The Oceanic Hostel

Great
I wanna be part of that community -- Oceanic rules!

Manager is nasty
Receptionists and manager of this hotel is really nasty especially to Asian guests. They consider we can't speak English well, so they often try to get extra fee without reasonable reason. They sometimes try to cheat if we can't argue with them well. Even if they realised their mistake they never apologize. They never thank their guests. They assume they can keep their guests even with this bad service because of convenient location. It's better not staying this place. I had the worst experience there of all the place I have traveled in the world.

Awful!
We have stayed in lots of hostels so we are never expecting luxury of any sorts. But this place took the biscuit. It was the dirtiest place i have ever stayed in, there was hardly anything you could use to cook and eat your dinner off, and what was there was, was filthy. a lot of the permanent residents here never clean up after themselves, ever! Shout, talk (loudly), bang, stomp all day long into the night, and are rude and arrogant. Nothing ever works, you have to try about five showers before you find one with hot water. I won't even comment on the toilets, but put it this way i have been to plenty of outdoor festivals and no portaloo compares to what i have seen at the Oceanic Hostel. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone! It was awful, even the cockroaches looked miserable!

I know it is not the Hilton, but, come on, you are on holidays! I lived in the Oceanic Hostel for almost four months, and I had a ball there! It is true that the conditions one lives in are not the best, but the gather together we had almost every evening in the kitchen rocked. I had the opportunity to move to a flat and pay almost the same price for a much more comfortable place to live, still I chose to stay. New Zealand is the cradle of adventure, and living in the Oceanic is an adventure in itself. For total comfort I have my home! Fred (the guy at the Reception, he is from Portugal) is really cool. Paul (the guy from maintenance with the orange vest) is totally nuts and you don't get a thing when he speaks, nevertheless, he won't hesitate to give you his own food if he sees someone has nothing to eat. Simon (he's a Kiwi) remembers the name of every guest, and there are around two hundred, if not more, even though he can do much more to improve the quality of the service, he's in the learning process. Regarding long stayers, do not leave the Oceanic without meeting Rob. He is the bold guy who plays the electric guitar like no other. Conversations with him are so interesting, one can learn so much from him. Drug addicts and dealers? They are not only there, they are spread all around the country. This Sunday, I'm meeting the Oceanic Community -- we are more than twenty young people from Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay who lived at the Hostel at some stage. I made so many friends, and have so many anecdotes to tell. And as I said before, it is not Wonderland, but when I think about all the things I would have missed if I had moved somewhere else -- I don't doubt it. The Oceanic Hostel is totally recommendable to any young person who wants to take a holiday from their home's luxury and comfort and share new experiences with bizarre characters from all over the world.

I have to say. It is not a five star hotel. But, I don't know what the hostel was like some months ago but from what I have experienced the staff was very friendly and helpful and the atmosphere was clean. I met a lot of cool people. Students as well.

Bathrooms never cleaned, infested with fleas and cockroaches and rather lax fire safety. a hangout of local drug addicts and dealers. stay away from this hostel.

The hostel is not clean and staff can't speak English and are not experienced, not helpful at all. The mail is not being delivered as should be and they don't do a proper maintenance of the building. It is cheap, yes, but you pay what you get. I rather go elsewhere.

This place is good for cheap single room if you're just passing through, but that's about it. It's reasonably clean although I'm suspicious about the sheets I had on my first night. On my second night before leaving New Zealand I was put next to a room with two permanent residents (which there seems to be a lot of). They proceeded to have an argument all night and were in and out slamming doors till I left at 6 a.m. Most of the people I saw at the hostel were either locals, who weren't the kind of people I like to meet, or students. They have security cameras but I didn't feel that confident about leaving my valuables there. The staff weren't very helpful at all. If you're looking for a fun place to stay go elsewhere.