Kaiteri Lodge — Hotel in South Island

Stayed here for 3 nights with kiwi experience. The rooms were very small and not a lot of space compared to other hostels. Kiwi experience is super busy this month and all the time it seems. So it is not really hip on hop of. I was surprised that I would have to be so organised and proactive with booking Accomodation and my buses. The third night in Abel Tasman I actually had no where to stay. I was getting quite worried so went to speak to a lady with dark hair at reception. To be honest she wasn’t the most helpful and didn’t reassure me at all that there may possibly be a space when the new bus gets in with the new kiwi experience travellers the next night. I then was prepared to check out. Until I spoke to lovely Nicole on reception who could not of been more helpful. I had a chat to her about how confusing kiwi experience could be with booking accommodation and the pressure the hostels have to face. She was so proactive and went out of her way to find me a spare bed with 3 other girls. ||The last day staying at the lodge the Wi-Fi went out. I paid for more wifi that day so that went to waste. I spoke to the lady with brown hair on reception again and she let me know she would try and contact the Wi-Fi company (she said they were usually quick at sorting it out) An hour later reception had closed and there was no sign of Wi-Fi by the time I had left. I spoke to Nicole and she explained to me Wifi coverage was pretty poor in the area and not really to be relied on ( thought I would add this in, in case anyone relies on Wi-Fi for...

It's a lovely little town and the hotel is right near the beach with free parking, but the pluses tend to end there.||||It's more of a hostel than a hotel - perhaps that's not a distinction they make in NZ but the other lodge we stayed at (Awaroa) was a similar price and way more luxurious. I've never known a hotel request that you bring your sheets to reception upon checking out, or leave keys in an envelope rather than having a receptionist on the desk at 6pm on a Sunday.||||The room was cramped, not even a table at the side of the bed, and very basic. There were some coat hangers but they were about a foot above the fridge so you couldn't really hang anything. There was nowhere to drink in town (the hotel bar was shut and the only other bar had a private party), but luckily we'd brought some wine with us for the trek. Trouble was, there were 'no drinking' signs all round the hotel so we had to go out and sit on a bench as it got cold. Why is it a dry hotel - I don't get it?||||All round, this was a really disappointing start to...

Reception staff are really lovely and check in was as quick as they could do with 2 people on the desk. The mattresses were very comfortable but the room was incredibly hot and needs a proper air conditioning unit not just a fan. There is a mould problem in the bathroom as there is no proper ventilation. Also a large pile of dust in the room in the corner from lack of vaccuming. Also when everyone in my room checked out the room was not hoovered so left with everyone's filth for the next night and their bags of rubbish. Room should be a 4 bed dorm as there is not enough space for 6 beds in these rooms. The kitchen is too small for the amount of guests they have also no lounge/TV area where people can relax out of the sun as yes there is the beach but if you've been in the sun all day you want somewhere to relax. Personally I think $70 for two nights here is way overpriced for the facilities and it's only because there is no other backpackers close by to drive...