The Hostelz.com Review
HI - YHA Franz Josef Glacier Hostel is located two streets behind the main road of Franz Josef Glacier; along this same road is where other accommodations are located. The locals are very friendly. The hostel is clean and staff are helpful. This hostel has multiple levels of rooms and is well-labeled to direct you to your room. The colour scheme and designs of the hallway and rooms are lovely giving you a feeling that you are not in a hostel. This hostel is highly recommended.
The Location
This hostel is difficult to locate at first. The tourist info office is located on the left of the main road if coming from the Fox Glacier direction. We recommend stopping at the tourist info office to get a map and directions to the hostel. There is ample parking in the carpark at front and side of the hostel.
Rooms and Bathrooms
Due to its large size and multiple levels, there is a bathroom and toilet at each end of the hostel. A sauna room is available (it's free to use) next to one of the bathrooms on the ground level. The rooms are clean and smell nice. Heaters str available in the dorm/private rooms. The bathroom is always clean/ with a hook at back of the door, a small bench inside the shower division for you to put your belongings during your shower, and adequate space to change.
Common Spaces
The hostel has an open-plan kitchen, dining, lounge, and game rooms near the hostel entrance. They are very clean and well maintained. The kitchen/dining area has two big fridges and lots of pigeon holes for your belongings. Some kitchen items are often left over by other travelers, including salt, pepper, paprika, biscuits, and tea, if you are lucky! There are two sets of couches and a fireplace with lots of board games for you to socialise or relax. Some tables are available outside near the kitchen. A computer room is located behind the couches. There is a pool table here, too.
Summary
We cannot find anything at fault with this hostel, except that the travelers who stay here tend not to be so social and remain in their own little groups. This is an affordable and clean place and we highly recommend it.
The Location
This hostel is difficult to locate at first. The tourist info office is located on the left of the main road if coming from the Fox Glacier direction. We recommend stopping at the tourist info office to get a map and directions to the hostel. There is ample parking in the carpark at front and side of the hostel.
Rooms and Bathrooms
Due to its large size and multiple levels, there is a bathroom and toilet at each end of the hostel. A sauna room is available (it's free to use) next to one of the bathrooms on the ground level. The rooms are clean and smell nice. Heaters str available in the dorm/private rooms. The bathroom is always clean/ with a hook at back of the door, a small bench inside the shower division for you to put your belongings during your shower, and adequate space to change.
Common Spaces
The hostel has an open-plan kitchen, dining, lounge, and game rooms near the hostel entrance. They are very clean and well maintained. The kitchen/dining area has two big fridges and lots of pigeon holes for your belongings. Some kitchen items are often left over by other travelers, including salt, pepper, paprika, biscuits, and tea, if you are lucky! There are two sets of couches and a fireplace with lots of board games for you to socialise or relax. Some tables are available outside near the kitchen. A computer room is located behind the couches. There is a pool table here, too.
Summary
We cannot find anything at fault with this hostel, except that the travelers who stay here tend not to be so social and remain in their own little groups. This is an affordable and clean place and we highly recommend it.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
July 2011
Their Description
HI - YHA Franz Josef Glacier Hostel Details
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HI - YHA Franz Josef Glacier Hostel Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Excellent quality Plenty of parking around the hostel. Clean and comfortable rooms. Large kitchen and dining area. Also had an awesome sauna, which was great after a cold day on the glacier. — Angel , Australian (2009-01-25) The best place to stay! I and my family stayed here one night during our seven-week odyssey Down Under late Spring and Summer 2006. We had come here by bus from Queenstown, and it was fantastic, very clean, excellent reception, and had a sauna! Unfortunately, we only stayed overnight, but it was more than adequate, it was superb! I highly recommend it to anybody! — Juanito Hayburg , USA (2007-11-13) Stayed three days here and found the whole place excellent. Enjoyed an en-suite room. Beds comfy, rooms warm, kitchen great, and really good dining and lounge. Loved the cat! Plenty of off street parking. Only complaint was not the hostel's fault -- it's great to see families hostelling but wish someone had stopped the kids yelling from 6 a.m.! — zanna , NZ (2007-05-09) We stayed here in November 2006 and found the place to be outstanding. Compared to Europe hostels -- well there is no comparison. Europe hostels are disgusting. This place was well maintained, clean, and comfortable. The only problem we had was with the deodorizer they place in the rooms. We can't take any kind of odors but that's just us. We had an en-suite room and having our own bathroom sure makes a world of difference when you are diabetic. Blair was awesome and the local cat "Hat Yai" was a pleasure -- since I had left my own cat at home, he filled that vacant void. I would recommend this hostel to anyone. After our experience with Europe hostels being disgusting, this was the only hostel we booked on this trip. We decided to play it safe and stick with our four-star or five-star hotels but this place far exceeded my expectations. The movie room was very relaxing and the common room with the internet, pool table, and table games aplenty were a welcome bonus. A1 on my list and if you are looking for a place to stay in Franz Josef, this is it. — Terry and Donna (2006-12-06) Nice place. Very clean, however, our room was right next to the communal bathroom so we kept waking up with the door slamming and the fan going on and off. Kitchen was huge though and there was a large carpark with off the road parking as well. — Mark and Debs (2006-07-18) Sauna is great, good clean facilities. Good place for meeting people. — Anon (2006-04-13) I stayed here in Jan '06 and found it to be a clean and well run hostel. The kitchen was always clean and the facilities good. You can even buy a breakfast pack at reception -- great idea! Plus it had a sauna which was well needed after a day hiking on the glacier. — AP (2006-03-11) Staff are very friendly and the onsite cat is fat! Other than this, the kitchens were a little cramped and not the cleanest. The double room we stayed in also had a broken window stuffed with tissue paper to stop leaks!! — Tony & Tracey (2005-01-01) This is one of the best YHAs in NZ. It's extremely clean and well kept. — Monkey (2004-12-30)