Moana Lodge

Moana Lodge is a clean and friendly budget hostel located in Plimmerton Beach, about thirty kilometers from Wellington. It offers several room types -- single, double, twin, four-bed -- all with shared bathroom facilities. The ground floor hosts a large sociable kitchen, homey dining room, and spacious, sea view common area (with separate entertainment kitchen). The bedrooms on the first floor offer beautiful views of Plimmerton Beach and the South Island (but suffer from significant road noise well into the evening). The owners live a short distance away from the hostel and are available by phone if needed (reception is not manned full-time). They sell a number of North and South Island tours and rent kayaks for day use.

The Moana Lodge attracts a variety of travelers of all ages, and so the atmosphere is generally modest and reserved. The bedrooms are simply furnished and only sea view rooms come with towels. Bed linens are provided only at the "made up" room rate. You can lock your bedroom door with a key and the main entrance is locked at 11 p.m. If you will be out late, you must plan ahead and ask reception for a key to the main door.

Moana Lodge's main entrance is on Cluny Road through the back garden gate (you must reach inside to lift the latch). The hostel is a twenty-minute walk along the beach road from Plimmerton Station (thirty minutes by train to central Wellington). Barring traffic, Wellington is twenty minutes away by highway (thirty minutes to the airport). Free car parking is available on the street, but it is shared with the rest of the neighborhood. Moana Lodge management strongly suggests you do not leave valuables in your vehicle (citing three burglaries in nine years). Although there is a good pub across the street from the hostel, dinner is served Thursday through Sunday only. The next closest dining options (and small grocery store) are near Plimmerton Station. A large grocery store (with cash machine) is located on the main highway, about two kilometers away.

There are three showers and three toilets (each in a separate room with its own sink) on the first floor. There is also a single shower and toilet on the ground floor. Liquid soap is provided in the shower rooms, but only bar soap is available in the toilet rooms [the owner has said they'll consider liquid soap in the toilet rooms]. Even at low occupancy, there can be a queue for the showers at 9 a.m., so get in early. Moana Lodge has a no shoes policy inside the building, which is a reasonable request, but somewhat impractical for a hostel with three exits and shared bathroom facilities.

The electrical outlets in the bedrooms are on thirty-minute timers, so you cannot charge your laptop or mobile phone overnight (unless you want to wake up and reset the timer every half hour). A guide to the hostel is available in each room and includes local restaurant menus and several activity suggestions. Most of the guide is a very detailed (four-page single-spaced) description of the remodeling of the hostel.

Internet access is via two coin-operated computers on the first floor (next to the bedrooms). The computers take $2 coins only, and when you run out of time, the screen shuts down but your data remains. [We are told the data only remains for 60 seconds to allow you to continue if you choose.] One phone is available next to the computers on the first floor. Local calls are free, and reception sells phone cards for international calls.

The coin-operated laundry facilities consist of two washers and a single dryer. They are located in an old small shed in the garden (underneath the fire escape) which doubles as a storage area for cleaning supplies and paint. Because the washers and dryer are shared with the hostel's cleaning staff, they are often unavailable during the day.

Overall, Moana Lodge offers great views at reasonable prices.
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-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review