The Flaming Kiwi Backpackers - BBH

Had room 2, upstairs private room with queen bed and no ensuite, but a bonus balcony. Only 3 other rooms on the floor to share the bathroom and 2 bathrooms down-stairs if ours was busy. Whole place was spotlessly clean, saw people 2/3 times a day doing kitchens and bathrooms. Very good shower pressure and hot water, very comfortable bed, good security with key card entry. Just a block from a good pub and 3 blocks from CBD it was incredible value for money.

I lived long terme this hostel, great experience, comfortable, clean, the staff so friendly and make hard job with the cleaning and for help the customers. Good atmosphere, lovely! They organize different events the week. A lot of spaces, lounge, 3 kitchen, some bathrooms availables. Thanks the staff! Valentin.

Very close to Queenstown city centre. Only good thing about them. They say free parking, but only 5 spots, when they have 55 beds. Building more units out the back where was previously parking. They have 5 toilets and bathrooms for 55 beds, but the toilets are all in the bathrooms except 1, so in the morning and evening, you can barely go to the toilet. We were staying in a unit out the back, and were made to walk up the driveway and enter the hostel from the front if we needed to go to the toilet during the night. They advertise for long term residents, and it seems that these residents do chores in exchange or to discount their stay. However, on the final day we were there, they decided to close one of the kitchens and 2 bathrooms at 8:30am for cleaning, in peak usage time. We tried to use the laundry, but it was mostly in use for cleaning blankets by the hostel, and our washing was removed from the dryer before the load was complete and while items were still wet. Also, only fitted sheet on bed, no top sheet. Not sure why they have such high ratings, would give this one a skip.

I stayed at Flaming Kiwi in December of 2024. Here is my feedback: Pros: - Staff friendly, flexible - they were ok with a late checkout and allowing us to work from the common space throughout that day. - Very clean. - Good access to free street parking. - Good location and proximity to the city. Cons: - There was a lot of construction going on in/around the hostel. This was very disruptive to our trip as my friend and I were working remotely and had to take meetings while loud noises were happening throughout our stay. We felt as though a discount should have been offered for this reason. - The internet was a hotspot, and kept disconnecting. This was also very frustrating for taking meetings. Furthermore, the internet connection did not reach to our private room. - A lot of people staying there are WHV, so it has more of a younger, dorm-like feel than a hostel. - The dryer did not work very well and needed to be run twice, at twice the cost. Also, both washer and dryer are in the same room as one of the bathrooms, so you cannot access it if someone is using said bathroom.

I will never forget my stay at the flaming kiwi. Comfy rooms and clean common areas. A lot of activities at the hostel during the week where everybody’s welcome. Super close to everything: city centre, gas station, food store, mountains, beach, free parking. Lovely sunny front area where I enjoyed eating breakfast. I ended up staying here for a month and kept coming back sporadically between my road trips afterwards. The atmosphere is amazing but the people are the highlight. Lot of long-termers and I easily felt included from the beginning. So much that I decided to stay and become one myself🌸 It felt like home. I am sure it always will. 10/10 flaming kiwis!

Great location to base yourself for a few days of seeing Queenstown. (It really is that close.)Nice and friendly staff at check in and throughout. Most helpful. Ents included TV, books, games, couple of guitars, ocassional theme evenings. Couple of outdoor spaces. Bathrooms are fine although if fairly or more than fairly tall, the shower heads are surprisingly low down. I understand the difficulties with this given the time of year but a floor by floor deep clean is probably needed. Whilst I am no member of the fun police, having numerous notes across the place emphasising the need to keep noise down after 10pm, I can see why this might be a bit galling when the staff who live there alongside guests do not abide by this - especially when you have no idea who is a worker who is off duty. Might be impossible given temperatures, but it wasn't ideal to climb into my bunk in the pitch black (other than the light from my phone) and find a cat sleeping there (honestly!) I like a cat but if I hadn't had my phone lit, I would never have known and would have landed forcefully on it. I actually found it quite funny but a lot wouldn't. All hell could have broken loose if I had landed on it. (Amusingly and no joke, I was watching Don't F*** with Cats at the time and had paused it while I climbed in. Perhaps it was written...) Anyway, really nice spot and right for the price. Cheers!

The Flaming Kiwi felt like a true home—such warm and wonderful people coming together as a family. We shared so many amazing activities, creating memories I’ll always treasure. One of my favorites was the yoga sessions in the park, where we followed the lovely Sophie into calmness. Evenings were full of fun with movie nights, bingo, and the unforgettable Mario Kart competition. Christmas Day was especially magical, spent playing games, sharing laughter, and enjoying delicious food together. Thank you for this incredible stay. The 🔥🥝 will forever hold a special place in my heart.

It's hard to fault my time at Flaming Kiwi... The place is spotless and is constantly being cleaned, other guests are respectful of this to making sure to clean up after using the kitchens. The staff are helpful and friendly, really going out their way to help you out with suggestions and any questions. The rooms are comfy, if not a bit dated. The bed was super comfy and there were plenty of toilets with showers so you never really had to worry about that. The only thing was that the curtains on the beds don't go the full length but thats a really small issue in my option. There is plenty of places to put valuables with a locker under the bed and another smaller set in the room also. The long termers were all really friendly and chatty and made me feel like I was one of the family. It's a great bunch of people with regular visits from people who have moved out coming back to say hello. It's super close to town (less than 10 minute walk) and there's limited parking outside the hostel, but you can park across the street for free no problem. Overall this place felt very homely, friendly and I would definitely go back if I was in Queenstown again!