Cray Cottage

Friendly, homey, everything you need
Cray Cottage is a small, purpose-built backpacker's lodge on the back half of a beachfront property. It seems to have only been around about ten years, so it still looks really good. There are essentially no sea views from the lodge, but with the beach so close, who cares? It is currently up for sale and the lady who is running it for the owners (Sharon) will only be there till the end of April. So big changes could be in the wind for this little place. At full capacity it sleeps twelve, which makes it feel very homey. You get a chance to know all the other people staying there. I felt totally at home at Cray Cottage. Also the road it is on is very quiet, in contrast to Beach Road where most (all?) of the other backpacker places are in Kaikoura. The kitchen is well stocked. The fridge is only just big enough to hold everyone's food, but near enough is good enough. Bath and hand towels are amazing, the thickest towels I've ever seen. Lovely comfortable beds also. On the negative side, if you don't have a car you may not want to stay here. It's a long walk to the nearest grocery store (probably thirty minutes one way), which is not a very big store. The "real" grocery store is at the other end of town, probably another thirty minutes each way. And for those with a car, the offstreet parking can sometimes be a problem. There's room for four cars if people park considerately, with further room for one tiny car (if the driver is a little cheeky!) on the other side of the parking area. Another negative is all the rules posted everywhere. It does give the impression that we're all back in kindergarten. The one at the door particularly pissed me off, saying that it's commonplace in NZ to take shoes off at the door -- this is not the truth! If they want people to take their shoes off that's one thing, but telling lies to try and support it is quite another. At least they provide slippers, a nice touch. One of the two showers has fairly pitiful flow (I didn't try the other). The rooms are also fairly small. I was in a twin room (two single beds) and frankly I was glad I wasn't sharing with someone else. There was essentially nowhere to put suitcases/bags, and literally nowhere to put your clothes. I ended up living out of my suitcase, which didn't bother me, but again if there had been two of us in that room I don't know where we would have put the other suitcase. In all I was very happy at Cray Cottage and I'd happily go back, assuming the new owners/managers don't make too many changes.

Fond memories
Stayed in by chance in 2002 so that I could swim with dolphins and watch Whales and met a lovely English woman just by chance. Six years later we are returning in March having celebrated our one year anniversary of our civil partnership. It will be great to see the place again, and meet the new owners. Hope you have a bed for us in March!

I visited this familial, nice hostal in january 2005 -- it was one of the best we met in New Zealand! Jakki and Don are really great and very helpful. The hostal is very clean and well equipped, quiet, and comfortable.

I visited the hostel when it had just opened in the mid-nineties. It was the cleanest, sweetest, warmest place to be in. The owners were wonderful. I have very fond memories of this place! The lady who owned it asked many times if everything was fine, is the kitchen well equipped, etc. Seeing this place still on the list of backpackers feels good! I am looking up favorite places for friends who are going to New Zealand. It brings back great stories of fun months while travelling around.

I stayed here for a week. It has everything that you need, it's sparklingly clean, and they have chocolate muffins for breakfast as a treat. Also, the lady in charge was, without a doubt, the nicest and friendliest person I met during my stay in New Zealand. This was the best place I stayed in during a year of travel around the world.

The cleanest hostel I've ever seen. It has a really friendly owner (Diane). The beds are comfortable. It's quiet. The guests are friendly. There's a really well-fitted-out kitchen. And the beach is just across the road. I stayed there two nights - would love to have stayed there longer. Oh, and there are washing machines, too.