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Wilderness Beach House Backpackers sits just below the N2 highway, overlooking the beach at the western edge of town. The views are spectacular and guests go to sleep with the sound of the lapping waves.
The Location
It’s just a little more than five minutes’ walk into the small town center. To get to the nature reserve trails, it’s a further fifteen minutes’ walk to the western side of the town.
Rooms and Bathrooms
Wilderness Beach House Backpackers has a wide variety of accommodation on offer, including safari tents and small en suite apartments. The private rooms are clean and comfortable and there are two fourteen-bed dorms -- one on the ground floor and one above. Although the dorms have a large number of beds, they are spacious and there are lockers provided in the hallway on the ground floor for storage. The dorms are a uniform white with white bedding, so they can feel a little institutional and cold in the winter. The wooden bunks are reasonably sturdy, but the duvets are a little thin and there are only a couple of power points for everyone to share. Choose your bed carefully, as some of the cheap mattresses are a bit saggy, too. Each dorm has a balcony looking out to the beach.
The bathrooms are shared and clean, but for the potential number of guests, there aren’t enough. Toward the rear of the house, behind the bar, there are more showers, but these are shared with some of the private rooms as well. All the accommodation is kept spotlessly clean, but the dorms could do with a bit of color and some tables for guests to unload their luggage rather than having to use the floor. We had issues with the hot water in the showers when we stayed here, too.
Common Spaces
There are very few common areas here that are under cover. We visited during the winter when rain was around, which means guests are then stuck either in the small bar area, or in their rooms. Outside the reception and bar, there is a patio full of wooden tables and benches overlooking the beach with a canvas roof. This is open at the sides, which doesn’t give a lot of protection from the elements. The small bar has a big-screen TV and a pool table and the dorm balconies have a few wooden tables and chairs also.
The guests’ kitchen is tiny. It has a few pots and pans, but it's pretty good on the amount of cutlery and crockery. Guests will find a microwave, kettle, toaster, four-ring gas cooker, and a large cabinet fridge. Free tea, coffee, and sugar are available all day here, too. The Wi-Fi here is pretty good, but it is not free; it's one of the very few places left in South Africa that charge for your usage. You get twenty minutes every twelve hours for free, but you have to pay thereafter. As the beds here are by no means the cheapest in Wilderness, that’s a bit mean.
Summary
Wilderness Beach House Backpackers is a good option, particularly if you like the beach. It’s a bit of a walk away from the nature reserve trails, though. Food is available for breakfast and dinner at an additional cost and the place has a good atmosphere. We don’t think it is particularly good value for money and believe it could do with a splash of color in the dorms and a few sticks of furniture, but it's ok.
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+4
LondonroadMa
Hostelz.com Staff Reviewer
Published on Aug 12, 2018
Location and Contact
Location
• From the airport of Port Elizabeth: • By Car: • Take the highway N2 'the Garden Route', and follow the directions to 'Wilderness'. • From the airport of Cape Town: • By Car: • Take the road N2 and then after 400 Km turn right to Station road and continue to Western Road