Berkenhoff Lodge

Awesome
This is one of the best hostels i have stayed at in New Zealand. the bar has a great friendly atmosphere and the staff helped me book all of my activities in Taupo (the bungee jump and skydive were awesome) and they also helped me book my ride to wellington plus my nights accommodation. the kitchen is very nice although closing at 10 o'clock at night, but i did hear that other hostels closed earlier.

The staff member I dealt with (in this case a woman) was pretty grumpy and arrogant. Despite being two hours earlier than I said we'd be, she stated in quite a belligerent way how lucky we'd been than she had held the room. The room itself was not exactly spotless (the cleaner had failed to remove fifteen beer bottles left in a large cupboard and there was a fair amount of hair in the shower). You have to take your pillows/sheets to reception to get back your key deposit -- upon doing this, several unpleasant stains on the mattress protector sheet were revealed! Also our room was next to the bar, with very little sound insulation. Luckily there were only a handful of people in there and we were knackered so did manage a fair amount of sleep. Ours was a five bed dorm with its own en-suite shower/loo -- it was ok as we were a bunch of mates, but it would have been a bit of an unpleasant crush with a group of strangers. The security is pretty poor -- no proper window locks and a flimsy door lock, but we had no problems. The walk into town is twenty to twenty-five minutes through a residential area -- fine for us, but there are hostels closer to town and the lake (unfortunately for us all full). If I was staying in Taupo again I'd look elsewhere, but at 21 bucks each I'd stay again if I was desperate.

Had an extremely poor experience here. Turned up to find we were in an eight-bed dorm instead of the four-bed dorm that we had booked and confirmed. We didn't make a fuss and this was ok, except that the managers/owners confronted us in the dorm with abuse and told us to leave in a less than friendly manner. We hadn't done anything to deserve such abuse and our options were limited due to a large sports event being held in town that weekend. Thankfully we found somewhere more friendly to lay our heads. Not recommended.

Although this hostel is situated quite far away from the center of the city, it is sure to supply you with everything you would need. There is an attached bar and outdoor swimming pool. The staff isn't' the most friendly I've encountered, and the kitchen closes early, but all facilities are kept remarkably clean. The lounge is very friendly and it's easy to meet people.