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Accents on the Park

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wolfbrother
wolfbrother
First Reviewer
3 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
2
Reviews
7
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Editor Pick

An Odd Combination of Splendid and Disappointing...

  • June 21, 2009
  • Rated 3 of 5 by Red Mezz from Inverness, Scotland
An Odd Combination of Splendid and Disappointing...

Though the most expensive hostel I stayed at in Nelson – this is a really stunning and unique hostel. This really is a luxury hostel, as it claims in it's advertising.

Beautifully set in a stunning old town house adjoining the Nelson park, Accents on the Park is impeccably put together. Each room is really beautifully decorated, and extremely comfortable, many with a view of the park.

The common room is also very nice, with a good selection of books, but only one couch which does make for a slightly inconvenient setting given how many rooms there actually are in Accents.

This one, again – is a rather difficult one to review for it's paradoxes. It is beautiful, and probably the nicest hostel you will stay at anywhere for the price. Extremely well situated right next to the park and just a minute away from the town centre and loads of shops, cafes and restaurants – this hostel has a lot of things going for it.
And the price – though more than any other hostel we tried in Nelson, was still only $65 per night for a private room with a shared bathroom – not a bad price for a hostel in New Zealand. And there were several price options depending on the amount of beds, space and privacy you wanted.

And the kitchen downstairs was very spacious and with plenty of ammenities, and loads of seating, including outdoor seating that could be used if the weather allowed (which unfortunately it did not while we were there.)

However – there were some serious drawbacks to this hostel as well, which make it difficult for me to give the rating I would at first like to give it.

The biggest problem I had with Accents on the Park was that one of it's proudest claims was it's soundproof rooms, and how private that they were. This was one of the biggest draws for me, as after three months in hostels with thin walls – I was craving a little bit of quiet and privacy. However – this was just blatantly not true. It was easily the thinnest walls of any hostel we stayed in (with the possible exception of Fat Camel in Auckland) and we could hear everything down to the sniffles of the people in the room next to us. When they plugged things into the sockets or turned on the sinks it sounded like someone was baning on the wall. It was really, really bad.

Also – they were over bearing on the rules and regulations. This was obviously meant to keep a certain 'frat house' feel out of the hostel, which would have been a good thing, but it was far too restricting for adults who had just paid a fair bit to stay. We booked a whole week at Accents, and on entering our room found a big list of rules of what we could and couldn't do, and when. It really put me off the place immediately. Rules such as not being able to bring food or drink into your room, what time the kitchen closed (9 pm) and that you were not allowed to drink alcohol anywhere on the premises. This was a huge annoyance as we had just come from wine country and bought several bottles to enjoy with dinner at the week we were splurging on our upgraded hostel.

The huge carpark outside cost an extra $3 per night, and the internet was it's usual costly price. The bathrooms were nice and clean, but they had 15 minute timers on the lights – so if your shower went beyond that all the lights in the room shut off. Something I found very irritating for a more expensive hostel. The only other place I experienced this was at campsites. And the lack of a TV in the room was also unfortunate, for the price we paid.

As I said – a tricky one to review because of how nicely it was put together and located. But you can decide for yourself if these drawbacks are something you would find an issue or not.

From journal Nelson - New Zealand's Beautiful Little City

Editor Pick

5 Star Hostel in the Heart of Nelson

  • December 22, 2008
  • Rated 3 of 5 by wolfbrother from Edinburgh, United Kingdom
5 Star Hostel in the Heart of Nelson

This is a tricky one to review. It's beautifully decorated, first of all. When you walk in the front door you could easily be walking into a good hotel, with a very professional looking reception area and plush furnishings throughout. Parking is available for $3 a night, there's a broad range of room types available and we stayed in one of their mid-range doubles.

The kitchen is a little small for a hostel this big, but is very clean and very well organised with plenty of eating space and lots of fridge space (and gas cookers, which is always a bonus). It closes at 10pm though, and they don't allow you to take food or drink up into the hostel itself.

This was my main gripe with the place overall - the house rules make you feel a bit like you're in boarding school. No alcohol bought outside the premises to be consumed in the building, no food or drink to be consumed in rooms, no food or drink in the lounge, no cooking after 10pm and 15 minute cutoff light switches that you can't access once you're in the shower rooms and which you can't recharge without switching them off first. The other problem with Accents was the noise. It has the worst sound proofing of any hostel I've ever stayed in. I could hear every word being said in the hall outside our room and the rooms on each side of us, and when the tap was run in the adjoining double it was so loud it woke us up in the middle of the night.

All that aside though, Accents is very professional, very well decorated, very clean and very comfortable. And for what it offers, it's not expensive either. The dorm beds are very reasonable, the shared doubles are too and whilst the double ensuites are expensive, they wouldn't be out of place in a four star hotel. They were flexible on price too, so if you stay a few days and pay cash you may be able to knock them down a few dollars if they're not busy.

It seemed like a good crowd of people staying there but it has a completely different atmosphere to most hostels. It's far more like a traditional hotel in many ways. Just one where they treat you a little like a ten year old at times.

Linen included: Yes
Price: expensive
Internet: $2 for 20 minutes. Wireless available but really bad reception.
Extras: Free tea, coffee, sugar.

From journal Nelson - New Zealand's Easiest Place to Live...

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