The Bug Backpackers Hostel

Best In Nelson
Great Hostel. Newly refurbished, happy dog, knowledgeable manager, clean beds. I like the randomness of the place. If the weather is lousy Tony will sometimes rent a DVD for the lounge. His girlfriend is a great cook and random pies sometimes appear. It's infectious as a few of the tenants were pickers and were constantly putting free apples in the kitchen.

Incredible place -- go there!
The Bug is run by Antony, an Englishman with an incredible energy level and a passion for VW Bug cars. They are everywhere in this place, including on the doors of the bedrooms! (And VW-shaped chocolates on the beds when you arrive, what a nice touch.) Antony gives a very warm welcome and somehow manages to know everyone's name, even though at capacity this place sleeps twenty-eight. The Bug is nicely decorated and the bedrooms are very spacious. They even have furniture and wardrobes, with hangers for your clothes! Settling in here was like settling in to a four-star motel. Free internet is available on two computers from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. -- if the computers are both busy you just write your name on the waiting list and people get off within half an hour. This system works very well and the computers are pretty recent models. I had a bit of trouble getting the USB ports to work, but with Antony's help it all worked out fine. The kitchen is recently renovated (the whole place is only a few years old), gorgeous and well-stocked. Free oil and herbs makes cooking just that little bit easier. Two fridge-freezers means there's always space to put your chilled stuff, and there's plenty of bins for storing your dry goods. Outside there's a barbecue area, and around the side of the building, two washing lines -- plenty of space for drying clothes. The two bathrooms work well and the shower pressure is amazing. On the negative, they didn't get the provision of toilets quite right. There are three in the building, but only one of these is in its own room, which means that at times like first thing in the morning it can be a bit hard to find somewhere to go! There is also not enough space for offstreet parking. There's room for only six cars, which with twenty-eight people staying, means someone's gonna park on the street. There was always room on the street right outside The Bug when I had to park there, but it's a very busy street and I was always happier when I could park offstreet. But this is almost at the level of nitpicking, since The Bug is a lovely, friendly, well setup place to stay. I'll happily be going back there!