Name: Dolphin Lodge Backpackers
Address: 15 Deal Street Kaikoura,Deal Street, Kaikoura, Kaikoura, Kaikoura, 7300, New Zealand
Rating: 8

Smoke-free property

Heating

Garden

Terrace

Fire Extinguisher

Outdoor furniture

General

Non-smoking rooms

Carbon Monoxide Detector

Smoke Detector

Hairdryer

Rooms

Luggage storage

Laundry

Services and amenities

Common kitchen

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet access

Internet

English

Languages Spoken

Barbecue grill(s)

Hiking

Picnic area

Recreation

Parking

Parking nearby

Massage

Beauty and wellness

Personal protection equipment for guests

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the hotel

Kaikoura Beach

Dolphin Lodge Backpackers

Kaikoura

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

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27-beds

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3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

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35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

I loved staying at this place! Hostel is simple, and quiet due to being low season, and doesnt pretend to be anything fancy. But it is great located, views are amazing, and it is comfortable and cozy, with a wood fire at the night to keep youwarm. Spa pool was closed so cant comment ( I think due to being almost empty the lodge). Staff was incredible friendly and welcoming.
Would definitely go back!
Luciana

Home away from home!

It saddens me to write this, as we have stayed at this backpackers before when Helen owned it.
Last night both our rooms were dirty with a musty odour.  The woollen blankets on beds were stained and dirty.  The towels had an unpleasant smell and felt grubby. The overall feel of the place was that it needs an extremely good clean. Investing in new linen, towels etc, the place looked tired and grubby.  Your prices were expensive 
Could of got better accommodation at the same rate if we had realized how down hill this establishment had gone.
Lisa

Unpleasant stay

Choosing where to sleep in Kaikoura can by challenging, if you want to be close to the peninsula walk you need to be at the southern end, if you want to be close to the supermarket you need to be at the northern end but if you want to be close to the main restaurants, bars, the railway station and Whale Watch you need to be in the middle which is exactly where the Dolphin lodge puts you. The lodge is cheap and simple, doesn’t pretend to be anything it’s not. The shared space and kitchen were fine, no TV ??. We had the double en-suite room which was small but adequate. The lodge had a nice outside lawn area to enjoy the sun shine and some off street parking.

Great location, above the centre of town.

We booked a private room with an en-suite bathroom, but we had to walk through the bathroom to get to the very small room. On the plus side, everything seemed very clean, the bed was comfortable, and the location is pretty central. We stayed only one night and didn’t take advantage of the kitchen facilities; maybe we would have felt more impressed if that had been different.

Okay but unexceptional

Easy to find, very homely accomodation. It has spacious dorms, useful kitchen and library, great decking with views i have tried to show in my photo. The place suited me, being an "over 60s" traveller. Helpful staff, clean and tidy. Bonus is a real Kiwi backyard, with gardens, fruit trees and a spa(which i did not use so will not comment.). 


Most comfortable overnight stay

Stayed in Dolphin Lodge for 1 night it was good for the price we paid. Comfy beds, kitchen was clean and showers were good although we had no hot water on the morning we were leaving! Only downside was that we had a double private room which was right next to the communal living/kitchen area and there were some guests who decided to talk loudly on the phone until late when we were trying to sleep. But overall not a bad stay.

Cheap and clean

If you are looking for a quiet place to stay, look elsewhere.

The hostel itself is well maintained. It is in a perfect location to walk downtown, has a fully stocked kitchen and even a free hot tub which is an added bonus. 

We stayed in a private suite (sharing a wall with the kitchen) which meant we didn’t get any sleep. People were up talking in the lounge really late and then someone started making breakfast before 5am. While I have stayed at many hostels, all with their own quirks, the thin walls, elevated floors (every step echos) and location of common spaces made this one impossible to get any sleep. 

Disappointed 

Stayed here for a couple of winter nights so a friend from overseas and I could finally do the famous whale watching.

An evening dip in the hot pool after our day excursion up Mt Fyffe was just what was required!

The kitchen and lounge area is clean, tidy, well equipped and the fire kept it very warm and homely.

The morning views from the outside deck (pictured) make getting up even more worthwhile and the backpackers is very well located for Kaikōura main street and the short walk to the whale centre.

We had a small twin room, detached from the main building, but easy enough to get into it for facilities.

A great stay and would definitely return next time it's Kaikōura time again!

Great location & value!

What an way to start a trip ! First the reception hours are insane. Second the receptionist was not welcoming at all ! Asking a question about the price got me an aggressive response! She didn't not wanted to have anything to do with me, made my pay, give me the key, showed me the way to the room and left. No explanation of how things were working, no talk about the town. Nothing.
The house is very cold, I kept my jacket and hat in the lounge. If it wasn't for the housekeeper I think I would have left ! 
Certain people should not do a welcoming job if they don't want to talk to people. I felt like I was bothering her and like I did not matter ! Better pay extra money than have that ! Will never ever come back !

An aggressive welcome !

Very happy with this hostel. Lovely girl at reception who went above and beyond. Room very comfortable and clean with decent shower. My husband thought shared area a little tired but I thought it was nice and lived in and comfortable. Five minutes at most from town, amazing to have hot tub with such grwat views. I would happily return and recommend, great value for money. 

Dolphin Lodge Backpackers

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