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Great kitchen, responsive staff
The clean, well-stocked, well-used kitchen was a highlight. People clad in towels walking through it on the way to the sauna added character. The first night, I stayed in a 6 bed dorm that was a bit moldy; I asked if another room was available for the 2nd night, and they moved me to a better one.
Smelly with bad customer service.
The rooms smelt terrible and the workers were not very helpful -- they almost lost my booking. Fox Glacier does not have many options, this one is do-able and has good showers. But not my idea of nice at all.
Ivory Towers Backpackers is a fairly modern, well-planned and -maintained hostel with a nice atmosphere, although a little noisy at some points. It has internet access and a laundry service.
The Location
The hostel is just off the main highway from Haast to Greymouth, at a literal one-minute walk from Flox Glaciers village centre, where you can find convenience stores, restaurants, bars, and petrol station. The village is also full of tour guide offices and outdoor activity agencies for flights and organised walks to the glacier.
Rooms and Bathrooms
Rooms have an alpine-hotel look, probably due to the wooden paneling and fittings of the lower half of the walls. Towels are supplied by the hostel. Every room has a large window with curtains. Dorm rooms have bunk beds and individual beds all in the same room. The place looks generally well maintained, although some pieces of furniture are not that new, but everything is arranged in good taste. Bathrooms are standard and generally very clean, with a white small sink, a toilet, and a shower. Toilets have posters on the wall.
Common Spaces
The green-wall kitchen is quite big and quite well equipped with two conventional ovens, plates, glasses, mugs, pots, pans, cutlery, and cooking utensils. It has also some common cooking spices and salt. Stoves are electric. It is generally quite clean and well maintained. It has an impressive table made out of a single slice of tree where guests can prepare food.
The green-wall dining area has several individual tables with two chairs each, and a cute, long wooden table made out of a single piece of tree. This room is again generally clean. The dining room and the kitchen have both lots of natural light due to various large windows, with commercial posters on the walls. The floors are carpeted.
The outside deck of the hostel, to which almost all rooms lead, has cute cinema seats, a round table with chairs, and abundant plants and flowers. There is a wooden staircase leading to the first floor, where there are more rooms and bathrooms. The hostel has a large garden surrounded by the hostel buildings, with lots of plants, trees, and wooden benches where guests normally gather.
Summary
This is a smart, inexpensive, well-situated choice and close to many businesses and services where you can socialize.
We stayed in a twin room, which was fine. There was a problem with ventilation, the bathroom and kitchen were steamed up badly when we were there. There is no longer a hot tub. There is a cinema room with sofas and large screen TV, although I didn't use it. The kitchen was a good size although can be busy as this is a large hostel and the only hostel in the village.
one of the worst places i stayed -- hence why i am posting here. first, i booked two nights in advance, which was confirmed, and when i turned up was told i only had a room for one night -- thanks for leaving me with no place to stay. i had to splash out on a hotel room as there was nowhere else to stay and the owner was completely unhelpful. next, the room for the night i was able to stay was not made up. a minor detail but shows the lack of interest in guests' welfare. next, a couple of friends came to cook with us and were thrown out. this can happen in some hostels if you have guests, but seriously, the way the staff reacted it was as if they were looting the place. if they don't like guests, a simple sign is all it takes -- there was no need for the confrontation they took, which i won't go into. finally, on a separate occasion, a girl told the manager the oven was not working and he had to show her how it worked. i then overheard the manager outside being rude, sarcastic, and abusive about the girl to another group of backpackers who just looked shocked at the completely pointless outburst. some people are not cut out for running hostels and the staff here are a prime example. they deserve no guests and completely ruin an otherwise nice hostel.
Despite a cramped room and the motel look of the place, this hostel was great. The kitchen is spacious and there are comfy couches to relax on. The bikes that they rent out are good and cheap, a great way to go explore the lake, coast, or trails up to the glaicer. The back patio is a nice covered place to sit outside while it rains. And the TV room is impressive with a huge TV and movie theater seats. I would gladly stay here again.
I really enjoyed my stay here. The hostel has great facilities, including several well-equipped kitchens, a large TV room with cinema seating, and spacious dorms with a motel-like feel. Everything was clean and comfortable, though one of my friends had a problem with laundry and the staff weren't too helpful in resolving it. In any case, this is a great base from which to explore the glaciers or Lake Matheson, and I'd stay here again.
We had a fine stay here. Their kitchens are large and they have cubby spaces to accommodate backpackers food. Bikes for hire on site and central location were a plus.
Great place to stay, perfect location. Staff where super helpful and kind. Would recommend and would stay again!
Owner was great. Awesome kitchen, hot tub the works. Definitely recommend
Good overall, stayed just one night, staff were friendly but the outdoor door to the room didnt lock. The town was very quite though so felt safe enough
Kitchen was nice & big, although a few of the stovetops didnt work.
The movie room TV was really big and they had HDMI.
The bedroom was nice.
Definitely worth the money, overall a great place to stay! :)
We would have liked a lock on the bedroom door, was very surprised there wasn't one.
Also the TV didn't work til the manager came and got it going but the second night it still wouldn't go so we never bothered with it.
Kitchen and bathroom were very clean.
Thanks for a lovely & relaxing stay- highly recommend to all
Great place to stay
Friendly welcoming staff, good kitchen facilities and a great space to relax!
The room was comfortable, the bathrooms clean and the kitchen is well equipped.
Liked: There was a jacuzzi -- that was great. Didn't like: Wifi was limited -- not so great.
Liked: Nice layout. Cool wooden kitchen table. Didn't like: The toilet doors
Liked: We had a great stay at this hostel. There was a storm and we needed to push the reservation a night because we couldn't get over Haast Pass, which was no problem. The gentleman running the hostel was absolutely lovely, and made us feel right at home for our 6-night stay. The kitchen was well stocked and kept clean, with free spices to use which was a big plus. There's a sauna, spa, and movie room, as well as a lounge/game room with a great fire going. The rooms were your average hostel rooms, but altogether this place was great and I definitely recommend it to anyone needing a place in Fox - we will definitely stay here again! Didn't like: It was a little chilly in the hostel in the kitchen area, but otherwise fantastic.
Liked: large common area and rooms Didn't like: looked like it hadn't been updated or taken care of in 30 years, shabby and dirty
Liked: Very good equipped kitchen Didn't like: Small showers
Liked: We had a twin private room with shared bath, which turned out to have extremely comfortable beds and a little deck for dining. The facilities were great, good kitchen and lots of tables, spa, and very conveniently located. The bathroom was clean and just fine to share--never had to wait. Great wifi too. We loved this spot! Didn't like: Honestly can't think of anything.
Liked: Good location, good kitchen Didn't like: Rooms were a bit noisy (especially the alarm going off in the middle of the night!) and would prefer a lock rather than a chain on bedroom door.
Liked: Gut war, dass die Unterkunft ber einen Generator verfgt, der im Notfall Strom liefert, sodass wir trotz tagelangem Stromausfall in Fox wenigstens nicht im Dunkeln saen. In der Nhe gehen zudem schne Wanderwege los. Didn't like: Personal / Manager ist grtenteils mrrisch bis unfreundlich. Die Kche meist sehr verdreckt. Insgesamt kamen wir uns vor, als wrde man uns wie kleine dumme Kinder behandeln und nicht wie Gste, die viel Kohle lassen.
Address: 33/35 Sullivan's Road, South Westland, Fox Glacier, New Zealand
Digital Nomads
Family-Friendly Hostel
Solo Traveller
Bedsheets
City Tours
Luggage Storage
Parking
Bike Rental
Towels
Wi-Fi in Lobby/Commons
BBQ Grill
Board Games
Book Collection/Exchange
Cable TV
Clothes Dryer
Credit Card Payments
Currency Exchange
Elevator/Lift
Entirely Non-Smoking
Food/Restaurant
Gym/Fitness Room
Hair Dryers
Hot Showers
Hot tub/Jacuzzi
Kitchen
Laundry
Lounge Area
Meeting/Banquet facilities
Movie Library/Rental
Wheelchair Accessible
Airport Pickup
Service Animals
Max. Age: All Ages
Checkout: 10:00 (10 AM)
Curfew: No Curfew
Lockout: No
Maximum Stay: Unlimited
Minimum Stay: 1 night
Open Dates: All Year
Reception Hours: 8.00am-------8.30p.m
Size: Large (60-100 beds)
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