DonnaBerry
Google
My first impression of Hekerua Lodge was a good one, we arrived later and it looked cute all lit up. There was a nice pool and a spa and the room was on par with other backpackers I have stayed at. The kitchen was quite dirty, but not the worst I have seen staying at hostels and the general cleanliness wasn’t great, with dirty underwear under one of our beds, filthy hand towels and no dishwashing liquid. The septic tank must have been quite close to our room because there was a sewerage smell every time we went outside (although growing up living with a septic system, I know this does happen). They also have a “no shoes” rule, which is a nice idea in principle, but not when the bathrooms are filthy and covered in piss. However, the location was beautiful and this would have been an average review of a backpackers I may have considered returning to if it wasn’t for the horrific behaviour of the male owner (the female owner was helpful and friendly).||||When we arrived back on our second night staying there we were subjected to several hours of the owner continuously harassing us and telling us off over minor things. He appeared intoxicated and was acting very erratically. We were told off things like having the lights on in our room as this would “attract mosquitos”. When we tried to inform him that mosquitos are not attracted to light, but rather carbon dioxide he proceeded to tell us that he had lived there long enough and would know, and then turned our light off (with us still in the room on our bunks). He was also making rude comments about other guests. These were just little things, but when you are being told off for something every 5 minutes by someone acting the way he was you start to get very uncomfortable. It got to the point we’re we considered leaving and getting the ferry back to Auckland that night as we were so uncomfortable. However, the owner then left to go to a party so we stayed. ||||During this time there was also a Stag Party at the lodge, which the owner had some kind of connection to. While the majority of the guys were fine, we spent the rest of the night being intimidated by a few extremely intoxicated and drugged-up members of the group. They would not leave us alone and groped one of my friends.||||Some final points:||- The wiring in the rooms needs to be checked, two of our phones overheated while charging to the point they started malfunctioning (luckily we were not charging them at night!) – my phone has never done this before.||- Sort out the rude, elderly long term guest. I see her mentioned in previous reviews. She should not be telling people off, if she has an issue with something she should be going through management. And maybe ask he to use the path instead of constantly walking past the rooms when she doesn’t need to.
