Verandahs Parkside Lodge — Hotel in Waitematā

It’s pretty much a backpacker’s hostel.|Once that’s realized, expectations are adjusted accordingly.|Let’s get the negatives out of the way:|- must check out by 10 AM|- there’s no air conditioning. There are fans, but at night, in summer, the rooms are uncomfortably warm.||Everything else is positive. The location I felt was excellent. 20 minutes walk to the CBD; 30 minutes to the ferry |terminal. You are right at Ponsonby, which is a main street for restaurants and coffee shops.||There is an excellent supermarket one block away ( 5 minutes walk ).||The lodge is very clean, and there’s a good community kitchen, where you can store your food as well as cook.||I opted to pay + $20 per night extra for a private bath, but the hostel offers many bathrooms with showers.||There are 2 washing machines and 1 dryer, each requiring NZD 6.||The airport shuttle - Skydrive - operates |from the Sky tower, a 20 minute walk.|Here are the directions from the Sky Tower, which is on Hobson Street.|Take Hobson for about 3 blocks, to Pitt|Street. Go left on Pitt. Just one block on|Pitt, on your right, you see a big, blue sign that reads “BECA”.|After only one block on Pitt, with Beca|Company on the right, that is Hopetoun Street. Go to the right.|You will go up a bridge, with the expressway beneath you. As soon as you cross the bridge, you pass a girl’s |grammar school, and Verandahs Lodge is clearly marked on the right,|about the 4th building.|The airport shuttle runs every 30 minutes, costs NZD 18 ( 12.50 for seniors ), and you pay driver, but only credit cards...

Such a great hostel. Let's first talk about the obvious. It is so well located, the cod is in close reach with the bus, the hostel is quiet but still not "off grid", bars etc. are in short reach by foot. The rooms also are very nice, spacious and most importantly clean. The bathrooms are also clean and in pleasant quantity. Additionally the showers have a good temperature and water pressure. Having experienced that everyone around this hostel is super nice contributed to this hostel having a very nice atmosphere. This is amplified by the fact that the hostel has a big communal kitchen where many people are hanging around which makes making friends very easy. Additionally the owner is also nice and always willing to help if you have any questions. The one thing I could point out as a negative is the missing lockers for personal valuables, but I didn't really feel like they were missing because the hostel felt very safe. Another thing I would have pointed out as negative is the fact that it was very cold in the hostel because of the missing heating and missing double- glassed windows. Note that the rooms do have heaters but they are electric and portable and not the permanently installed like it is common in e.g Germany. But finding out that this seems to be a common thing in New Zealand I can't really mention this as a negative, just something one should keep in mind when they are arriving in New Zealand...

We're lucky to have Vehrandas's where it is: an affordable backpackers in a great spot in well renovated buildings not far from public transport and an easy walking distance to eateries, parkland and more. ||I've stayed here a few times now; it's my go to place in Auckland. The staff have always seemed friendly and helpful.||Improvement wise, there's only one thing I can think of: as new renovations are carried out (eg: 1st floor bathrooms on the reception building) the owners, like most, are getting LED lighting fitted. Often this is too bright and the wrong colour temperature, making use of the facilities uncomfortable at night and having a very real effect on sleep (exposure to bright blue-white light at night can put the sleep cycle back by hours). My suggestion there is that the owners pay particular attention to the brightness and colour temperature of the LED lights they're fitting: they should be warm white (2600-3000 kelvin) rather than daylight white or cool white. This would not cost any more, and would help maintain the warm and homely ambience that Vehrandah's...