Criterion Art Deco Backpackers - BBH

I stayed a little longer at this hostel and it was unfortunately mostly a bad experience. But first of, the room I stayed in was fine, the beds were clean and comfy - therefore the bathrooms were okay and the Showers were big. But to begin with the contra points: The drains of the showers were blocked and it ended up with you standing in a disgusting mixture of water and hair - really not comfortable. Also I was told that they don’t use the vacuum cleaner every day, which is fair enough, but during my longer stay there I never saw anything of that and also - if our room was vacuum cleaned, I never noticed it. The floor was just dirty, the carpet smelled strange and there were dead insects laying around. Therefore it appears that some people might basically live in this hostel and there were also many people making me feel uncomfortable around them occasionally when I was in the kitchen or just in the lobby for example. The Wi-Fi is useless in the rooms, it only worked occasionally and the connection was really poor. The kitchen was partly really a bit dirty - with dried sauces or other liquids such as water or something else on the surfaces. It’s not the hostel‘s fault, but also many people just carelessly leaving their dishes in the sink and waiting for somebody to wash it for them - which is absolutely unacceptable and disrespectful behavior! The staff was friendly though, asking me how I was doing and occasionally having nice talks. Also the location was perfect there - directly in the city centre. Apart from that though I sadly can’t say much good about this hostel. Wouldn’t recommend it.

Awesome location at a good price point. This is a heritage building with lots of charm and vibe. That said the room interiors could do with a bit of uplift to improve the overall experience - our room has a non functional kitchen sink which might as well be removed, random cupboards etc. Also onsite laundry facilities might be nice for travelers (complimentary would be awesome, otherwise pay to use). All in all there's potential to make this hostel a top class accommodation if it is renovated a little while keeping the art deco style.

Beautiful hostel, great service and staff. The owner is very friendly and you can see that he really take care of the place and all the details. The kitchen is clean all day and the bathrooms too. We payed $60 per day for a double private room which is a very good price for what you get. The location is excellent, in the Main Street, one block from the beach. I totally recommend this hostel.

I stayed here after the Christmas holiday for one night. The mattresses on all the beds in my room had a severe 'dip' in the middle. Normally hostel mattresses aren't the greatest, but when you can actually see the 2-3" drop in the middle with the sheets on, you know it's bad. I struggled to sleep that night. My friend was in the room next door and the room had a terrible stench in it, like a guy's gym locker. The common rooms used to have class (I think this was an old hotel), but now they are just sad and dingy. The free pool table that they advertise is pretty bad - duct table holds down the cloth on top (maybe they meant that they got the table for free??). The guy checking us in (older male, possibly the owner) was pretty unfriendly and unhelpful when we asked about parking the car.||||The showers were actually a really nice setup, and the water pressure was decent. Don't stay here for the free breakfast....it's just bread, milk, and cereal. I did like that my room had sink in it. Bring ear plugs though....they pick up the bottles from the bar on the street below at 4:30am and it'd be hard to sleep through that - I definitely didn't. This hostel is best if you don't have a car - figuring out parking is tricky.

I came up in bites following a 2 night stay here a couple of weeks ago. Not only did this put a damper on our trip but it has proved costly as the bugs stowed away on our belongings. The cost and effort that it is taking to try and remove these pests from our home is no way worth the "value" of this hostel. Having stayed in many hostels over the world this was one of my worst experiences. There are many long-term orchard workers from the Philippines staying here as well as some homeless individuals. This meant the hostel vibe felt far less friendly than I'm normally use to and I did have a rather interesting conversation with a lady with mental health problems over breakfast... which was the most measly dirty breakfast tray that is pretty much gone by 8 am. The. Kitchen is pretty unclean and food smells (mainly meat/fish) waft into your rooms throughout the day due to the location. ||The staff were rude on arrival and were often unavailable for check out despite the time. This place needs to be reported to the council.

DO NOT STAY IN THIS HOSTEL. Just because it’s cheap - it’s not worth it. Worst experience being in a hostel in my life. The interior was unhygienic and in disrepair. The hostel was homing local people of the street which made it very unsafe and created an uncomfortable atmosphere. My friend and I were checked in and then stayed for about 2 hours and then felt we had to leave. People would come into our home and then leave the door open for others to wonder through. The showers were dirty and the drains blocked. One shower was even missing a door. The kitchen was covered with old food and there was even a shelf saying ‘for Filipino use only’. The sofas and lounge area were decrepit and falling apart. When we wanted to check out early because we felt uncomfortable and mislead, the receptionist didn’t seem to care although did say he would offer us another room if he could but they were fully booked. Just stay elsewhere.

This is the worst hostel I've ever stayed in. Since there is not many turists in New Zealand, the place was nearly empty except for some people who seemed to live there semi-permanently, so there should be plenty of time for cleaning. The kitchen was dirty, un-equipped and everything was sticky. The whole place had a horrible smell and scary vibe. We were a group of 4 and we only spend one night there - luckily! The receptionist were nice, but overall I wouldn't recommend this for anyone.

Quite a good location - nice area of town. I have stayed here quite a few times as they almost always still have a bed available. However, recently, the showers have always been flooding so when you go for a shower, you endup in your own and others drain-water - guys, if you pull the hair out of the drain - the shower will actually drain. This place is mostly cleaned to a good surface level - slightly grimy but not the worst place out there. However, after staying on Wednesday in Room 8 and getting bitten on my feet and lower legs by bed-bugs - I will not be staying again. I never take a bag into the backpacker room for fear of these horrible creatures (although I had never been attached before), however, waking up with the bites is not acceptable - these guys need to clean more thoroughly. We are not in a village with a mud floor - this is a modern age with Backpackers.