The Marion Hostel

Arrived at 7am after a night on the bus to discover free vegan pancakes for breakfast, yummy!! Overall this place felt so nice it felt like an actual hotel. Everything was super clean, the kitchen was very well equiped, and there was a lot of free things for cooking (oil, sugar, spices, salt,...). The bed was very comfy and felt private thanks to the curtain. I recommand 100%

The best hostel I stayed at while visiting New Zealand! It's modern, spacious, clean with body wash, shampoo AND conditioner in the showers. Each floor has its own lounge and bathrooms/showers. Great location too.

Enjoyed my stay. The facilities are beautiful. Hardwood floors and colourful tiles in the bathroom Unfortunately, I have to drop one star because of the unisex bathrooms. I understand that young people are confusing their genders and whatever but you will never have 100% of guests ok with this. The rooms are not soundproof. This would have dropped a star too but parking and late night check in was made so easy. Also had a jam on your guitars which were mint and the coffee was delicious. Overall, great, almost perfect!

I am absolutely not a traditional hostel person I really don't like them, but finding myself needing overnight cheap accommodation I can check into late at night before taking the interislander early the next morning I booked this place. It's very nice! Comfy beds with privacy curtains. Very clean and tidy. 2 ply toilet paper, what did we do to deserve this luxury behaviour from a hostel?? After a long day of driving I was dismayed to be on the top bunk on the very top floor (there's no lifts) but whatever woe is me. Highly recommend

Had an unfortunately disappointing stay at The Marion. I stayed in 3 different rooms over the course of a week due to how booked the hostel was. I knew this going in so it was not anyone's fault but the experience of hauling my luggage from room to room every few days without help was not ideal. The first room - the six-bed dorm - was easily the best. Not full, free towel, great. The second room was the female-only dorm - this dorm was located on the third floor and the bed I was put in was directly in front of a window that faced the hallway, where lights were on all night. The room/bed was brighter at night than during the day and I was up until 5AM, unable to sleep. I ended up moving myself to another empty bed in the dorm and when I went down to inform the front desk of the issue, they tried to tell me the hostel was full and i couldn't move. When I told them I had already moved myself and slept in both beds, they allowed me to stay in my new one. A full day of my trip was ruined since I had to sleep through the day in order to make up for lost shut-eye. The last room of my trip was the double bed solo room, which I treated myself to since my sister was coming to town. Most of The Marion has beautiful hardwood floors - except this room, which had some of the grossest carpeting I've ever seen. I didn't even want to step on it barefoot. This room also had virtually no soundproofing: we could hear people in the room next door zipping and unzipping their suitcases. On top of all this, the sheets were old, pilled and scratchy. Despite this, I considered extending my stay to experience the CupaDupa festival. However, there was no availability. When I went to look up other possibilities in the area, I was shocked to see that other hotels in the area charged less and provided more - one across the street was $40 cheaper a night and had a television. I had assumed that The Marion would charge competitive prices for their private rooms but my lack of research turned out to be an enormous mistake. I was also hoping to take advantage of the free parking spots mentioned in some of these reviews but any time I asked about it I was told they were not available. Obviously not guaranteed but another disappointment in my stay. When I came to the Front Desk Staff with any of these issues, they weren't rude but also didn't seem especially interested in fixing problems or improving my stay. In terms of positives, the building is beautiful. The long-term volunteer staff is incredibly kind, helpful and sweet. The kitchen is nice though a bit small, and the free coffee/milk is a really nice touch. The TV lounges are nice, though the couches are all a bit worn out. The bathrooms are also really nice. However, the ball is dropped on the most important aspects of accommodation- comfortable bedding, quiet rooms, clean floors and DARKNESS FOR SLEEPING (I have no idea how they have not installed a blackout curtain over these windows - when I spoke to the long-term stayers they described having to make canopies out of their sheets to sleep at night. It would take an hour and $40 to fix this issue, maybe less.) Tl;DR: Regular dorm rooms are nice. Female dorms have a lighting issue that make sleep in certain beds impossible. Private rooms are gross and way overpriced. If you are wanting either of the latter, go elsewhere.

Very clean. Well stocked with basic items such as tea, sugar, etc, and kitchenware. Great showers with bath essentials. All in all, it is an excellent hostel.

Great showers, comfy beds, friendly staff. The hostel also provided some free food like cookies, tea, coffee, and in particular various kinds of milk which was really nice

Great location , I was in a twin room by myself because I'm not in my 20s anymore and it was perfect. A little noisy but I was so tired it didn't bother me. Showers have all amenities ie soap, shampoo/ cond as well as a hair dryer which was very much appreciated. Lovely staff.