Mahana Lodge Hostel & Backpacker

The central location is convenient, close to the ferry and the market, but the room was extremely dirty. There was an old rolled towel on the floor, apparently to catch water dripping from the air conditioning, and the sheets had hair and old stains. The floor looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a while. We couldn’t use the air conditioning because of the dripping, so the room got very hot. The old shower only had cold water. Breakfast was just okay, and the orange juice tasted watered down.

The only people I found normal there were the two male Tahitian receptionists. The bathrooms were moldy and broken, and the whole place was a mess. I was there on and off for two weeks in January and February, then the male Asian receptionist said I was being kicked out for “eating in bed.” I’d only eaten a Snickers bar to take my daily medicine. I also came across two people “loving each other” in the showers. The cleaning lady tried to scam me over laundry, and the overweight cleaning lady made jokes about me in French to other guests. Horrible place.

The hostel had what I needed in a great location. They held my bags while I waited for an evening flight and helped me call a taxi. There’s also a handy little convenience shop to check into. Rooms have nice air conditioning, though the kitchen is so-so and breakfast is only bread and jam. The unreliable Wi-Fi was the worst part. It worked sometimes but was often down, which was hard to deal with. It’s not the nicest hostel I’ve stayed in, but it covers the basics.

The location makes it easy to walk around Papeete, and there are restaurants, supermarkets, pharmacies, massage places, and bars nearby. The price is reasonable and includes a basic breakfast. Staff were pretty nice, service was good, and cleaning was very good. It has a lot going for it, and I hope they sort out some of the little issues because this hostel has real potential. Our private room on the third floor was tiny, with only just enough room to open one carry-on suitcase. There was a little nightstand beside the bed but nowhere else to put things. Wi-Fi barely reached the room, and the shared area was full of people sleeping on the sofas overnight. Since our room was right next to it, mornings and evenings were noisy. I never got a hot shower during our three nights. Three of the four showers were faulty: some had shower heads with no bracket, one had a shelf about two meters up, and some had no hooks.