Rate or nah – Part 2 of 2

As you may know, last December/January I travelled through New Zealand with my mom. We had an amazing time and I still have heaps of travels stories and photos to share. For this blog post, I thought it’d be a cool idea to review all the hostels that we stayed at during this trip (due to length, cut in two parts). Of course everyone is different and will have their own experiences and their own opinions on things, so please bare in mind that this is what we did and didn’t like about the places we stayed at.

6. Hopewell

• URL: http://www.hopewell.co.nz/
• Address: 7204 Kenepuru Rd, Kenepuru Sound, Marlborough
• Length of stay: 3 nights
• Cost for two people: NZD 330,-
• Reason for choosing: Because Hopewell ❤ ❤ ❤
• Our experience: I’ve written about Hopewell many times (for example this post) and I’ve shared many photos from this place. I love Hopewell so much. And this time it was no different; amazing as always!
• Rate or nah: rate! This is my favourite place in New Zealand. I’ve been here three times now and already know I’m coming back.

7. HuHa Farmstay

• URL: https://www.bbh.co.nz/hd427/Hu-Ha-Farmstay-Backpackers-in-Glenhope-New-Zealand.html
• Address: 2937 Kohatu-Kawatiri Hwy, SH6, RD2, Glenhope
• Length of stay: 1 night
• Cost for two people: NZD 72,- (en suite room)
• Reason for choosing: we needed a place to stay between Nelson and Christchurch, as it was too far to drive in one go. Since the roads around Kaikoura were under repair due to the earthquake, I thought it would be smartest to go via Nelson Lakes N.P. , which is beautiful and which I’d love to see more of! Browsing the BBH website I came across HuHa Farmstay. Not only was the location convenient, the BPP rating was good (84%) and we thought it would be a cool idea to see a smidgen of what New Zealand farm life would look like.
• Our experience: terrible. We do not understand why this place is rated so highly. Sure, the facilities are clean, the kitchen is equipped ok and the building is spacious, but we think this place has issues. The biggest issue being the fact that the place is stuffy as hell. There are horses on the farm and the owners want to keep all doors and windows of the backpackers closed to prevent flies from coming in. The result is a stinky place that may be clean, but hasn’t been aired out (properly and at all) in a long long loooong time. The bed sheets were washed but smelled, the towel was clean but smelled. Everything reeked of stuffiness. It was unbearable. The other issue is the lack of interest by the owners. I can understand their time is limited and I can only imagine farming being very hard work. On top of that, they are a family, which is also hard work. I get it and I can understand it up to a certain point. What I can’t understand is the utter lack of any interest at all. You’re running a backpacking business! When I think of a farm stay, I would expect to be able to learn at least a smidgen of farm life. Sure, we could walk around the farm ourselves, but that was it. Instead, the owner only came in to collect the money.  Late in the evening, a family came to stay the night at the backpackers as well. It felt weird as one woman tried to get into our private room! Curious. Anyway, we could not wait to get the hell out of there the next day. We got up very early, as early as we could manage, and drove to Christchurch, where we arrived way ahead of schedule.
• Rate or nah: nah! A (stinky) place with heaps of potential and zero realisation of that potential. Hard pass.

8. Chester Street Backpackers

• URL: http://www.chesterst.co.nz/
• Address: 148 Chester St. East, Christchurch
• Length of stay: 2 nights
• Cost for two people: NZD 132,-
• Reason for choosing: I was looking for a place with a good location: not too far from the city centre, but still easy enough to drive to. I had stayed at Foley Towers before and I didn’t want to stay there again. Not because it was necessarily a bad place but simply because I thought it was too big and too much of a party place. Chester Street Backpackers seemed alright (BPP rating of 81%), nice and small, and conveniently located.
• Our experience: we were kindly received by the WWOOF’er. The place has a real backpacker vibe: vibrant colours, small cubicle showers, slightly stuffy but nothing too bad. Sure, it wasn’t perfect and perhaps a bit old, but we liked the quirkiness of the place. The hostel had everything we needed, and had a good and friendly vibe. On-street parking was easy. Not sure if the hostel is in the best neighbourhood, but we had no issues, not even on NYE.
• Rate or nah: rate. Not perfect, but a nice and quirky place nonetheless.

9. Mountain View Backpackers

• URL: https://www.mtnview.co.nz/
• Address: 7 Russell St, Wanaka
• Length of stay: 3 nights
• Cost for two people: NZD 204,-
• Reason for choosing: admittedly, we were planning on staying at Wanaka Bakpaka off of a recommendation, but it was fully booked so we needed to find another place. The info on Mountain View Backpackers looked good, the BPP rating was good (82%) and since I hadn’t stayed in a hostel in Wanaka before, our guess was as good as any.
• Our experience: great place to stay! The owner/manager is very knowledgeable and she’s witty! We were in a double room in a small building off the main building. Our room was a bit oddly shaped so it was hard to get around and the bed was too soft (my poor back), but that was the most of our gripe. It’s a lovely place, with clean and well maintained facilities (although the kitchen is a bit small), a nice big garden and an excellent location.
• Rate or nah: rate!

10. Butterfli Lodge

• URL: http://www.butterfli.co.nz/
• Address: 62 Thompson St, Queenstown
• Length of stay: 2 nights
• Cost for two people: NZD 138,-
• Reason for choosing: I’ve stayed in Queenstown before, but in other hostels. I’d heard good things about Butterfli Lodge (and mostly about the view), so I thought we’d check it out.
• Our experience: we loved it! In our opinion, the BPP rating should be way higher than 76%. We were able to park the car off-street, which was nice. There’s not a lot of parking space so I guess we were lucky. The place is small and clean, totally my cup of tea! The WWOOF’er was friendly and helpful, our room was great, and the facilities well maintained and clean. And the view from the deck is amazing! One thing: the walk to town is longer than 10 minutes!
• Rate or nah: rate! I would definitely, absolutely stay here again and probably longer than 2 nights.

11. Hogwartz

• URL: http://www.hogwartz.co.nz/
• Address: 277 Rattray St, Dunedin 9016
• Length of stay: 2 nights
• Cost for two people: NZD 196,- (en suite room)
• Reason for choosing: I’ve stayed here before and liked it.
• Our experience: we had an en suite room in The Coach House, which is a small building with two en suite rooms and a kitchen. It was awesome, we were the only ones there (the other en suite wasn’t occupied) and had a very relaxing time. The place is spotless, modern, new and has everything you could possibly need. Basically something you’d expect from a comfortable hotel! We could park the car in front of The Coach House which was so convenient. I’m not too sure about the owner though. It’s not like she’s majorly rude or anything, but she didn’t come across as the most sympathetic either. I appreciate her running a tight ship so there won’t be any gripe, but…I don’t know…I wasn’t into her vibe that much. But apart from that, this place is a great hostel to stay at!
• Rate or nah: rate!

12. Jucy Snooze

• URL: https://www.jucysnooze.co.nz/choose-a-snooze/snooze-christchurch/
• Address: 5 Peter Leeming Rd, Christchurch Airport, Christchurch 8053
• Length of stay: 1 night
• Cost for two people: NZD 149,- (en suite room)
• Reason for choosing: convenient location close to Jucy Car Rental and to the airport.
• Our experience: small room but clean and modern. The location was perfect: not only close to the car rental place and the airport but also to a little shopping area with a supermarket so we could get some food.
• Rate or nah: rate! I’d say an excellent choice for an airport hotel and I would definitely stay there again.