Spa Lodge — Hotel in North Island

2am. Awake. I'd say wide awake, but that would mean I've had some decent sleep. I'm at the my-eyes-feel-as-if-they're-raccoon-eyes-being-held-open-with-matchsticks phase of "awake". Why am I awake at 2am? Very good question!||||Guiding a 3-day tour. Booked in for the night for a double room at the Spa Lodge in Rotorua. ||||NEVER, E V E R, stay here!||||Checked in. Tired after a day of guiding. Obtain my key, go to my room. Sit on my bed - and fall through it!!||||Turns out, someone needed some of the slats more than the bed did! I mean, I know I need to lose some weight, but come on!!||||Got a new room. Although waited for 15 minutes as the owner tries to find a key to it. Bed holds. Mattress is terrible, but hey, at least I can get some much-needed sleep. Sheets at least appear clean, although I'm not game to give them more than a perfunctory inspection. Pillows? Let's just say I've seen better ones in mice-infested back country huts.... ||||And so much for it being a non-smoking room....||||Dude in the next room starts hammering away at something. Walls are so flimsy, it's as if he's bashing on my ear drums directly. I knock on his door, and ask what all the banging is. ||||"Oh, I've just gotta do some maintenance work on my guitar", says the guy who obviously lives here, but looks - and smells - like he doesn't live anywhere.||||"Well, I'm a tour guide, and need to get some sleep, so if you wouldn't mine stopping the banging, that'd be great". ||||"Oh. Ok, I'll do it in the morning". (Said in a way that suggests he thinks I'm mad for even hinting that after 9pm on a Monday night isn't the perfect time to channel Bob the Builder on your fave stringed instrument). ||||"Cheers". ||||Back in my room, I somehow manage to drift off into an uncomfortable slumber.||||Some time later, cats start screaming like, well, strangled cats. Little so-and-so's! Lucky we're not in Vietnam, or I'd be having fillet-o-feline for breakfast....||||When booking, I'd specifically requested the quietest room.||||Sure thing. Right next to the main road, thanks very much.||||Every monstrous truck that thunders past literally rattles the windows, walls, and even the bed! Reminds me of one those movies where the dodgy motel which rents by the hour has the cheesy coin-operated "massage" beds in each room. In Invercargill, I lived right next to a freight train line. This is worse....||||Go to the toilet. Well, I should say the head, as it's so small/tight it reminds me of the head on a submarine, where you have to remove your overalls in the passage way before reversing into the stall. And of course, as an added bonus, the floor at the base of the bowl is wet. Perfect. Luckily I put my board shorts on, 'cause it seems surf's up. ||||Interesting sign on the wall: ||||"This toilet clogs regularly, so if you use more than 8 sheets of paper, please dispose of it in the bin to your right". ||||There was no bin to my right. Which I'm thankful for. The thought of various people's poo particles permeating the air does not appeal.... In fact, there was nothing to my right except a wall squeezing my shoulder. ||||So I used 9 sheets of paper only. Didn't want to clog the toilet, but one extra sheet, because hey, I'm a rebel.||||I'm just glad I was partially dehydrated....||||Head back to my room. Same questionable character next door thinks 2am is an appropriate time to fire up the kettle and crank up the tv. ||||And cough up a lung.||||Perfect.||||Now, Rotorua smells like farts. It just does, from all the geothermal activity and sulphurous steam clouds. I don't mind it all that much. I guide here regularly, and am pretty well used to it.||||However, I suspect that this place, this "Spa Lodge", purposely uses the town of Rotorua's unique scent to try and mask various odours in the establishment. Note I said try....||||So, on a scale of 1-10, I rate this place as: I-don't-care-if-the alternative-is-sleeping-in-the-park; I-will-not -EVER-stay-here-again.||||Ever see the movie Bangkok Hilton? Got nothin' on this place.....||||Well, I have no choice but to TRY and get some sleep. Guiding all day tomorrow. Scratch...

2am. Awake. I'd say wide awake, but that would mean I've had some decent sleep. I'm at the my-eyes-feel-as-if-they're-raccoon-eyes-being-held-open-with-matchsticks phase of "awake". Why am I awake at 2am? Very good question!||||Guiding a 3-day tour. Booked in for the night for a double room at the Spa Lodge in Rotorua. ||||NEVER, E V E R, stay here!||||Checked in. Tired after a day of guiding. Obtain my key, go to my room. Sit on my bed - and fall through it!!||||Turns out, someone needed some of the slats more than the bed did! I mean, I know I need to lose some weight, but come on!!||||Got a new room. Although waited for 15 minutes as the owner tries to find a key to it. Bed holds. Mattress is terrible, but hey, at least I can get some much-needed sleep. Sheets at least appear clean, although I'm not game to give them more than a perfunctory inspection. Pillows? Let's just say I've seen better ones in mice-infested back country huts.... ||||And so much for it being a non-smoking room....||||Dude in the next room starts hammering away at something. Walls are so flimsy, it's as if he's bashing on my ear drums directly. I knock on his door, and ask what all the banging is. ||||"Oh, I've just gotta do some maintenance work on my guitar", says the guy who obviously lives here, but looks - and smells - like he doesn't live anywhere.||||"Well, I'm a tour guide, and need to get some sleep, so if you wouldn't mine stopping the banging, that'd be great". ||||"Oh. Ok, I'll do it in the morning". (Said in a way that suggests he thinks I'm mad for even hinting that after 9pm on a Monday night isn't the perfect time to channel Bob the Builder on your fave stringed instrument). ||||"Cheers". ||||Back in my room, I somehow manage to drift off into an uncomfortable slumber.||||Some time later, cats start screaming like, well, strangled cats. Little so-and-so's! Lucky we're not in Vietnam, or I'd be having fillet-o-feline for breakfast....||||When booking, I'd specifically requested the quietest room.||||Sure thing. Right next to the main road, thanks very much.||||Every monstrous truck that thunders past literally rattles the windows, walls, and even the bed! Reminds me of one those movies where the dodgy motel which rents by the hour has the cheesy coin-operated "massage" beds in each room. In Invercargill, I lived right next to a freight train line. This is worse....||||Go to the toilet. Well, I should say the head, as it's so small/tight it reminds me of the head on a submarine, where you have to remove your overalls in the passage way before reversing into the stall. And of course, as an added bonus, the floor at the base of the bowl is wet. Perfect. Luckily I put my board shorts on, 'cause it seems surf's up. ||||Interesting sign on the wall: ||||"This toilet clogs regularly, so if you use more than 8 sheets of paper, please dispose of it in the bin to your right". ||||There was no bin to my right. Which I'm thankful for. The thought of various people's poo particles permeating the air does not appeal.... In fact, there was nothing to my right except a wall squeezing my shoulder. ||||So I used 9 sheets of paper only. Didn't want to clog the toilet, but one extra sheet, because hey, I'm a rebel.||||I'm just glad I was partially dehydrated....||||Head back to my room. Same questionable character next door thinks 2am is an appropriate time to fire up the kettle and crank up the tv. ||||And cough up a lung.||||Perfect.||||Now, Rotorua smells like farts. It just does, from all the geothermal activity and sulphurous steam clouds. I don't mind it all that much. I guide here regularly, and am pretty well used to it.||||However, I suspect that this place, this "Spa Lodge", purposely uses the town of Rotorua's unique scent to try and mask various odours in the establishment. Note I said try....||||So, on a scale of 1-10, I rate this place as: I-don't-care-if-the alternative-is-sleeping-in-the-park; I-will-not -EVER-stay-here-again.||||Ever see the movie Bangkok Hilton? Got nothin' on this place.....||||Well, I have no choice but to TRY and get some sleep. Guiding all day tomorrow. Scratch...

Worst hostel! It’s really filthy and not well maintained! But this is not the major issue with this hostel! If you book there you should know- that there are residents living that are homeless and have social and mental problems- you are going to share all facilities! My friend and I booked 2 nights in a dorm. In the first night we heard people yelling, shouting and fighting was the entire night. In the second night a residential woman slept in our dorm. In the middle of the night she startet to have loud and aggressive sex with a foreign man that she brought into the room. We tried to ignore it for the first minutes, but it continued for over an hour. They also seemed to consume drugs, which we could hear. I was so scared. Both of them did not care at all, that made the situation so unpredictable. I was scared of getting physically attacked or robbed! My friend and I got really fed up and grabbed our things and wanted to leave. While doing so, all of the clothes of this people were spread around (also on my things- I was so disgusted!!!). While sitting in the cold kitchen, waiting for the first bus, we could see other residents fighting and yelling in the backyard- we were still so scared and just hoping nothing will happen. This place is not safe- especially for solo female travelers. The behavior of the residents is so unpredictable and I did not feel safe going in the middle of the night to the toilet, which is in the backyard. The staff never answered to my email. And while doing more research I read, some Backpackers made similar experiences. Please spent a couple more dollars and be safe!!!Don‘t stay there! Would I have been on my own and would I have been even...