Centabay Lodge - Hostel

The room was really nice, and the location was great, but the owner's manner was a problem. He came across as rude and snippy to us and others. We heard him tell someone that if they left, they could take their crap car with them. We had a studio listed as having a balcony, though it was really just the walkway outside. People sat on the bench by our bedroom window chatting at 8am on both mornings and woke us up. Not the worst thing, but not ideal when we were celebrating an anniversary on a backpacker budget. Parking was tricky. There's a roomier car park across the road for just $10 a day.

After only two hours in bed, I found around 20 bed bugs. They already had blood in them and had bitten me. I told the manager, Jack, and he rudely suggested they might be mosquitoes. He offered another room, but when we asked to see it first in case it also had bed bugs, he said we had to take it or leave the hostel. He claimed he felt we would cause problems. We hadn't come looking for a fight. The bed bugs, and possibly an unclean hostel, were the problem, along with Jack's emotionally uncontrolled response. I asked him to tell me what the bugs were once he knew, so I'd know what had bitten me at his hostel. He said he didn't feel like calling me and took no responsibility. I'd tell anyone to go to haka house instead of giving this man money and risking bed bugs. It's really sad that a hostel owner could be so unfriendly. The place looked like it had potential, but nothing is worth getting bed bugs.

I had a great time there with a few Canadians, a Kiwi, some fellow Americans, and a few Scandinavians. This was nearly 40 years ago, but I still remember the hostel fondly! I found the site after watching a NZ docu-drama and wondered if it was still open. Pahia is a great starting point for the Cape and 90-mile Beach. I hope to return with my wife and son!

The church was big and really good, but the room was full of mold. I'm not even joking.