Description: I spent my second and third nights in Rotorua here, since Base was all booked up the first night due to the Easter weekend holiday. I liked it right away when I arrived, because it was so conveniently located. It was about two blocks away from the Rotorua visitor centre, and about three shops away from the actual centre of town, the square (or I guess it could be called a circle). Because of this location, I was able to hear festivities going on outside my window one night, and after investigating got to see a big music and dance festival that I wouldn't have seen otherwise.
The front desk staff were nice enough, but didn't particularly seem to know much about activities and stuff in town like the other hostel staff had. In particular, I was very angry at the fact that they gave me wrong information regarding zorbing (a very popular attraction in Rotorua) and I ended up missing out on it completely because of it. Luckily, I ended up going much later at Zorb Gold Coast in Australia.
The hostel was laid out so you walked up the ramp past the hostel bar before you got to the actual hallways and rooms. I never actually saw the bar open, but I was there over Easter, so this could have been a reasonable explanation. It had a cute sign out front about "Kiwioki," which might have been very interesting, although I have to say I was happy the bar wasn't open, given my room's closeness to it.
The hallways were secured behind a door that only people with keys and a code could get into. I was in the section "For Girls Only" called "Sanctuary" or something like that. It was supposed to be an area for girls to... be girls? Smell nice? I'm not sure. I just know there was a lot of pink. My room was nice though; there were 4 beds, and since I got there early enough I managed to claim one of the non-bunks. There were also huge lockable cabinets to put your stuff into in case you don't quite trust your roommates. There wasn't a huge amount of maneuverability in the room, but there was enough room to get to your bed without stepping on other people.
The bathrooms amused me, since they had lots of pink and rose petals, along with big signs that said "Nice Ass," and then underneath explained that they'd like to keep it that way so they've provided wipes for the seats, etc. Too bad the wipes hadn't actually been refilled. The bathrooms, like the rooms, were very clean, which is unlike what I've heard about other Bases, especially the one in Christchurch.
The location was a very big plus on this one, and although the service was not much use and I never did quite find any large lounge area, the rooms were quiet, clean, and really all I ask for in a hostel.
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