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Te Anau
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| Town
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Accomodation
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Things To Do
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Rained alot. Town was pretty small. Didn't think it was that great. Will not be going back.
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| Accomodation
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| Name
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Lakeside Backpackers
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| Tel
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| Email
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| Price per person
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was $20 now $25
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| Good Points
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Everything in 1 unit
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| Bad Points
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Shit Heater, Freezing Cold, Damp
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| Rating
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1/10
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| Comments
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Would be ok in summer but should be able to cope with winter especially as it rains 3/4 of the year there. We wrote letter of complaint as we were both made ill due to the cold and damp and would definately not recommend the place to anyone!
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On my second trip back here 3 years later I decided to give the place another chance. The price has gone up disproportionately to the rate of inflation.
There were no blankets in the room, when I inquired as to why, the lady said that as the hostel was so big (only 75 beds) they could not cope with the washing of them.
I pushed her further, as having visited hundreds of hostels I had never paid for a bed and been told that I had to pay more for blankets..... some to think of it I had never been to a restaurant and been told that I have to pay more for them to wipe the table clean.
I explained to her that if they were so busy, surely the huge amount of money coming in every day would pay for a couple of extra washing machines and staff for a few hours. Think about it - $25 X 75beds = $1875 a night (alot of money).Lets say they were only half full and charged only $20 per night, it would still be almost $800 per night (still alot of money)
The lady said to me when I questioned her, was that all of the profit they made goes to the bank to pay the interest on their loan! Hard to beleive that they pay interest of that amount everyday. Anyway, even if that was so, the fact that they needed a loan shouldn't reflect back and affect the hostel being poorly run.
Also a hot tub is on offer - which they charge $3 to use. I have visited many hostels in the past who have never charged for the hot tub - or swimming pool if they had one.
The theory they gave me that the hostel was to big and that only smaller hostels can cope with washing bed linen is complete rubbish. If this hostel had any idea about business, they would know that with economies of scale, with having a large number of beds, the cost + amount of work decreases PER BED.(stop me if I am wrong here, but this is very basic logic)
Basically the reason given the information available is that the hostel is too lazy, badly run and also greedy :- for example the $3 for the tub is not much money, but really these facilities should be included (especially when they are overcharging - $25 a night for rooms that are fairly worn out, other much better hostels in New Zealand have been cheaper)
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Things To Do
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Doubtful Sound
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Doubtful sound down in Fiordland is one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand, except on the day we went it pissed down all day so we could't really appreciate it.
Would have been good on a nice day, but was a waste of time really - we only came down to Te Anau to see doubtful sound!
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