The Hostelz.com Review
Overall, the Rolleston House is a pretty solid hostel. It is centrally located - just a few minutes walk from the city center, the bus stations, the arts center (home of an outsanding arts, crafts, and food fair every weekend), and the botanical gardens. The pricing is pretty standard ($22 for a shared room at the time of this review) but if you are not a YHA member there is an additional $3 charge.
The facilities are clean and comfortable, with a large kitchen and living room with bottled water, dining room tables, a tv, and several couches. The rooms are just a little small, but still comfortable.
The only downside of the Rolleston House is the showers. They are located on the ground floor of the two story building, and in a hallway off the side of the kitchen, so you have to walk up and down stairs and through the kitchen to find them. And once you do find the showers, you need to have the precision of a surgeon to find the tiny little spot between scalding hot and freezing cold.
The staff is friendly and helpful, but unless you are a YHA member and don't mind a slightly frustrating shower experience, there are better places to stay in Christchurch.
The facilities are clean and comfortable, with a large kitchen and living room with bottled water, dining room tables, a tv, and several couches. The rooms are just a little small, but still comfortable.
The only downside of the Rolleston House is the showers. They are located on the ground floor of the two story building, and in a hallway off the side of the kitchen, so you have to walk up and down stairs and through the kitchen to find them. And once you do find the showers, you need to have the precision of a surgeon to find the tiny little spot between scalding hot and freezing cold.
The staff is friendly and helpful, but unless you are a YHA member and don't mind a slightly frustrating shower experience, there are better places to stay in Christchurch.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
December 2004
Their Description
HI - Christchurch - YHA Rolleston House Hostel Details
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HI - Christchurch - YHA Rolleston House Hostel Reviews from the WebHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Friendly but tired The YHA staff were helpful, friendly, and welcoming. The hostel was in a beautiful, arty location. Close to the shops and Botanical Gardens. The tram stops right outside the door and many tours do door to door pick-ups. However the decor was tired and the rooms quite small. Given its proximity to the markets and art college I would have expected lots of quirky/arty decorations. There is a large DVD collection to watch; a gaming computer (if you like sports games); and a big kitchen with lots of pots, pans, and cutlery. The bathrooms aren't great -- they're large but cold, old, and you have to walk through the kitchen to get to them. Although the outside of the hostel and the location is pretty, I preferred to go elsewhere. — Loulou , English (2008-09-05) Not so clean or quiet, but good location We were disappointed with this hostel, as other YHA facilities were positive experiences. Our room was not that clean, looked like the carpet had not been vacuumed for a while. The beds were extremely uncomfortable and gave me a crick in my neck the next day. Room was small, though with high ceilings and bright in the morning with the large window. We were upstairs, and the tiny, one-person toilet on our floor was always in use, so that we had to go downstairs and through the lobby to get to the toilet rooms. Showers were downstairs also; hard to find a good water temperature, and generally uncomfortable bathrooms. In the morning, the hostel was very noisy, as closing doors and creaky floors/doors echoed and seemed much louder than in most buildings -- impossible to sleep past 6:30am with all the noise, no insulation at all. Staff were relatively helpful, though not as friendly/nice as at some places. Common areas seemed good. — Stacey , United States (2007-12-04) Best in Christchurch! I and my family stayed here on two separate occasions during our seven-week odyssey Down Under late Spring and Summer 2006. What impressed me so much was how accessible and cooperative the reception was. Due to weather, we were not able to arrive Christchurch until quite late at night, yet we were accommodated and easily found the three-bunk room. This cozy and quiet hostel has an excellent kitchen/dining/library/computer/TV area that is a bit far from the CBD. But that is ok, because walking (or taking the trolley) to Rolleston Hostel is exploring! What made this even more interesting was that two of the hostelers were mates from out Wayward Bus tour in Australia a fortnight earlier! It was a grand reunion! — Juanito Hayburg , USA (2007-11-13) Great location, comfortable, clean, very friendly and helpful staff. good kitchen, good bathroom facilities. homey lounge area! Yes I would stay here again! — Sue (2007-01-30) Lovely building with great communal areas. Yes, the showers weren't so good because the set up lacks privacy. This little place has very firendly and helpful staff who seem to be happy to help as much as they can. It is also in a great location near the botanic gardens, museums, and downtown. — Sam (2006-08-24) Stayed in June '06 and it was fine. good location five minutes walk from cathedral square, fairly quiet. showers weren't great though. — Boarder (2006-08-11)