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Please see Tauranga for other available Tauranga hostels and accommodations.
Please see Tauranga for other available Tauranga hostels and accommodations.
Description
Bell Lodge Motel & Backpackers Details
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Location/Contact| Address | 39 Bell Street, Tauranga (Judea), North Island, New Zealand |
| Location | Located of Waihi Road, From Auckland turn off the exit to otumoetai past Bethlaham |
| Website | www.bell-lodge.co.nz |
| Telephone | +64 7 578-6344 |
| Fax | +64 7 578 3939 |
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Hostelz.com Guest Reviews
Bell Lodge is the Worst Place Ever We stayed here for two nights in the motel unit and it was THE WORST place I have ever stayed! The owner would go in to our room when we would go out, probably snooping around in our stuff. He would turn lights off and switches off that we had left on. Who knows what else he was doing in there probably looking through our bags. We had come over for the new year so naturally we had alcohol but we were NOT loud, disrespectful or anything. He would also walk past and stare in to our unit while we were drinking making things really uncomfortable. I also had my two friends visit, one was the sober driver for the night who is pregnant, the other her partner. I reported them to the office to let him know I had two visitors and he said that was ok. Then he must of changed his mind and came down and told me that visitors arent allowed inside!! WTF? My friend used the toilet and he must of been spying on us again, he came down and threatened to trespass them if they dont leave because they are using HIS facilities -- even though we paid for the room. We didnt want any trouble and said we would be on our way in a hour. Our motel unit also sleeps 6 and we asked about paying the extra $50 for them to stay (as we only had 4 people in the unit) and he said NO we are capping the amount of people staying. So even though we offered him money and there were 2 free beds he still wouldnt take our mates or our money. Another dumb thing about this motel unit as we paid for 3 nights and when I went up the 1st night to ask for fresh towels he started saying how he doesnt give out fresh towels everyday. So basically -- that first lot of towels he gave us was suppose to last for three days!! WTF? This is the worst place I have ever stayed and I recon if you go here you are crazy. The owner is also way nicer to tourists than NZ locals. — Anonymous , NZ (2011-12-31) Useful to work, not very much to have fun Helpful with seasonal work, nice people, acceptable rate, useful facilities. The rooms can be a bit cold in cold nights, but nothing that the heather and some extra blanket can't solve. Clean, spacious, and quiet, a bit far from town centre (4km) if you don't have a car or a bike. Not a minor detail if you'd like to use some free wifi you can get in town centre, as internet tends to cost around NZ$5 an hour, and the zenbu wifi provided at the hostel is something like NZ$10 every 100 mb. It's perfect if your main focus is work and the use of the hostel's facilities (sleeping, preparing your meals, watching some movie), but not so much if you also want to do other things and don't like to feel you're in a retreat. The owners can be easy going and helpful to get you a seasonal job, but also a bit unnecessarily too strict with the hostel rules. In occasions they argue and kick out people in public and for pretty childish reasons, depending on their mood. At least while I was there, you weren't allowed to drink alcohol after 10 pm, and one of the owners came every single night to the deck at 10:01 to make you finish whatever were drinking, as if you were a hardcore noisy alcoholic, no matter how silent and chill you might be, or if it was saturday night and you were trying to relax and have some reasonable fun, or if were about to leave to some party or something in a few moments. Then the ovens have no power after 10.30 pm and before 6.30 am, and the kitchen has a video camera and might be closed for an hour when being cleaned. In the end, nothing too serious, but you can easily feel you're back in kindergarten if you're not used to silly limitations. All in all it's not a bad place, but if the owners relaxed a bit it could be a much better spot to stay by far, and probably even more profitable for the owners themselves as well -- while i stayed there, at lest two big groups left because they had some discussion with one of the owners, or escaped before having one. — Anonymous (2010-05-21) 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. — Vincent , New Zealand (2008-01-11) this is a spacious hostel and very quiet not like the ones in the city. It is clean and spacious and the deck areas are great. I think these owners have taken this place over and were really nice. Our friends could see us as long as they checked in with the manager first. Double room with a bathroom was nice. Pleasant pace to be if you are working. 20-25 minute walk to city. — janeen (2006-07-11) 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. — Suzannah- A bit out of the way (2006-01-19) 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. — German girl (2005-12-12)