Base Queenstown

“Fun Stay!”

Stayed here over the weekend in lockdown level 2. Did have a great experience, the accomodation rates are the lowest compared to the other hostels in town. Besides that almost all the dorms do have their own bathrooms with toilet and shower. I stayed in a 6-shared ensuite dorm and the mattresses ... more

Stayed here over the weekend in lockdown level 2. Did have a great experience, the accomodation rates are the lowest compared to the other hostels in town. Besides that almost all the dorms do have their own bathrooms with toilet and shower. I stayed in a 6-shared ensuite dorm and the mattresses are comfi! Reception staff was very helpful with giving me the information about all the activities in town. Bungee and Skydives are very cheap at the moment compared to summer prizes! To open to door of my room I needed to download an app, very advanced with 1 press on my phone the door was open! When my phone was dead, it was not a problem because they have luckily 24/7 reception. The bar next door is the cheapest in town they said and I can recommend the burrito + drink deal!

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“Nice people and clean”

A good hostel to stay in Queenstown, really beautiful city. In the hotel, you can find nice people, the rooms are clean and they have a good environment, you have a pub just beside it. Close to the city center, so you can walk to any location.

“3 great days, 1 awful night.”

What a tie up! Whoevers running this place must be kicking themselves because if everyone left 1 day earlier theyd have tonnes of perfect reviews! Its a good hostel, with brilliant reception staff, has a typical backpackers kitchen, generally good vibes, and is centred perfectly in the city. Onl... more

What a tie up! Whoevers running this place must be kicking themselves because if everyone left 1 day earlier theyd have tonnes of perfect reviews! Its a good hostel, with brilliant reception staff, has a typical backpackers kitchen, generally good vibes, and is centred perfectly in the city. Only downside is Friday night the music from the hostel nightclub is so loud it reaches 3 floors up and all the way to the back. Even with earplugs you still have trouble sleeping. Great reception staff apologised, but little they could do. Overall very good experience, just on Saturdays join the party instead of going to bed - youll have the same amount of sleep!

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“Their website is misleading”

This is your standard no-frills backpackers that you choose for its location and affordability. The place has its moments, but unfortunately I have more negative than positive things to say about our recent stay. For context: We'd booked a Double/Twin Room with Ensuite for 3 nights, and were gi... more

This is your standard no-frills backpackers that you choose for its location and affordability. The place has its moments, but unfortunately I have more negative than positive things to say about our recent stay. For context: We'd booked a Double/Twin Room with Ensuite for 3 nights, and were given a room on the third floor (their highest floor). The positives: - The location is perfect, right in the middle of Queenstown central with everything within walking distance. - The room we got was huge, with sliding doors onto a small balcony, with views over Shotover Street and The Remarkables. The ensuite had a shower-over-bath, and the radiator kept the room nicely heated on those cold winter nights. The King bed was massive and provided a comfortable sleep. But now, the negatives: 1: The info and photos on Base's website are misleading. They advertise the room category we booked as having 'coffee/tea making facilities', but this turned out to be just a kettle, with no cups and no coffee or tea. (Photos attached.) They also advertise a TV in the room, but this turns out to be a tiny screen (no bigger than your average laptop screen), placed on such an angle in the room that you can't see it from the bed; so the TV is basically useless, since the bed is the only thing you can sit on. (Again, see photos attached.) Furthermore, the website claims you have to pay for inroom WiFi, which is not true. Not that I'm complaining about getting free WiFi, but it's just another piece of inaccurate info. Then the website makes no mention of the crazy amount they charge you to use their laundry facilities (atleast $10NZD per wash&dry cycle!) Long story short, the website needs an update. 2) The room we got was showing some wear-and-tear (holes/scratches on walls and doors, mysterious stains on the curtains, etc.) This can be forgiven in a budget hostel. However, there were several preventable Housekeeping oversights in our room when we checked into it (brown stains on the wall and floor of the ensuite + cigarette butts on the balcony). There's no excuse for that. 3) Overall, the room was full of quirks. As mentioned before, it was huge - so there's no doubt they could fit a proper TV, proper coffee/tea making facilities, and even some chairs in there. But all you get is the bed, the mini-TV, the mini-fridge and the kettle. It would be nice to have anything to sit on besides the bed. On a different point: The staff all seem very friendly, but not very professional. Upon checkin we were given a bare minimum of information about the facilities, and since there was no information pamphlet or phone in our room we had to keep going down to Reception (or ring the hostel's number from our cellphones) whenever we had an enquiry. Almost every time we walked past the Reception area, the Receptionists seemed more preoccupied with chatting amongst themselves or with being on their phones than with assisting their guests. And when we informed a Receptionist about the extremely noisy guests staying in the room next to us (see Room Tip), the guy didn't seem to care and expressed no sympathy. I can only assume that the staff are former guests themselves, maybe live-in employees. No staff member I encountered was outright unpleasant, but no one seemd to have real Guest Services training (I'm a Hotel Receptionist myself). To summarize: Base is a solid choice if you need a good bed for the night, but otherwise it's a mixed bag with room for improvement.

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