Kaiteri Lodge

The kitchen is really small for all the bedrooms ! For the price per night (32$) for a backpackers like that you can at least have a free wifi.... no TV room or lounge room.... really friendly and helpful staff 👍🏽

This hostel has everything that you need, it has all the facilities with ensuite dorms and a fully equipped kitchen. The showers are a bit weird with the water spraying everywhere rather than in a forward spray onto your body. Decent enough place. Wifi is not free.

Great getaway. Stayed here with kiwi experience for 3 nights to get the best of the national park. Staff very accommodating - sorted out all our transport to and from the national park when out of season. Clean comfy beds and kitchen (staff kindly cleaned daily and well-equipped, though could do with a few extra pans). Only suggestion would be for a communal lounge area. Wifi costs a small amount but very fast. Had a really great stay and would love to return, thank you!

Spacious rooms, plenty of showers and bathrooms in the shared complex. Right on the beach so if the suns out, can be nice to chill by there. Kitchen however was so small, like for a whole coach load of backpackers to turn up and want to start cooking their evening meal was just a shambles. It's tiny with no cook tops or anything. Wouldn't even bother, just eat a sandwich or buy a burger with chips from the next door cafe for like $15.

I stayed in this lodge for one night during my kiwi experience trip, it was a lovely little hostel with spacious and clean rooms. They had a bar area that served cooked meals for a very reasonable price and these usually included an alcoholic drink. I can imagine this can be quite loud for guests not travelling as part of the kiwi experience group.

Stayed here for four nights during my kiwi experience trip back in October. I spent four relaxing nights in this cute little lodge right on the beach. Clean rooms and bathrooms, kitchen was cleaned a few times a day and well stoked with utensils. Spending four nights here meant there was one night I was practically alone in the lodge as it was an off day for the kiwi experience arrival. All of the staff invited me to join in on their Canada day celebrations and made me feel so at home, Richard especially was such a gem, and very welcoming. I was so delighted by their incredible hospitality. The separate bar made for a cool environment if you wanted a few chilled out bevvies or just a good meal. Would definitely recommend for anyone looking for affordable accomodation right on the beach to chill out in Kaiteriteri. Would love to go back.

We stayed here for 2 nights from 21st-23rd March. The "lodge" let's you know that upon check in, you are required to place a $20 deposit for your key and cutlery for the kitchen, due to the amount of theft of cutlery. This is the first hostel in New Zealand I have experienced this. Check in was slow but we didn't mind as we understood that the hostels get very busy upon arrival of the Kiwi bus. Upon checkout, we asked if we were able to keep our cutlery a little longer so we could eat our breakfast at a leisurely rate, instead of rushing it in 20 minutes. The woman at reception was very rude and snapped at us and told us "if you were staying in a 5 star hotel you wouldn't check out bits separately." We ended up skipping breakfast and handing the cutlery and keys back for our $20 deposit. When this was completed I asked the woman what her name was, to which I was most shocked by her rude, raised voice and confrontational manner - "I'm the manager here and do you want my name so you can write a trip advisor review? If you were checking out of a hotel you wouldn't do it bit by bit. We have to checkout 160 guests!" to which I responded that it is a hostel not a hotel and that all she needed to do was tell us in a friendly way, instead of snapping. She then told me to "grow up and get out of my reception area." I feel she unnecessarily raised her voice to try to embarrass me in front of other guests, yet really all she achieved in yelling at me in front of everyone else in reception was embarrass herself as a manager (having worked in customer service for many years - I would never yell at a customer, let alone as a manager of other employees) and also give the hostel/lodge a bad name. I have already forwarded my issues onto kiwi experience for this hostel and hopefully this way more paying customers/guests do not receive the appalling treatment that I have. To "the manager" that refused to give her name for this review - I would suggest a customer service training course or to simply be nicer and have a calmer manner toward guests. There is no need to ruin someone's morning for no apparent reason when this all could have been resolved by a simple "Sorry ladies, I can't allow you to keep your cutlery due to company policy." As for the rude comments you made to me, this is a reflection of yourself and the lodge and I'll definitely be passing this word on to fellow backpackers alike to let them know of your disgusting attitude. If you have to check out 160 guests everyday, you need to get used to this stressful time and not take it out on guests.

Located close to the beach. We had a double with en suite bathroom. Room was decent size but it was not clean. Visible dust on bedside tables etc. The bathroom smelled of mold so bad I was difficult to use. We informed staff but they ignored us and claimed it was not mold.

I stayed in a private double at this hostel as part of the Kiwi Experience. The hostel is a two minute walk from the beach and there's a kids play park opposite. A restaurant and bar sits right beside this hostel and a local supermarket is a two minute walk away. The room and ensuite were clean. There was a tv in the room and it was generally quiet - the bed was extremely comfy and there was no noise in the corridor so we had one of the best night's sleep we've had in a while. The staff were friendly and helpful. It's a small reception which closes up early. This place seems to be filled with mostly people on these Kiwi Experience type bus tours. There were desktop computers that you can use at reception which was a great way to plug in a USB stick from a skydive and look at your photos! The only downside was the communal kitchen and eating area - both were dreadful. They were dirty, sticky, grotty...I doubt this place is 'cleaned' more than once a day. You can rent cutlery from reception but everything else - mugs, crockery - was in short supply. The kitchen is tiny so trying to cook a meal with two bus loads of backpackers was stressful - we went early, realised it was too busy and came back after 9pm - still bunged with barely enough space. There needs to be a supply of clean tea towels, too. The two that I seen were soaking wet and completely unusable.