.

Service

Reception staff members were very friendly and helped me to store my bag on my final morning until my pick-up.

Value for Money & Overall Impression

If you find a great deal on Vali Byron, then this is a cool place to stay. The updated ice-cream colours in the lobby and little gilded hooks that appear everywhere put me in mind of the early days of the Pineapple Hotel in San Francisco. Plus it’s pet-friendly, and who doesn’t love their fur babies?

Booking

I choose to book via Booking.com as they had by far the best price for my room of any of the aggregators.

Find prices on Booking.com Compare prices on Tripadvisor