The Hostelz.com Review
As the name suggests, Auckland Central Backpackers, or 'ACB' as it's more commonly known, benefits from a great location in the heart of downtown Auckland. It's situated just behind Queen Street, which is the main shopping street in the city. There are numerous shops, restaurants, cafes, a cinema complex and many more entertainment options located practically on the doorstep. Several dorms enjoy a view of the popular 'Skytower' attraction, which is situated just a few minutes walk away.
In terms of facilities, ACB has all you could need and a lot more. The dorms are spacious and the bedding is provided (including a duvet). Each dorm has its own fridge, which comes in handy as the storage space in the kitchen is inadequate given the size of the hostel. There are lockable drawers beneath the beds (use your own padlock or buy one at reception). Each floor has its own bathroom facilities which were immaculate.
Communal areas include two TV rooms, a large kitchen / dining room and a lounge area. The kitchen, although large, could really do with being bigger in respect of the fact that this is a 600+ bed hostel. Sadly, due to a lack of consideration from other backpackers, it was often left dirty and untidy although staff work hard to clean up several times a day.
Services offered by ACB include a reasonably-priced internet cafe (although there are cheaper places nearby if you can be bothered), a job-search centre and a travel-shop. To benefit from using the job-search centre, it is necessary to become a member though, for which they charge a ridiculous fee. Sign up with one of the many agencies in the city instead or visit another travellers' information centre offering free help in finding employment. The staff in the travel-shop are extremely helpful and can be of great use when planning travel around NZ, Australia or Fiji. There are also some great discounts available if you book tours / activities here.
ACB is home to the basement 'Globe' bar - probably Auckland's best travellers' entertainment venue and is also a popular choice with the locals. Each night has a different theme and ACB guests can enjoy free / discounted drinks on a regular basis. There are often events offering the opportunity to win prizes, such as 'Mr/Miss Backpacker' contests, pool competitions, and a weekly quiz night with free pizza.
From the airport, ACB is very easy to get to. Auckland's 'Airbus' will drop you off right outside - it leaves from both the international and domestic terminals every 20 minutes from first thing in the morning to late at night. There are also shuttle buses available. If arriving by bus, the bus station is located next to the Skytower, ACB is a 5 minute downhill walk. The train station is a 10-minute walk along Queen St, or if you're feeling lazy, buses run the length of Queen St virtually every minute. Catch any bus heading out of town along Queen St. or look out for the red 'City Circuit' bus - it's free!!
In terms of facilities, ACB has all you could need and a lot more. The dorms are spacious and the bedding is provided (including a duvet). Each dorm has its own fridge, which comes in handy as the storage space in the kitchen is inadequate given the size of the hostel. There are lockable drawers beneath the beds (use your own padlock or buy one at reception). Each floor has its own bathroom facilities which were immaculate.
Communal areas include two TV rooms, a large kitchen / dining room and a lounge area. The kitchen, although large, could really do with being bigger in respect of the fact that this is a 600+ bed hostel. Sadly, due to a lack of consideration from other backpackers, it was often left dirty and untidy although staff work hard to clean up several times a day.
Services offered by ACB include a reasonably-priced internet cafe (although there are cheaper places nearby if you can be bothered), a job-search centre and a travel-shop. To benefit from using the job-search centre, it is necessary to become a member though, for which they charge a ridiculous fee. Sign up with one of the many agencies in the city instead or visit another travellers' information centre offering free help in finding employment. The staff in the travel-shop are extremely helpful and can be of great use when planning travel around NZ, Australia or Fiji. There are also some great discounts available if you book tours / activities here.
ACB is home to the basement 'Globe' bar - probably Auckland's best travellers' entertainment venue and is also a popular choice with the locals. Each night has a different theme and ACB guests can enjoy free / discounted drinks on a regular basis. There are often events offering the opportunity to win prizes, such as 'Mr/Miss Backpacker' contests, pool competitions, and a weekly quiz night with free pizza.
From the airport, ACB is very easy to get to. Auckland's 'Airbus' will drop you off right outside - it leaves from both the international and domestic terminals every 20 minutes from first thing in the morning to late at night. There are also shuttle buses available. If arriving by bus, the bus station is located next to the Skytower, ACB is a 5 minute downhill walk. The train station is a 10-minute walk along Queen St, or if you're feeling lazy, buses run the length of Queen St virtually every minute. Catch any bus heading out of town along Queen St. or look out for the red 'City Circuit' bus - it's free!!
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
August 2005
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Don't book BASE Stayed here after Christmas and it was the worse place I've stayed in New Zealand/Australia so far. Sheets were not clean, the double bed was just two singles pushed together, and the mattress was like sleeping on lumpy bricks. Would have put up with all this for the money but we requested a private double (no cleaning service) and this was ignored so that while we were out one day my DVD case and about 12 DVDs were stolen. When we inquired about them, no one could tell us who had cleaned the room or had a key. Not cool. Don't book it, the internet cafe and great location did not make up for the below par bed, theft, or invasion of privacy. — Anonymous , USA (2011-04-30) Big hostel, but in a good location This hostel is huge, always has people coming and going, no matter what time of day (or night). I was staying in a private room, and though it was nothing spectacular, was comfortable and the in-room mini fridge was a nice bonus. The noise from the street/bars and other rooms is a bit loud at times, might want to think twice about this hostel if you want to get away from everything and rest, but it's fun if you're in the mood for that kind of thing. The internet area was very convenient, I never had to wait for a computer, and there's lots of space on the main floor to just chill out and read or watch TV. The hostel is in a good location as well, I never used the bus to get around and just walked everywhere. You can get to all the major attractions in the city from the hostel and the university and parks are a bit farther, but still within walking distance if you want to get away from the main part of the city for a bit. — Caroline , USA (2008-06-12) Clean but unfriendly staff and uncomfortable aspects Stayed here one night in a private double. The travel desk was very helpful in making some travel arrangements for us -- highly competent help, though not particularly friendly. The front desk staff were extremely unfriendly and rude to us and made our stay very disappointing, particularly as it was our first night in New Zealand. They ignored us, gave short answers without explanation, wouldn't let us get our luggage out of the storage closet (had to wait a half hour). Our room had continuous cold air blowing in through the air vent, which we could not control -- the room was quite cold, and I do not know why there was AC on a cold day out. The front desk said there was no way to change it. The bathrooms were clean, but with a very bad arrangement. There was nowhere to put your dry clothes or glasses or anything, and the shower curtain did not go down far enough to keep the things on the floor outside the stall dry. Also, the water would only stay on for about thirty seconds, so that a shower consisted of pushing the water button frequently. At least there was good water pressure and plenty of hot water. The facilities were old and greatly in need of renovation, but were ok and clean. The room had a small fridge. — Stacey , United States (2007-12-04) This Backpacker was definitely the worst accommodation in which we stayed during traveling in NZ. The cards which we got instead of keys didn't work for several times. We had a room for 4 people with en-suite. The bathroom was broken and dirty so we had to change the room in two double rooms which weren't really better (they smelled bad, were also dirty and there was hair from other customers in the shower). To make things worse, the kitchen seemed to be cleaned ages ago. The backpacker is located in the city center -- that's the only advantage!!! — Patrizia, Sabine, Kaori, Rebeka (2007-03-25) Imagine you arriving tired after traveling and finding out that your expensive accommodation (because they charge you an expensive rate for double en-suite room) is a mess, with rest of food in all room, dirty linen, and clothes spread in all room. And all this mess was made by the previous couple that had left the place three hours before. Terrible. The staff explained that they just had two housekeepers -- how is it possible for that size backpackers? The room smells bad and to complete, the window makes you see a wonderful wall! To complete this all the kitchen is ridiculous -- small. At dinnertime you can't move inside there. the fridge is terrible (small, obvious) and dirty. a mess, once more. If you want to stay in an en-suite room look for a hotel. you will pay less and you will be happier! — Jorge (2007-02-22) The hostel in in the centre of town which is good if your walking but a problem for car parking. There is a bar which means its pretty noisy at night on the lower floors and a fair few people coming in late and being pretty noisy, we didnt get much sleep. There was also sick in the toilets which wasnt nice. However the staff are really friendly and the travel centre is excellent with really great staff. The kitchen is ok size but can get a bit crowded. — Laura & Lee (2007-02-02) We were a little disappointed. Despite booking via email in October, we were allocated a room without a window when we arrived (albeit at a cheaper rate). I would have thought that booking that far in advance would get us a room with access to sunlight, but it seems not. When we questioned the receptionist, she said that it was pretty much a lottery as to whether we got a room with a window or not, unless we specified that we wanted one. It seems strange to me that would need to specify that, just as it seems strange to have rooms without windows at all. Base was also commended for the design of the rooms. I can't comment on the other rooms, but I don't think this was the case for ours (room 516). The sink in the bathroom was so narrow that it was physically impossible to wash your face over it. The bedroom and bathroom had no surface space for storage at all, which is pretty essential (would you like to keep your toothbrush on the floor?). This was all the more strange, as money had clearly been spent on providing us with our own television. Whilst this was great, I think it's more important to attend to the basics, like shelves, before getting into the luxuries. We also didn't have a bedside lamp, which meant that because of the absence of natural light, each morning we would have to get up in pitch darkness and feel our way towards the main light switch. If you have to get up before your alarm goes off, you have no way of knowing if it's three in the morning or breakfast time. I think the internet area could also do with the wireless connection for the increasing number of travelers who have their own laptops, this would also free up more of their own PCs for those customers that don't have their own computers. Aside from these comments, the staff were extremely helpful and the location of the hostel was great. — George B (2007-01-21) We stayed here on the night of the U2 concert. I have stayed in Base in Melbourne and thought very highly of it so decided to book us into Base, Auckland. I was disappointed! My sheet had a blood stain on it, my duvet wasn't clean and smelt revolting! We paid a huge amount of money for an eight-bed dorm because of the concert. We had to sleep in a room with three snorers (not the hostel's fault) and one guy wet his bed (not kidding!). The bathrooms were disgusting and there were at times urine on the seat, walls, and toilet floors. This was my friend's first time staying in a hostel and I doubt if she will be back after this experience. Perhaps Base, Auckland had slipped a bit because of being fully booked but I would have really liked to see this hostel live up to its name and become more like Base, St Kilda, Melbourne! I have to say that the staff were excellent and very helpful, friendly and on to it. I did enjoy my time here but would not like to stay here again. — Chippy (2006-11-26) We stayed for two nights when we arrived and enjoyed my time there but I would say one thing that really ruined it. The travel desk talked us into taking a spaceship camper van. It sucked. We were stuck with it for three weeks. I know its our fault as we agreed to it but that was all they showed us and they raved about it. My advice is to stay there but do your own research and don't use the travel desk. — Laura (2006-11-07) Me and a friend stayed here a few weeks ago. We found it really expensive and a pain in the arse to park the car, we had to buy a ticket at reception and then drive down the road to the car park then drive to the fourteenth floor (fourteenth!) and then park there, and it was expensive and too far from the hostel (ten minutes walk) so if we needed something from the car we had to walk for miles. I know 'real' backpackers dont have cars but was still a pain! The showers were the ones where you have to push the button every three minutes to get the water to come out, but at least the water was hot! I think the staff were excellent and good at giving directions to the Bay of Islands and other places. Although there was one bitch behind the counter who confused us with everything she said, one minute we had to but carpack ticket off her, next we had to buy it at the carpark, then we had to park somewhere else? Im sure she was just having a bad day or extemely hung over but wasnt very reassuring. The massage chairs are good, and the bar noise was a little loud but who comes to a hostel to sleep (haha). I would recommend this hostel as it is right in town and most of the staff are on-to-it, just dont bring a car! I would stay here again! — Chippie (2006-08-26) I stayed here for 5 days in May 2006, at the start of my round the world trip and I would agree with much of what has been said below. Rooms and communal areas are modern and its all pretty clean.However, I wouldnt say its the best hostel for meeting people, the only decent communal area is the bar. — Adam from England (2006-08-18) On the plus side, it has everything and the staff are pretty helpful. Also, the location is great. On the minus side, the rooms without windows are really stuffy and fairly unbearable. Some of the rooms are tiny also. It's also fairly noisy, but that didn't really bother me. As it's so big, it can be a little intimidating walking around reception especially when there are large drunken groups around. — Maria (2006-08-07) Pros are that it's clean, very central, well-equipped kitchen, good amenities, excellent security with keycards and bed lockers, clean bathrooms (ladies' even has hairdryers). Cons are the big-chain atmosphere, very large, bar gets noisy at nights so not the best place for a quiet sleep. Kinda anonymous and not the greatest place to meet people or make friends, especially if Auckland is the gateway to New Zealand or the start of your trip. Internet is very expensive -- there's a cheaper place down the road. — Sarah (2006-07-09) I booked a private room here for one night in May 2006 and I can honestly say the room was one of the worst I have ever seen. It was so dirty. I decided I didnt really want to stay and complained at reception, in fairness they gave me my money back without argument. Other people who I spoke to staying at the hostel had had much better rooms by the sounds of it, so maybe I was just unlucky. — Backpacker from England (2006-06-02) All of the extras without any of the basics. I don't really care if this place has a spa or sauna but I do care that my room and the bathrooms are clean which they were not. The rooms could also get very hot and I was staying in the Winter! I heard a number of people complaining but I doubt anything ever really got done as the staff were friendly but undertrained. Ok for a couple of nights but wouldn't stay here again if I had the choice. — Tara (2006-05-15)