Bell Lodge

Warm, friendly, and beautiful surroundings
Very well run by a lovely young couple. I could not fault them. Their hard work and dedication since taking over Bell Lodge is admirable. I highly recommend Bell Lodge to anyone visiting Tauranga. This place is a credit to the new owners, well done. Be sure to book early as this is a very popular destination.

We arrived in Tauranga around new year when everything is booked up so we were lucky to get any accommodation at all. This hostel has everything you need, ie good kitchen and communal areas, car park, laundry etc but it is quite a way from the town centre (not really walking distance) and other attractions. We stayed in a double room with ensuite which was a bonus. The room was quite basic but adequate. The only fault I could find is that our bedroom felt a bit unclean a bit sweaty.

I felt very very uncomfortable in this backpacker...everything is nice and clean there, it could be a perfect place, if there wouldnt be the owners. It can be that they like you, but if they dont...oh oh. My friend and me had really run out of money, and they guaranteed us a job on a particular day, so we went ther. And then we were told that there would be no work for 4 or 5 more days. I think this is very unkiwi like...I really felt like I was back in Germany. Our friends who didnt stay there were not allowed to visit us, so we met at the street at the top. Even when it was raining and it was my birthday they were not allowed to stay until 12, and so we had to sit in the car...This is my personal opinion, I dont want to tell anyone not to go there, it is a really nice place, but if you really have no money left, call again on the day you want to go there if there really is work.