Five 3 Five - The Beachside Barracks

The location is lovely, across from a large, beautiful park by the ocean. We also enjoyed waking to all the birds chirping and calling at dawn. The rooms are clean and comfortable, though the layout takes some getting used to. It’s a converted barracks, with a row of 12'x12' rooms along an outdoor corridor, so it does feel private. The kitchen has plenty of equipment, and the big TV is in another room with two comfy couches. The toilet, shower and sink are in separate rooms at the end of the hall. There’s also a nice semi-private garden with an outdoor table. Sound carries through the ceilings, though. We could hear unsupervised children bouncing around, chatting and giggling until well after midnight. An upper unit would no doubt have been quieter.

The apartment felt like more than just somewhere to sleep, and we’ll stay again. My wife, our two teenage girls, two-year-old son and sister found it spacious and nicely equipped, especially the kitchen, which was better than in other apartments we’ve stayed in. Hospitality was fantastic and the extras were brilliant: free kayaks or canoes, a paddle boat, life vests, bikes with helmets, fishing gear, washing machines, and great wifi at no cost. The location was brilliant, across from the beach and a small pier, with plenty of nice places and places to eat within a short walk or ride. Incredible value, highly recommend.

It had a lovely feel, and was clean and tidy. We were in town for a funeral, so unfortunately didn’t get to enjoy the big open porch. There’s enough tea, coffee and little UTH milks on site to make a cuppa when you arrive.

We’ve stayed at the Barracks a few times over the past 5 years, but won’t be coming back. The poor maintenance, especially outside, put a real cloud over our holiday. The bikes listed on the website were wrecked and unusable. The advertised equipment was filthy or broken, assuming you were willing to enter the dirty shed full of spiders. Outside, things were filthy or broken too, including the clotheslines, which had no pegs, the BBQ and the pizza oven. Nails sticking out on the verandah were a worry with our 11-month-old crawling around. The outer walls were dirty and mouldy, and the front garden was so overgrown we had to hack our way through to the gate. There were also lots of prickles by the gate. It’s very sad to see such a beautiful building deteriorating from lack of maintenance. We won’t be back.