Bay Adventurer - Apartments & Backpacker Resort

Best hostel I've stayed in!
I am a big-time world traveler. My friend and I have stayed in many many different hostels along our journeys and this has been our favorite hostel yet! We enjoyed the beautiful views, great location, comfortable beds, clean rooms, hot tub, big kitchen, friendly staff, and easy adventure accommodations. It is also the cheapest hostel in Paihia! We are extremely lucky to have found this hostel and would recommend it to anyone! We would definitely come back and stay here again in the future.

upside -- I stayed here one night (backpacker), staff is friendly, very clean place, lights on each bunk and lockers for your personals with a padlock option. this area, well landscaped, nice gardens, like new buildings, good parking, good value for money. downside -- laundry seemed too small to sustain loads for guests, i never got to have a turn, TV room area way too small, swimming area closed too early, signing some stupid conditions form, curfew at 11 p.m. (no one in courtyard at all), numbered beds (allocated), closed circuit cameras watching you pick your nose everywhere from all angles. if there was a name change to this place it would best be described as "paihia immaculate five-star concentration boot camp." i wouldn't stay here again only because of signing a condition form, which ive never done before in all the places ive been, and it's not cause im planning to break them -- it's just principle, that's just how i am. ive given it five stars cause i can see how much effort has gone into making this the best place by the management and they will bend over backwards to help and even maybe get another dryer and washer for winter.

The Bay Adventurer is hands down the best hostel in Paihia! This hostel was clean, friendly, and "home" for a while. Jim and Ricarda do such a great job running this hostel (and Sophie too).

We stayed here in winter (not a good idea!). we really should have researched what happens in the Bay of Islands in winter but oh well. We arrived in Paihia with no where to stay. It was cold. It was raining and there were about five people in the entire town! So we checked in to Bay Adventure and things became better. Myself and a friend had the whole room to ourselves, I had a huge double bed and we had lockers and a deck outside (would have been lovely in summer!). The toilets were clean and the showers took a while to get some hot water but were still good, hot, clean showers. We had dinner at the restaurant next door, which had great food and service! The staff at the hostel were great and really helpful! They even have a sun bed here (a must have in winter!). The kitchen is okay and lounge room a tad small, but still comfortable. I think this hostel would be an excellent place in Summer with heaps to do! Just dont go in Winter as you will be in bed by nine p.m., like we were. Cheers to the staff and owners, a nice hostel for all ages! Will see you in Summer.

This was hands down the worst hostel I have been to in the whole of New Zealand. First, upon calling to make a reservation months prior in December of 2005, I used the BBH 2005's fast-connect numbers which you can use with the card. Once connected to the hostel, I made my reservation, no problems. Upon getting to the hostel in 2006, the woman who greeted me told me they were no longer BBH affiliates and couldn't take my card, thus they would be charging me $5 more a night than what was listed in the ::current at the time of reserving:: booklet. She was rude beyond belief and even insulted me by asking if I understood "Kiwi English" (mind you, this was five months into my trip and I am an English major, I think I understood fine, thank you very much.) After that, I took the room because there was no other hostel open for the duration I would be there. The rooms were cramped and hot and that night one of the bunkmates happened to be an older woman who smelled horrible, so much so that I almost wretched over the bunk bed. The relaxation did not end there. Despite Paihia being a very beach-like atmosphere, with sunburn aplenty, ice cold showers were not exactly welcome. I NEVER had a consistently hot shower. The kitchen was disgusting and only clean after it was tidied in the morning. The "curfew" that is imposed with quiet time in the outer common area is hardly obliged to and the insane pop music on the stereo is a little much from early morning to late at night for people who have to actually get some rest. I was highly disconcerted that there were so many girls-gone-wild types running around with things hanging out in the same area that children stayed. If I was a parent I would have been horrified at some of the exploits that made even my not-so=prude self gag. It seems as if this place can't figure out what it wants to be. Some may argue that the owner, a small, younger guy who is moderatly friendly, is constantly running around keeping things in order but think about this: why does someone have to run around like a rabid chihuahua to take care of a place that is supposedly so pristine? Find a more respectable, calm, clean and courteous place and stay away stay away stay away.

Reply from the Hostel: In response to Emily's comments: Firstly, I am very sorry for Emily's bad experience at the Bay Adventurer. I would like to address all of her points, bearing in mind there are some things that we (as hostel owners) can change and some that we cannot. The Bay Adventurer ended their membership with BBH in June 2005 and became members of the VIP network. Unfortunately, The Bay Adventurer was still published in the recent BBH guide. When Emily booked online, she would have booked through the Bay Adventurer website which does not advertise the hostel as being a BBH member. All of our dorm rooms have six beds and six lockers. Obviously, during the summer season, especially January, most dorms are full. We cannot discriminate against people whether they are old, young or smelly. Unfortunate, but is this something for the hostel owner to raise with the woman? Not unless they would want to be sued! On the same note we do not discriminate against girls who like to wear their bikinis around the hostel and beside our swimming pool, after all Paihia is a beach town and the sun, sand and water is to be enjoyed by all who stay here! We did have a problem with the hot water to the showers (and at the busiest time of the year), however a plumber was called in at the earliest convenience and had the problem resolved. The communal kitchen is cleaned by staff in the morning and later in the evening, unfortunately not all guests are house-trained and some people fail to clean up after themselves to a satisfactory degree. This is part and parcel of staying in a communal-type facility where you have to be tolerant of the other guests. I would like to add that everybody has a choice as to where they stay, if you were unhappy with the Bay Adventurer when you first arrived then maybe it would have been a wiser choice to stay somewhere else; although we try our very hardest we understand that it is an impossible task to please everyone. Our families (parents & children) choose to stay at the Bay Adventurer for the great value accommodation and social atmosphere, none of our families (prudish ones included) complained about bikini-clad girls, but we are sorry if they caused any offence to you. We have a great suggestion and possible solution to the problems identified by Emily, travel to Paihia in the winter – where they are no bikini-clad girls to be found, no worries about sunburn, minimal guests in the dorm rooms and plenty of hot water. Jim & Ricarda (the Rabid Chihuahua & Proud Owners of the Bay Adventurer)

The staff were very friendly and helpful, providing useful tips for the wide range of activities available in the Bay of Islands. As for the hostel itself, it's the cleanest and most well kept hostel I've stayed in. With excellent facilities (i.e. pool and Jacuzzi) and a great location, one could not ask for more.

I have stayed here and the place is awesome. Yeah, it was more chilled out than some of the noisier places, but it's just what you need after a full day on the water, I reckon. The spa and pool were immaculate!!! And there were no busloads of 18-year-old drunken idiots to put up with. Best place in Paihia.