Riverstone Backpackers
Reborn as a bijou backpackers, this cleverly refitted old house has an enviable kitchen, comfortable lou...
Across New Zealand, you can bed down in historic guesthouses, facility-laden hotels, uniform motel units, beautifully situated campsites, and hostels that range in character from clean-living to tirelessly party-prone.
Accommodation listings are in order of authorial preference, based on our assessment of atmosphere, cleanliness, facilities, location and bang for your buck.
If you’re travelling during peak tourist seasons, book your bed well in advance. Accommodation is most in demand (and at its priciest) during the summer holidays from Christmas to late January, at Easter and during winter in snowy resort towns like Queenstown.
Visitor information centres provide reams of local accommodation information, often in the form of folders detailing facilities and up-to-date prices; many can also make bookings on your behalf.
For online listings, visit Automobile Association and Jasons.
Reborn as a bijou backpackers, this cleverly refitted old house has an enviable kitchen, comfortable lou...
Wellington's best hostel wins points for fantastic communal areas including two big kitchens and dining ...
This hippie hilltop hostel has dorms in old train carriages...
A well-managed backpackers in a colourful, high-ceilinged Victorian house...
The Old Countryhouse features two separate villas with handmade wooden furniture, a reading lounge and a...
If you’re looking for character, pardner, then this Western-themed spot is just your gunfight...
Occupying a character-filled, two-storey house built for Tongan royalty, this friendly and well-run back...
Club Med for the impoverished, Paradiso is a sprawling place that lures a backpacker-body-beautiful crow...
Surrounded by tropical plants, this friendly, well-maintained backpackers’ stalwart has cute cabins, fre...
An unpretentious home stay–backpackers with a welcoming owner and a laid-back vibe, just a hop and a ski...
Sheltered by well-established trees, Foley Towers provides well-maintained rooms encircling quiet inner ...
This relaxed wooden villa is painted in bright colours and has a huge library in the sunny front room...
You’d have to be a zookeeper not to be impressed by this huge zebra-striped building off Courtenay Pl...
A solid, sociable hostel offering clean rooms, including some with en suite...
What a whopper! Easily Kaikoura’s biggest hostel, the Dusky is an industrious, social place with facilit...
Fashioned from an ageing motel, our favourite Taupo hostel has private rooms with en suites and supercom...
Run by a friendly family, this colourfully renovated and characterful house features an expansive lawn a...
Hard-working managers have transformed this backpackers from hellhole to haven...
Originally a monastery, Noah’s now has eccentric animal-themed rooms and a sunset-worthy balcony...
This perfectly positioned hostel has a hotel feel with its professional staff, balconies, groovy cafe-ba...
Housed in an old prison that was built in 1874 (and only decommissioned in 1999), the Jailhouse is one o...
This small hostel has only a handful of rooms on a quiet hillside overlooking the river...
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