Meet Louise & Tony
Open minded, Helpful, Friendly
We are a traditional Aussie family who love hosting and meeting people from all cultures. We have opened our home to short and long term guests for the last twenty years and we hope to meet you too!
On a typical day...
I’m mostly at home/work from home.
When I host guests...
I’m helpful and hands on. I can show them where to go and help them get there.
Family Hobbies
Cycling, Skiing, Bird watching, Cooking, Fishing
Hosting guests since
1998
Response Rate
100%
Response Time
Within one hour
About the Homestay
- Welcomes
- Males
- Females
- Couples
- Families
- Students
SHORT OR LONG TERM ROOM AVAILABLE
WHVisa, Students or Professionals
Our family live in a beautiful suburb called Hawthorne, it is a 15 minute (express) trip on the City Cat to Riverside in the city(Zone 1) and QUT. The transport to UQ is also convenient.
We are experienced homestay providers and we have hosted students from most European and Asian countries. You will have your own fully furnished bedroom with all linen included. Also included are breakfast and wifi and laundry facilities. There are no extra costs.
If I am available I am happy to meet you at the airport (daylight hours) and show you around the city. I will assist you with opening a bank account and buying a sim card.
If you need an address for a Tax File Number I am happy to assist you before you arrive.
Also if you have a Working Holiday Visa I will also help you with your resume and help you to get a job by giving you interview hints.
I look forward to hearing from you.Our traditional Queenslander home is situated in a beautiful suburb called Hawthorne, very close to the CBD. We live near the Brisbane River so the Citycat ( fast catamaran) is the quickest transport to the CBD.(15 minutes express)
My husband Tony and I live with our students and other visitors, we oftenhave family meals and lots of fun.
Included in the homestay fee are the following:
# Continental breakfast (self serve)
# Your own room and shared bathroom
# wifi
# Laundry facilities
# Sheets, towels etc
We also have a beach house on the Sunshine Coast which we stay at most weeks, you are welcome to come with us. Sometimes we go camping to the beach or to the country side, if convenient you would be very welcome to join us.
We have assisted over a hundred people settle into Brisbane on a longer term basis and we are very happy to assist you if you are coming to Brisbane for any of the following reasons:
* relocation for work
* attending university or studying English
* working holiday visa (assistance with obtaining your Tax File Number, bank account, resume, sim card etc)
* holiday
We are happy for you to stay one week or many years. I am at home most of the time so I am very happy to assist you with your English study and assignments.
The environment around our neighborhood is very quiet and safe and there are some great restaurants and cinemas within walking distance.
I am also very happy to negotiate a different fee for long term guests.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further questions. I look forward to meeting you.
Additional Info
Two nights minimum booking please.
Street parking is available.
Free wifi is available but only for emails, facebook, research etc, no downloading movies and music.
Pets
Dog
House Facilities
- Garden
- Bikes for use
- Laundry
- Patio
- Barbecue
- Parking
- TV
- Internet Access
- Smoke alarm
- Air Conditioning
Bedrooms available for booking
About the Area
Hawthorne is one of Brisbane's traditional suburbs with beautiful timber Queenslander high set homes on large blocks of land. It is 6 kilometers from the CBD and 8 minutes by car. The local village of Bulimba has many trendy coffee shops, restaurants, a supermarket and a cinema.
The Hawthorne Citycat ferry terminal is only 7 minutes walk and the nearest bus stop is 5 minutes walk from our home.
Local Area Facilities
- Tennis
- Park
- Gym
- Swimming
- Cinema
- Library
- Shopping Centre
- Water sports
- Health club
- Fishing
- Restaurant
- Bus Stop
- Train station
Meals
Hosts can offer a complimentary light breakfast at their discretion. All other meals will incur an additional cost. Meals and any additional payment should be arranged directly with your host.
Included in the stay
- Complimentary Light Breakfast
- Use of Kitchen
House Rules
Enjoy living in our home!
Respect others in our home, advise me if you don't want dinner, don't use our home as a hotel.
If you are a smoker we prefer you smoke away from our property please.
Smoking is allowed outdoors only.
8 Reviews
September 2018
If you like privacy this stay is not for you. I left it after one month and a half because of the bad relationship with the family. It is a pity because I got on well with all other guests (6) . I assume that Louise likes to control everything at home.This might be why there is video and audio in every rooms : even at seaside she could know what the guests were talking about. For me it was too much even if I liked her support for collecting me at the airport and her advices for my resume. Louise wanted to know what was guests 's plan for every day and and she appointed roles to each of us (cleaning, dishwasher, table..). It was quite a big deal if finally we were not back at the expected time even if no impact on the family for meals etc .. In addition, guests could hardly have long discussion with Louise 's husband , he used to quickly end discussions like if he had no choice than accepting the business of having guests at home for years. For all those reasons, I did not feel the convivial and family atmosphere that I saw on pictures. The good point is that this compelled me to travel and meet other guests and other accomodation types.
Host reply
I don't usually write negative reviews as our family generally has a very good relationship with our guests. However after reading Evas review regarding her stay in our home I am compelled to do so. I'm not sure why Eva came to our home initially, she spent a lot of time in her room much to the surprise of our other guests. She couldn't pay the required rent so I dropped the price and even then she didn't pay anything until after the first week. She said she couldn't afford it yet it was an agreed amount on this web site. She claimed there were cameras in every room which is a lie. We have two external security cameras in our front yard for the protection of our guests, none within our home. I spent a lot of time assisting Eva as I do with all our guests, helping her with her resume and giving her ideas on how to find a job but she made little effort. We also cook meals occasionally for our guests including Eva but she was never charged extra for those meals even though they were not included in the homestay fee. I have shown our other guests her review and their comment were that her review is a lie and untrue. As you can see from my other reviews we care for our guests and want them to have a great experience. Sadly I think Eva was too immature and living and getting a job in Australia was much more difficult than she could cope with, as the only job she had was an Uber eats delivery person just a few weeks prior to her departure. I wish Eva all the best and hope that with maturity she will understand that travelling is not always easy but don't criticize and lie about people who try to assist you.
August 2017
Louise and Tony are amazing hosts the environment is relaxing full of experiances with overseas travellers stay as well meals were never an issue for louise and delicious the stay is very homely and comfortable highly recommend
Host reply
Many thanks for staying with us Lachlan, you are very welcome any time.
July 2016
Starting my new life in Brisbane in a house like that was one of the best choices I could make. Louise and her husband have been extremely kind and helpful for me during my stay there. Although it was not that long, I will surely remember it as a great experience!
March 2016
Wonderful location, the house is clean and cozy. Owners are nice and kind. They helped me to improve my English and every dinner were a good opportunity to practice English with family and other guests. This is a fantastic homestay for students, workers and to holiday.
September 2014
This guest awarded the host 4.2 hearts but didn’t leave any comments.
December 2011
ottimo, perfetto!!! Grazie
April 2010
La experiencia en gral fue muy buena. El ambiente es agradable, la casa estaba relativamente limpia, me senti comoda como en mi casa, la ubicacion es buena, es un barrio residencial, donde te tomas el ferry y en pocos min estas en el centro de la ciudad.
February 2010
This family is very very enjoyable, everybody is sympatic it is a second home. The house is very beautiful. I stay just two weeks but it is very interesting my english was to improuved and I saw a true Australian life. If you look for a familly in Brisbane I think this family is for you.
How do I book?
Contact the host to check their availability and ask them any questions you have about staying with them. Once the host confirms they’re available for your dates, you can complete your booking.
When do I pay?
Once a host confirms they're available, you can go ahead and pay the 15% booking fee (maximum of 199 $£€ for longer term bookings) and a 25% deposit using a choice of payments: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Maestro, Laser, JCB & PayPal. The deposit is collected in advance on behalf of the host to protect against no show or late cancellations (within 7 days of arrival). You then pay your host the balance due on arrival. The 25% deposit payment is made to the host 2 business days after your scheduled arrival date. This deposit payment will only be refunded if you cancel the booking at least 7 full days prior to arrival.
When can I share my contact details?
Host and Guest email address, phone number and home address will be exchanged in a confirmation email sent to both immediately after a booking is completed. It's against our policy for Guests and Hosts to exchange direct contact details via our messaging system.