InterCity Coachlines launch $1 fares for New Zealand travel
December 16th, 2009 by Tim Uden
From today, InterCity Coachlines is selling NZD $1 coach fares for travel throughout New Zealand.
This is most likely to counter competition from upstart Naked Bus, which has been offering $1 coach fares since 2006.
Every InterCity coach service will have at least one $1 fare. However the announcement from InterCity indicates that this promotion will only run for the next 12 months.
It is great that competition from Naked Bus has pulled prices down so now New Zealand’s two main coach operators have cheap fares for travellers who are organised enough to book ahead.
I searched InterCity’s site to see how easy it was to find the cheap fares and it was no problem at all. Generally if I was to book a few weeks in advance I would have a pretty good chance to score a $1 ticket, which is similar to my experience with Naked Bus.
InterCity also have the advantage of no booking fee (Naked Bus charge $1), but once the bargain $1 fares have been sold Naked Bus still work out at around half the price of InterCity.
InterCity Coachlines New Zealand coach travel
Qualmark skews its star ratings too high
September 17th, 2009 by Tim Uden
Qualmark is New Zealand’s main star rating agency which is the ‘official’ star rating used by Tourism New Zealand. It was established in partnership with Tourism New Zealand and as such it has an interest in promoting tourism rather than providing travellers with impartial advice.
Furthermore, like many other – so called, official – ratings agencies, they are paid by the accommodation establishments for the rating. This cosy partnership between accommodation providers and the organisation that is supposed to be rating them just leads to higher ratings than the hotels and hostels deserve.
As an independent travel guide BUG never accepts payment for a rating. Having any sort of direct business relationship with a hostel that we rate would jeopardise our independence. Our aim is to provide independent consumer advice, which means that we review and rate a hostel for the benefit of the traveller – not the hostel.
Clearly when an organisation like Qualmark is being paid by the accommodation it is supposed to be rating and is partnered with an organisation involved in promoting tourism, then the ratings are likely to be skewed towards a higher star rating. After all, they look after their customers – the hotels and hostels they rate – rather than travellers like yourself. Looking after their customers means giving them a star rating that hotels and hostels will be proud to display.
I am not saying that they are corrupt in any way. Qualmark (and other ratings agencies such as AAA Tourism in Australia) follow a strict set of guidelines to come to their rating and I am sure that Qualmark’s assessors take their job seriously. However the algorithm used to calculate those ratings produce higher ratings than a truly independent ratings assessor such as BUG (or Michelin if you’re talking about fancy restaurants). After all they look after their customer, the hotels and hostels that pay for the ratings; while BUG looks after our customers, the travellers who buy our guidebooks and use our website.
You would expect that the ratings would be spread between a ½ star and five stars with the majority of ratings near the middle (2, 2½ and 3 stars). That is the case with BUG’s ratings, but Qualmark’s ratings are through the roof. Their backpackers’ hostel ratings do not rate a single hostel less than three stars and even awful hostels like Wedgwood House YHA in Picton and Barnacles Seaside Inn YHA in Paraparaumu get at least three stars while those same hostels barely manage to score two stars with their BUG ratings.
New Zealand also has BBH’s backpacker perception ratings. This is a more subjective rating system than Qualmark’s system, but it is generally more trusted than Qualmark for giving an indication of a hostel’s quality. However it is isn’t a complete rating system as it only rates hostels that are part of the BBH hostel network, thereby eliminating all YHA hostels from their ratings.
Refer to the following table for an idea of the disparity between Qualmark, BUG and BBH ratings:
| Hostel | Qualmark rating | BBH rating | BUG rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accents on the Park (Nelson) | 5 stars | 80% | 4 stars |
| Anndion Lodge (Wanganui) | 5 stars | 4 stars | |
| Base Backpackers (Wellington) | 4 stars plus | 3½ stars | |
| Criterion Art Deco Backpackers (Napier) | 4 stars plus | 3 stars | |
| Downtown Backpackers (Wellington) | 4 stars | 66% | 2 stars |
| Kiwipaka Rotorua (Rotorua) | 4 stars plus | 2½ stars | |
| Moana Lodge (Plimmerton, Wellington) | 5 stars | 89% | 4 stars |
| YHA Auckland International (Auckland) | 5 stars | 3½ stars | |
| YHA Franz Josef (Franz Josef Glacier) | 5 stars | 3½ stars | |
| YHA Mount Cook (Mount Cook) | 5 stars | 4 stars |
While the hostels may love having a high Qualmark star rating, it is a disservice to travellers having all the ratings bunched up at the top end of the scale. For instance, in Wellington there is only one star separating Downtown Backpackers (Qualmark awards them 4 stars, BUG awards then 2 stars) and Moana Lodge (Qualmark awards them 5 stars and BUG awards them 4 stars). Qualmark’s rating of these two hostels would have you believe that they both offer a similar standard of accommodation but in reality these two hostels couldn’t be more different. Moana Lodge is a lovely place that has worked hard to earn its high rating, on the other hand Downtown Backpackers is a big old place in a run-down building that most travellers tolerate for its central location. Qualmark’s rating only separates these two hostels by one star.
Compare this with other star rating agencies such as the English and Welsh Tourist Boards, which assess star ratings but are more accurate with lower ratings awarded to simpler or poorer quality hotels and hostels. This is better for the traveller as it gives a better indication of what a place is really like as opposed to Qualmark’s system, which basically involves saying that all the hostels are excellent when they all clearly are not.
Fortunately travellers have the alternative of BBH and BUG’s own independently assessed star ratings.
Streamlined border crossing between Australia and New Zealand announced
August 20th, 2009 by Tim Uden
New immigration procedures for passengers on trans-Tasman flights have been announced that are expected to cut customs and immigration formalities down to around eight minutes for Australians and New Zealanders travelling to New Zealand. It currently takes between 25 and 55 minutes to clear customs and immigration at Auckland Airport.
The changes that have been announced include the installation of SmartGates that allow passengers with e-passports to check themselves through passport control. This will initially be implemented for arrivals at Auckland Aiport by December this year and for arrivals in Christchurch and Wellington next year and with SmartGates operating for departures at these three airports by 2011.
Unfortunately this streamlined process only applies to Australian and New Zealand passport holders, but implementing a speedier process for Aussies and Kiwis will take more people out of the queue and ultimately make it a speedier process for everyone.
Free one-way car and campervan rentals in New Zealand
July 31st, 2009 by Tim Uden
Many travellers visiting New Zealand fly into Auckland, rent a car or campervan, drive to the South Island and fly out of Christchurch. This means that there is often an excess of rental cars and campervans in Christchurch that the rental companies would rather have in Auckland.
To help solve this problem rental companies sometimes offer free one-way rentals if you’re prepared to travel against the tide and pick up your campervan in Christchurch and drop it off in Auckland. This is a great deal, although you generally have a very tight time frame to make the delivery.
Rather than phone around all the rental companies trying to score a free rental, you can find a free one-way rental deals at transfercar.co.nz.
New Zealand’s top 10 small hostels
June 4th, 2009 by Tim Uden
The latest BUG New Zealand guidebook reviews of around 500 hostels throughout New Zealand.
New Zealand’s hostels range from small intimate places to large modern multi-storey hostels with hundreds of beds although compared with Australia the emphasis is mostly on smaller hostels.
When I asked the authors working on the travel guide, their favourites were invariably these smaller hostels where the managers remember your name and provide a warmer welcome and a more personal service, all while keeping the hostel clean.
New Zealand’s smaller hostels also have the advantage of catering more to true independent travellers as they are generally too small to cater to backpacker buses like Kiwi Experience, Magic or Stray.
Based on the guidebook author’s recommendations I have compiled a list of New Zealand’s top 10 small hostels.
Most of New Zealand’s top 10 small hostels – all with less than 60 beds – are unique hostels with lots of charm, but some are known for the top-quality fittings and others for the friendly hospitable staff.
New Zealand’s top 10 small hostels are:
- Bay Adventurer (Paihia, Northland)
- Beaconstone (Charleston, West Coast)
- Billy Brown’s (Port Chalmers, Otago)
- The Bug (Nelson)
- Hopewell (Marlborough Sounds, Marlborough)
- Juggler’s Rest (Picton, Marlborough)
- Moana Lodge (Plimmerton, Wellington)
- Mt Cook YHA (Mount Cook, Canterbury)
- Old Slaughterhouse (Hector, West Coast)
- Tree House Backpackers Lodge (Kohukohu, Northland)
All these hostels are reviewed on the BUG website and also in the third edition of BUG New Zealand, which is now available in bookshops in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
You can also buy the book online from amazon.co.uk, Waterstones (with free delivery in the UK) or the Book Depository (which has free worldwide shipping).
BUG guidebooks on the Book Depository’s bestseller list
May 21st, 2009 by Tim Uden
Today I was checking how the BUG guides were doing on various online bookshops and found that both guides are on the Book Depository’s travel bestseller list.
BUG New Zealand was at number four when I took this screenshot, although earlier today I saw it at number three…
and BUG Australia is at number 19.
I’ve been a fan of the Book Depository ever since I bought some books from them last year. I bought a hardback copy of the Oxford Style Manual, which my local Borders store was selling for over AUD $120. The Book Depository had it for under £18 with free worldwide delivery. I ordered it on a Friday evening and it arrived the next Tuesday; and I live in Australia which is the other side of the world to the Book Depository’s Gloucester warehouse. I was very impressed and will certainly order more books from them.
If you live in the UK, then amazon.co.uk is often – but not always – a better deal; but if you live abroad, then the Book Depository is well worth checking out and in many cases it is your cheapest option. Books in the UK are cheaper than in Australia and a lot cheaper than New Zealand bookshops and if you live in North America – where BUG guidebooks aren’t available – then the Book Depository is the most logical choice if you want to buy a BUG guidebook.
New coach travel pass for New Zealand
March 14th, 2009 by Tim Uden
I’ve just added information about the new Naked Bus New Zealand coach pass to the BUG website.
The Naked Passport is the simplest of New Zealand’s coach travel passes where each pass is valid for a set number of trips so it is obviously better value on longer trips.
Passes are NSD $157 (£59) for five trips; NZD $260 (£98) for 10 trips; NZD $330 (£124) for 15 trips; NZD $370 (£139) for 20 trips; NZD $437 (£164) for 25 trips; NZD $497 (£187) for 30 trips. There is also an Unlimited Pass that costs NZD $597 (£224) for as many bus trips that you fit into one year.
A travel pass costing around £8 per trip may not sound like a good deal when you can buy tickets on Naked Bus from only NZD $1 (38p) each. However those cheap seats need to be snapped up around a month in advance and last minute seat on a route such as Auckland-Rotorua can still cost NZD $42 (£16).
Flexibility has a price, but with the Naked Passport at least that price is still very affordable compared with the alternatives.
The Naked Passport is better suited to independent travellers who don’t want to plan everything months in advance, while travellers who don’t mind booking a set itinerary weeks in advance just to get the cheapest fares will do better with individual tickets.
A compromise between flexible travel and getting the best deal is probably the best way to use this pass. For instance you can plan a rough itinerary and pre-book a handful of tickets in advance to get the cheapest seats and then buy a Naked Passport to use on last minute travel when prices are higher. This means that you still have an independent element to your trip, but pre-booking some tickets in advance can mean the difference between buying a 20-trip pass and a 25-trip pass and it can save you up to £20.
Alternatively, travellers on a one-year working holiday visa can get a lot of value out of the Unlimited Naked Passport bus pass, which lets you make as many bus trips as you can handle within a one-year period all for less than $600.
The Naked Passport passes are really good value, especially when a one-year unlimited pass costs around the same as two weeks of car rental; and if you rented a car you would still be up for fuel, insurance excess and parking.
Update on UK availability of BUG guidebooks
February 25th, 2009 by Tim Uden
BUG’s two latest guidebooks (BUG Australia – 4th edition and BUG New Zealand – 3rd edition) finally started making their way into UK bookstores at the end of January.
They have been available in the UK for almost a month now so virtually all bookstores should have the guides in stock, but amazon.co.uk is still showing both books as being unavailable. Our UK distributors have been in touch with Amazon so hopefully this should be resolved shortly.
In the meantime if you want to buy these books online, you can try either the Book Depository or Waterstones. These two online bookstores have both titles in stock. Waterstones has free UK delivery and the Book Depository goes one better with free international shipping.
The following links will take you to the books’ pages on these two sites:
BUG Australia – The Book Depository
BUG Australia – Waterstones
BUG New Zealand – The Book Depository
BUG New Zealand – Waterstones
Do big hostels need a bar to create a good atmosphere?
August 13th, 2008 by Tim Uden
I recently read a post on the forums at hostelmanagement.com (a great site if you want the inside scoop on hostelling from the hostel manager’s perspective) that says that a large hostel without a bar is a large boring hostel and the kitchen/common room scene only really works in small hostels.
This made me think about hostels – both big and small – that I have stayed at and what makes them tick. Are small hostels always better and does a big hostel need a bar to not be boring.
I hadn’t really considered that before although it makes sense. However on reflection I don’t really think it is the bar that gives the hostel atmosphere, but the decor of the common areas. It just happens that most hostels pay more attention to the interior design of a bar because it is a revenue producing area.
I’ve been to a lot of large boring hostels, but there are also plenty of big hostels without bars that manage a good atmosphere. The good big hostels without bars pay more attention to design and have the common areas in warm colours, with interesting furnishings and some art to give it a cosy feel. Even a big hostel can have a warm atmosphere if the right attention is paid to design.
Being big doesn’t mean being charmless and impersonal and being part of a big chain shouldn’t mean that either. A lot of big hostels buy the cheapest furniture to fill their vast common areas and they end up looking as cosy as a hospital cafeteria. Those that put thought – and a little money – into their business have a better atmosphere.
As a non-hostel example, let’s compare multi-store chains like Burger King and Starbucks. One feels cold and plastic and the other is warm and inviting in comparison. They are both chains with thousands of almost identical outlets; the difference is that one has darker warmer colours, dimmed lighting and comfortable seating and the other has bright colours and cold and plastic furnishings.
Sure Starbucks doesn’t have the atmosphere of a small independent cafe, but it is a lot better than if might have been with a different interior design.
If good design can make even a big corporate outlet feel welcoming and that means that design can transform any retail or hospitality business and that includes hostels.
Now back to the question of whether a bar improves a hostel. Well it comes down to how the bar is incorporated into the hostel and how it is run.
Wake Up! (Sydney, Australia) has a bar, but it doesn’t really add any atmosphere to the hostel because it is downstairs away from the main ground floor common area. Likewise the bar at Nomads Capital (Wellington, New Zealand) doesn’t add to the hostel’s atmosphere because it isn’t in the hostel, you have to go next door for the bar.
However a bar is a more central feature of Nomads Industry (Melbourne, Australia) as it incorporates the main ground floor common area, making it a top choice of Melbourne’s flashpackers’ hostels. On a smaller scale, Kimberley Klub (Broome, Australia) wouldn’t be the same without its poolside bar.
For a bar to improve the hostel’s atmosphere; it has to be integrated with the common area and it has to have the right atmosphere so guests who don’t want to drink will feel comfortable hanging out there as well.
A bar can detract from the atmosphere if it is poorly run. For instance Globetrotters Inn in London and Edinburgh have bars but they just feel depressing and you have to pay for everything at the bar and elsewhere in the hostel using a prepaid smart card. It just shows that the management don’t trust their staff with money and the lack of trust creates an unwelcoming and uncomfortable atmosphere.
Big hostels can’t rely on the owner’s personality so they have to try harder to create the right atmosphere, but it can be done. However having a bar is not always the answer.
Two new BUG guidebooks on the way
June 27th, 2008 by Tim Uden
You may have noticed that I have been a bit quiet in this blog and on the forums for the past six weeks or so. That’s because we have been busy finalising our latest two guidebooks, which finally were sent off to the printer on Wednesday.
We have been working on these two books since November last year and when it came down to less than two months to the deadline, the books suddenly took priority over everything else. This meant that posts to this blog and my presence on the forums was reduced to a trickle. During the last six weeks we’ve been working till 2am every day and in the last week our work day was extended till 4am. Yesterday I caught up on some much needed sleep – 20-hour workdays tend to be a bit exausting.
Every new edition of our guidebooks has been better than the previous edition, and this is no exception. This time we had the backing of a major publisher, which meant that I was able to send a few talented writers on the road to visit and review over 1000 hostels in Australia and New Zealand. The new reviews are more detailed than previous books, we also have coverage of new destinations, expanded coverage of places to eat and drink and we have redrawn all the maps so that they are clearer and easier to read.
The next couple of months will see us update the website with updated information that we gathered while researching the new books.
The 4th edition of BUG Australia and the 3rd edition of BUG New Zealand will be in bookshops in October.