Blarney's Rock Backpackers

I stayed at this hostel for one week and I loved the location - walking distance to the lake, to Eat Street, to the Government Gardens, Thursday night Night Markets, to Kuirau Park, to Pak N Save. Bathrooms were clean and my room was satisfactory - bed was very comfy and bigger than expected (I was in a private room). Kitchen could have done with a good scrub, but kind of what you expect in this price range.

The staff, one guy in particular, completely let this place down though. Parking was an issue as they don't have their own designated car park spaces, and the guy who checked me in gave me some very vague instructions about where to park and then acted like I was wasting his time when I came back and had to get more detailed instructions as I couldn't find the parking.

But the worst thing was, on the first night I was there some other guests were staying up late and drinking in the common area - I didn't mind this, I was tired from my long drive, so I put in my ear plugs and went straight to sleep. For the rest of my stay I noticed the other guests were treating me quite coldly and seemed very stand-off ish. On the last day of my stay someone finally told me it was because they had received a complaint about the noise on the Monday night and the staff had told the party goers it was me! I thought this was extremely unfair and unprofessional on their part, and had a huge negative effect on my stay because of the treatment I got from the other guests. Such a shame as other than that I had a great week in Rotorua!

Would I stay here again? No. There are other backpackers hostels in the same area, I would go there instead.