Empire Hotel Backpackers — Hotel in South Island

Stayed here a couple of weeks ago. With it being the shoulder season at the moment, the hostel was very quiet but still inviting. Great set up in both kitchens, clean bathrooms with an extraordinarily warm shower (A+++) and comfortable shared dorm room. Wifi included for each day of your stay. Great value as it is 10 GB per day, excellent connection. ||If you're keen to do some walking around this is the best spot. Super accessible to the Victorian Precint, Steampunk Headquarters and the gardens on the other side of town. If you're looking for a bite to eat, there are also plenty of restaurants and cafes nearby. I stopped in at Steam for a cuppa and had dinner at the Star and Garter just around the corner. Also conveniently located right near the iSite for any inquiries you may have. For the bookshop junkies you can walk to 'Adventure Books' from the hostel, as well as 'Crafted,' a gallery full of beautiful art works by various craftswomen and craftsmen. ||Friendly, helpful host at the hostel and great hospitality. Definitely stay here for a night or two, you won't be disappointed. As an added bonus, the building itself has some neat...

A really nice central spot on the main road and close to the steampunk and beautiful old looking street where you can go to the cute little bakery, be amazed by some artwork/sculptures, taste some Whisky or walk to the harbour. Nice old building, would agree with the mattress is a bit thin (noticed it when sitting on it, sleeping was fine). Really nice and hot showers and quite a big kitchen. Also nice to have a charge point right next to the bed! On the note for wifi it says 5 dollars (witch still is cheap for 10 gigabytes), but you get it for free! So they hand it to you and you can use the codes... not sure why people thought it wasn't free, probably did not try the codes. There is no elevator so bare in mind you have to carry your luggage up the stairs. For the rest you can do some nice walks around. Past the church a nice monument or the public gardens, it was raining but that brought out some amazing colors. Oamaru is often skipped by tourists but it is worth a visit and the Empire hotel is nice...

We stayed for 3 nights - 2 adults and 3 children.

Per the kids: it was great staff, a million staff, best staff. Big rooms. Nice kitchen. Beautiful building. Clean bathrooms. Homey feel. Everyone is nice times a million.

Per the adults: easy parking, lockable rooms. Very high ceilings which kept the rooms nice and airy. Lovely staff who went above and beyond - specifically Vivian and Marshall. They and the owner, Bruce, fostered a homey atmosphere which made everyone feel really comfortable. The bathrooms were good and clean but if they redo them as some point, I'd suggest installing showers with temperature knobs lower down so the kids can more easily reach them on their own. All in all, a great place...