122 Stortford Street, St Leonards, Hastings Bus 16A, 20 Tel (06) 873 4285
BUG Review
A1 Backpackers is a lovely house west of the city centre that was converted to a hostel a few years ago. It’s in great shape, with clean tasteful rooms, a nice kitchen and TV lounge, and interesting little details like decorative coloured glass windows. There’s a big, peaceful backyard as well, with tables and a barbecue, as well as a couple of small campervans. The owners are very friendly, and in this case, the name doesn’t lie – A1 Backpackers is undoubtedly the cleanest, homeliest hostel in Hastings.
Price Dorm bed $23 ($20 BBH) Double/twin room $46 ($40 BBH) Prices are in New Zealand dollars and are inclusive of all taxes.
Pros:
If you want quiet loneliness you've come to the right place because no one else wants to be here
Cons:
signs everywhere telling you what you can't do and bloodly cold ALL THE TIME.
zweck
saw things this way
Maintenance
(3)
Cleanliness
(2)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
(1)
I came to check out the hostel in hopes of finding seasonal work. I was assured that there are two girls living here that work in a packhouse and I could get a ride with them to work as soon as I move in. So move in, find out there are actually not even two other girls here and the packhouses are closed for the season so essentially I was lied to in order to get here. They are apparently "happy" to find guests seasonal work, well they're not. Aside from giving me a list of numbers to call she didn't do anything else about it. They don't have a heating system and they told us it is illegal to not have a one hour timer on all the heaters, which is another lie. So you can never get warm in the house. We've resorted to standing outside to warm up which is usually 5-10 degrees warmer than inside. There is a sign that says it's a $50 instant fine if you set off the fire alarm, and signs everywhere you look telling you what you can't do. They also both have fulltime jobs so the communication is very bad. You feel like you're constantly doing something wrong and imposing on them for just being there and for using the heaters and wasting their money.
