Rest & Relax at Ruskin

I just needed somewhere to pitch my tent, and Lynn found me a lovely cosy patch of green grass. Her wonderful, smiling face made my stay sensational. I’d definitely come back 😊

This was the worst customer service experience I’ve had, and I wouldn’t recommend dealing with this place. I booked through Booking.com in October, but my children contracted measles a few days before our booking. Booking.com told me to contact the hotel directly to explain and ask to reschedule. The hotel and Booking.com kept sending us back and forth about rebooking. My booking allowed rebooking, and for everyone’s safety we chose not to stay. I could have gone without telling them about the contagious illness, but I contacted them in good faith and out of concern for others. The receptionist was rude from the start. At the end of December, the hotel called to ask if we were coming because the booking had been rebooked. When I tried again to explain, the receptionist was still extremely rude and deliberately irritating.

The manager is AWESOME, funny and really helpful, and I met some really nice people here. The eels might seem scary at first, but they’re very sweet and love your leftovers. It’s a really nice place to stay for a few days.

I ended up here at the last minute because there was literally nowhere else to stay in Taranaki. It was definitely the worst and most overpriced hostel I’ve stayed in. The bunks came with just a pillow and a duvet, and mine was unwashed, with other guests’ hair on it. Some bunks had no guard rails, and some were missing ladders. The other guests were loud and antisocial, so nobody in our party got a full night’s rest. At check-in they wrote down a concerning amount of personal information in a visitor book, including my address, driver’s license number and phone number. That’s a huge privacy concern and completely unnecessary. Camping in a tent by the side of the road would have been more comfortable. Avoid this place.