Rowena's Lodge

My main problem during my stay was the occupant of room 48 who has a real problem of understanding. How many times do we have to tell him to stop listening to music, one night a week minimum, at full volume ? Why doesn't anyone do anything to make him understand that this is a serious lack of civility? This went on for the 7 months I stayed. The owner refers us as soon as he can to Murray, who is supposed to be in charge but is too old to be up to the job. It's a real lack of respect on the part of this occupant who shouts, plays the guitar (very badly at that), listens to music too loudly, smoke drugs and who, under the pretext that he's nice, thinks he has all the rights. The location is good, a little old-fashioned but the price of the rooms is affordable. The occupants are dirty and the cleaning lady does what she can.

As a backpacker I actually really love this place. It's very homely, not super fancy but an awesome vibe. A lot of reviews say the reception guy is rude - he's not. He's actually super kind, just quick to the point. He gave us a huge discount on our room and they offer cheap weekly rates here as well. Amenities are clean enough and the staff are helpful. Wellington is beautiful and it's not a far walk to the city's centre. Honestly I think a lot of bad reviews are from Kiwis who were expecting some beautiful motel. This is a Backpackers hostel, not the ritz Carlton. Don't like that they close the kitchen at 10.30pm, but this seems to be common in NZ hostels. I don't usually write reviews but all the bad reviews on this place are uncalled for, it's pretty sick here. Conclusion: come here if you're a backpacker, if you're not, don't waste everybody's time please.

Had two stints here which were quite different in nature. The first was during a transition period where the management made some positive changes which weren't initially accepted easily by all residents, leading to some conflict. Was a very different vibe then and needed the change I feel. Once I arrived back for round 2 (and received a newly renovated cabin room which I LOVE) it was much different. Mostly very friendly residents with a focus way less on alcohol and drugs and more on cooking, hanging out, music and people passions. I like the staff here and the manager Matthew is generous and very fair. I would totally recommend staying here now as a backpacker and if you're in a cabin room for long term for sure. I feel the kitchen needs updating and the waste disposal (no recycling) could be improved. Otherwise I would give 5*. (:

Gunna be very honest here. I stayed a month at Rowena's and while the facilities were quite subpar(small crowded kitchen, half the fridges barely work, no freezer, no oven, cheap spring beds, cloth dryers barely dry at all, paid wifi for $5 a gb, and some room doors dont lock properly although when notified the older guy at the front desk had it fixed the next day), this place has a lot of character. You really have to try hard not to make any friends here, and some of the staff are pretty funny too. Its also pretty clean for a Hostel in this price range as its cleaned every night (during the middle of the night, which is nice because that means toilets are pretty much always available). Overall I enjoyed my experience here, and its pretty cheap too at $20 a night for a room, $10 a night for camping. They also have more than 50+ rooms and its in walking distance to downtown Wellington.

This is not a five-star hotel nor does it pretend to be. It's a quirky, centrally-located, inexpensive guest house. If you're on a tight budget and have kids this is ideal. We stayed here with our four (under 12) grand-daughters and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd go again without question. The showers are clean and well-maintained and the building has survived many an earthquake. What more can you ask if you want to stay in the capital and don't have a heavy wallet?

The lodge admin were very responsive. Hygiene was maintained, including regular vacuming of the corridors, cleaning of restrooms. The rent is reasonable. Also the location is close to CBD and shopping market. It was a nice experience for me during my long stay here.

A decent place to settle for awhile and work in Wellington when you are a backpacker. I met some nice people here and it has decent facilities. I will miss the staff also, Murray, Soh, Rob and Brian, they were all characters. Overall I had a good time here.

Would definitely NOT RECOMMEND this place the old man is very rude at reception supposedly the manager, our tent broke apart because of the weather on Saturday night , we then asked a very nice young guy at reception if there were any avaliable rooms to sleep in he said there were three rooms the old man rudely interuppted and said it wasn't his problem we still had paid too stay the night but we ended up sleeping in the car -.- all cramped up. Next morning he decides to demand us out of his premises. There is honestly a lot of better places to stay then this crappy place.