YHA National Park — Hotel in North Island

Disgusting hostel. Checked in went to my room to find 5 spots of mold on the ceiling. Couldn't get any sense out of the front desk so decided to get some cleaning product and remove it myself (first mistake) as forgot to take pictures.

Missed the front desk person the next morning as left for snowboaring before they were open, arrived back in the evening no one present (no problem their hours were posted).

Left the next morning and had no chance to speak with someone before checking out.

Followed up with an email a few days later, finally got a response a week later, full of excuses and blaming previous guests for apparently not using some shower fan (that was clogged and full of mold also). I asked if had been cleaned before me arriving - no response. No point blaming a previous guest - you own the place, clean it.

Stayed in private room B, no bedside lamplight, The room table had an outside deck chair just stupid.

Kitchen space was overcrowded and messy, common theme for nz hostels with so many people living there instead of traveling, people were almost teritorial. two different stove top elements didn't work and with people quing to cook and eat I just went across the carpark to the pub to eat, not what I had budgeted for.

Its really hard to travel local around nz when the conditions are sub par. With nothing else going on in national park village (everything was either closed or boarded up) it felt lifeless.

Won't be in a hurry to stay here again, rooms are in dire state of an upgrade and a professional clean - best just knock the building over and start...

We came down to stay a couple of nights to do the Tongariro Crossing. The pickup point for the crossing is conveniently just outside the hostel. A friend booked the 10 person room for us with 7 people. It wasn't busy so we were the only ones in the room. The room itself was tidy and the bunks were fairly comfortable. There were a couple of bunks which led to the third set of beds which was interesting. The room also had a fair amount of power sockets and had a storage area for each person. The bathrooms were shared and they were quite clean. The kitchen is quite big and has quite a lot of space. There were three large tables for communal dining. There were also a fridge, freezer and shelf space for the food, just make sure to label it properly. It also looked like they had a drying room which we didn't use but useful in the winter. The accommodation was quite nice. They also had a climbing wall attached to the building. The lounge, laundry and a few rooms were located in the climbing area. There are climbing discounts if you are a guest there. It was quite a nice place to stay in National Park. Just turn at the wooden kiwi to get on the right street. We arrived quite late at night but the doors were still open so it was easy to get into the room. There wasn't any parking left though so we ended up just parking on the street.

Edit: I was able to book a night here during winter weekends so...

The best thing about the hostel is its location. It is really pleasant being able to access the national park and go for walks nearby. Also the views are beautiful and the night sky is worth looking at from Whakapapa village on clear nights.

However, although the rooms are okay (good storage, good heating, adequate blankets) we were not told before arrival that we would have to walk outside to access the communal bathroom. This meant a short walk outside in the cold and left us feeling a little unsafe when doing so at night.

Furthermore, the service is quite poor. We arrived back one afternoon to find the deck in front of our door taken up, meaning we could not get in, and when staff were alerted they did not seem to be aware this had happened. We were woken at 5:30am two mornings out of three by an incredibly loud extractor fan vibrating the wall and keeping us up as another group of guests cooked, despite staff telling us they would inform them not to cook at this time. An older lady (who we assumed was the owner) was quite rude about guests openly and audibly when we were in the kitchen, and snapped at us for using the wrong bin.

The hostel is also not sufficient equipped for its size. There are not enough showers, toilets, or sinks, and the kitchen is filthy and poorly stocked with no free tea or coffee or even salt.

It was fine for three nights but I wouldn’t recommend. I...