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Shortbread Cottage

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  • 33 Trafalgar Street
     Nelson
    +64 (03) 546 6681
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wolfbrother
wolfbrother
First Reviewer
3 out of 5
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2
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3
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Editor Pick

Very Welcoming Atmosphere

  • June 21, 2009
  • Rated 3 of 5 by Red Mezz from Inverness, Scotland
Very Welcoming Atmosphere

The first of four hostels I stayed at in what became my favourite little city in New Zealand, Shortbread Cottage is a nice little option for the price.

Nelson is an excellent and accessible little city, with lots of activities and things to do in the area and in the city itself – and Shortbread Cottage is in easy walking distance of the town centre.

The most notable thing about Shortbread is it's patrons. An excellent couple and an extremely friendly atmosphere. This hostel left me feeling much more like I was visiting a friend's parents than it did that I was staying in a hostel. There were predominantly backpackers staying there, most of them coming and going from the activities at Tasman National Park, but you did feel more like visitors in someone's house (and very welcomed visitors) than it felt like a frat house, as so many hostels seem to do.

We were welcomed our first day into Nelson by the two managers of the hostel – an English couple who had moved to New Zealand a few years previous. And the hostel itself is a beautiful little cottage, well set up with an intimate eating area in the kitchen as well as a patio out the back.

The 'lounge' was basically a small living room with a television and a fireplace. Again, very welcoming but only enough space for a few people, and you should be prepared to share it with whomever else might be staying there that night – but then that is the case with most common areas in a hostel.

The kitchen is also pretty small – it is a standard house sized kitchen with one stove and some counter space, but the refrigerator is an ample size, and though you will have to wait your turn to use the kitchen, it is more than adequate when you get your turn. There are plenty of free spices and cooking utensils to use, and free tea, coffee and hot chocolate for the evening.

And there is the added benefit here that there are only a few beds at Shortbread, so you are only sharing this space with a few other travellers at most, as well as the hosts.

The room itself was the most disappointing part of our stay there. We booked the double room with shared bathroom, a room just off the kitchen. There as nothing particularly bad about the room – and it even came with the added benefit of a television (albeit a TV with only three very fuzzy channels) which very, very few hostel rooms offer. And it was also one of the cheapest private rooms we stayed at anywhere in New Zealand at $57 a night. If you are looking for budget accommodation then this is a very pleasant option. Indeed.

The room was very simple and accommodated a double bed and our bags, but only just. The room was a little old and shabby, and the bed wasn't the most comfortable we stayed in by a long shot – and I woke up the next morning feeling as if I had been bitten in my sleep by some kind of bed bugs. But I would like to give Shortbread the benefit of the doubt on this score – as it could have occurred somewhere else in the day's travels.

The less than resplendent room was, however, made up by the price and very friendly and welcoming atmosphere of the hostel. The shower/bathroom was a good size, and though did feel a little bit lacking in privacy, was very clean and the shower worked perfectly well.

The manager's son came in while we were eating our dinner and having bought some beer happily shared it with us while we all spent the evening sitting and chatting about where we'd been and what we'd been doing. All in all one of the nicest sociable evenings I spent in a hostel in New Zealand.

My only real word of warning about the Shortbread is to avoid using it's washer. It's not cheap to use (I think it was about $4 per wash) and it was dreadful. Not only did it not wash our clothes, but actively ruined several things. It's obviously been used by a lot of backpackers returning from the Tasman National Park and has been clogged with filth. I had to throw away several white garments after they went through the machine.

Other than that – it was cheap and cheerful, and within five minutes walk of town.



From journal Nelson - New Zealand's Beautiful Little City

Simple, Friendly Accommodation at Shortbread Cottage

  • December 22, 2008
  • Rated 3 of 5 by wolfbrother from Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Simple, Friendly Accommodation at Shortbread Cottage

I read a lot of reviews of this quiet little hostel, all talking about the wonderful homemade shortbread that will greet you on arrival. Unfortunately, this seems to be a thing of the past as it was nowhere to be seen when we stopped over for the night. The cottage is on Elliot Street, about five to ten minutes walk from Nelson's pleasant and relaxed town centre, but far enough away in a very peaceful little side street that it stays clear of the noise and the paid parking zones. It also has a nice little garden patio which would be a great spot for a BBQ in the warmer months.

The communal areas are really pleasant - quite well equipped with a log burning fire, laundry facilities, nice big TV with dvd player in the lounge, all the stuff you need in the kitchen. Also the staff when we stayed were extremely helpful and friendly, venturing out of their adjoining office/house to socialise and making a point of wishing us well on our travels the next day.

There's no internet access and the rooms are fairly basic, but it's clean, it's extremely cosy and it's priced about where it should be priced. The location is excellent too, but the main plus point for me was the welcoming, relaxed atmosphere. I left the next day feeling like I'd made a good choice.

A good little hostel that knows precisely what it is.

Linen included: Yes
Price: cheap
Dbl/Twin ens: N/A
Internet: N/A
Extras: Free tea, coffee, sugar, lemons.

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

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