Excellent hostel. Professional-grade kitchen, friendly staff who mailed something to us that we…read morehad left behind, and great common areas.

You usually know that in most YHA Hostels in NZ that the YHA option is fairly basic but generally…read moreOK for the average backpaker. Rotorua, on the other hand was well below average. It took ages to do the booking on the phone, it took a while for them to find our booking as well when we did get there! The room itself was dreadful! Really very small - wood panelling the whole way round and the bed wasn't clean. The ceiling creaked so much that we wondered whether the people in the room upstairs would fall through onto our bed!!!! The shower rooms were filthy - they were also very poorly lit. I think that this more or less was one of the worst places that we stayed in this fantastic county. We would definately not recommend this place - there has to be nicer places in around Rotorua!

Stayed here on a Friday and Saturday night for a running event happening in Rotorua. The place is…read moreeasy to find with large signage along the road. The complex appears to be a hotel/motel which has been converted into a hostel. The staff were super friendly on check in and throughout the stay, and the front desk lady took the time to walk us around to show us the property. The hostel has a large kitchen with a number of new hotplates and ovens, and large stainless steel benchspaces for preparing meals, however could do well to have some larger commercial style refrigerators. Found there were enough utensils for our use, however it could be somewhat limited in the availability of pots and pans when busy. There is a large TV room with lots of lounge seating and a huge LCD television with SKY tv box, DVD's available from reception, and you could plug in a hard drive using the USB port to watch your own movies. We stayed in a 8 bed dorm which we had to ourselves the first night, and shared with 3 others on the second night. Each of the dorm rooms has their own ensuite bathroom which is cool. The shower was adequate and there was also a hairdryer fitted to the wall. The beds are probably the best I've ever slept in at a hostel, and much better than many hotels I've stayed at. I had the best sleep here thanks to these beds! They are also made when you arrive, which is awesome - you can just rock in and rack out if you want. Also they don't allow anyone to check in to occupied rooms after 10pm so you won't be disturbed late at night by late arrivals. The pools are great - there is a one is cold, one is warm, and a smaller one is filled with mineral water which felt awesome on the skin. They also have free wifi, you collect a code from reception which gives you 4 hours of access (which became a little tedious having to enter codes every now and then - but it worked and was pretty fast). Great hostel, good sleep quality, plenty of space, pools, large kitchen, awesome TV room, friendly staff. What more could you want? Its only a short walk from town. If I'm back in Rotorua I'd definitely stay here again!

Stayed here during my trip of north island. What i liked:…read more-only 10min walk from intercity stop -clean rooms and bathroom -good price quality -friendly reception that happily provides tips -parkinglot available -at night, it is quiet!!! (so i can get proper sleep) Rotorua is very popular during summer, so i booked well inadvance hostel and my tours. Will definitely return.

I thoroughly enjoyed this super cute hostel. Bastin gave me a warm welcome, showed me around the…read moreplace and spent a long time answering all of my questions and recommending things to do. Initially, I had only planned to spend one night in Rotorua. After speaking with Bastin about the activities and places he recommended, I changed my plans, cancelled my reservation at Hot Water Beach and spent two nights here. I paid for sharing a room with two bunks, four beds. I was surprised that I had the room to myself for both nights. I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful cat, Blakely, who always enjoyed being petted. Bailey also helped me recommend places based on my interest and amount of money I had to spend on my last day. She even shared some milk for my hot tea with me. This is the only hostel that I stayed at who provided laundry detergent to wash your clothes. You pay to use the washer and dryer and they have powdered laundry detergent available. All of their staff was very helpful and friendly with anything you need. I highly recommend staying here when in Rotorua.

Great hostel in Rotorua!…read more -The owner was helpful and was happy to assist in booking my excursions. -Weekly activities like poker, Wii tournaments, movies (with free popcorn!) are great for camaraderie. -The bathrooms are clean and they even have an individual shower available. -They sell beer/wine and provide free internet and lockers.

I paid $55 for a small private room, i think it is the cheapest in rotorua, but it exceeded my…read moreexpectations. very clean, and comfortable. i don't think i can find anything better at this price.

I'd give it 3.5 stars. Small room but clean and has everything you need with a bed, mini fridge,…read moremicrowave, small seating area table, small bathroom. I kept bumping into the wall while showering. Only a fan for a/c. Its a good location close to the main bus terminal. You get 1 GB WiFi.

Cute hostel in Matamata that's perfectly located near Hobbiton and the Waitomo glow worm caves…read more The staff was super friendly and great to work with! I never got to meet them in person since I was out really early every morning and came back late every night, but they were very accommodating and made sure we were able to get in and check out with ease. The rooms were great. I stayed in a 4-person room. Each room is its own unit outdoors with a sliding glass door. They do get a little hot but there are windows. There are lockers for each person. Overall, we had a great time staying here.

Loved this hostel! Parking is in the front of the building an they close the gate at night for…read moresafety, so I loved that! The lady at the front desk is Crazy nice and very helpful! The washer and dryer also works great, so it is a great laundry spot. The rooms are very clean! The location is close to town for a quick bite to eat and close to Hobbiton! I would highly recommend staying when you are in the area!

This is a great place to hike with trails of all types and levels. We parked at the main…read moreinformation center where the elevated Redwoods walk is located and hiked the Pohaturoa Track which initially runs through the redwoods, then along Tarawera road for a short distance then steadily goes up to viewpoints of the City and also Te Puia Dan the Pōhutu Geyser basin with lake views. We added on the joint use mountain bike track Mud pool loop which had one active mud pool. Loved that the plant life was so diverse with many different pine, fur and even eucalyptus which smelled wonderful.

Beautiful forest! The questions you need to answer is whether to visit during the day or at night?…read more And if you visit as night, do you do the (expensive) tree walk? I would highly recommend visiting at night. It is truly special. I can't speak to walking through the trees at night on the ground, as we paid the US$20 to walk through the tree tops. The view at night is like fairy lights; easy to imagine this as the setting for every elf story I have ever read.  BF liked the engineering aspects; it is cool how the tree walk has been hung without damage or drilling into the trees. Would definitely recommend this as an unusual way to spend an evening.