Verandahs Parkside Lodge

A lovely backpackers lodge in a good location where you can walk to shops and to the harbour side. Staff were friendly and gave you a tour to show you amenities. Rooms were spacious to lay out bags which was helpful and communal areas were very large.

This is one of the best hostels I've been to and quite unique. Shared areas a quite spacious and you can find there anything you'd expect. The only drawback is that the shared rooms don't have a locker to store your valuables (like passport), but I wouldn't expect someone staying there to steal your stuff (as they are on vacation).

It’s pretty much a backpacker’s hostel. Once that’s realized, expectations are adjusted accordingly. Let’s get the negatives out of the way: - must check out by 10 AM - there’s no air conditioning. There are fans, but at night, in summer, the rooms are uncomfortably warm. Everything else is positive. The location I felt was excellent. 20 minutes walk to the CBD; 30 minutes to the ferry terminal. You are right at Ponsonby, which is a main street for restaurants and coffee shops. There is an excellent supermarket one block away ( 5 minutes walk ). The lodge is very clean, and there’s a good community kitchen, where you can store your food as well as cook. I opted to pay + $20 per night extra for a private bath, but the hostel offers many bathrooms with showers. There are 2 washing machines and 1 dryer, each requiring NZD 6. The airport shuttle - Skydrive - operates from the Sky tower, a 20 minute walk. Here are the directions from the Sky Tower, which is on Hobson Street. Take Hobson for about 3 blocks, to Pitt Street. Go left on Pitt. Just one block on Pitt, on your right, you see a big, blue sign that reads “BECA”. After only one block on Pitt, with Beca Company on the right, that is Hopetoun Street. Go to the right. You will go up a bridge, with the expressway beneath you. As soon as you cross the bridge, you pass a girl’s grammar school, and Verandahs Lodge is clearly marked on the right, about the 4th building. The airport shuttle runs every 30 minutes, costs NZD 18 ( 12.50 for seniors ), and you pay driver, but only credit cards are accepted.

Really nice Hostel, it was clean and well situated in Auckland, the bed were comfy as well. The staff was really lovely and helpful, I was able to drop my bag in the morning before checking in which was handy. Thank you

I came back to Verandahs after almost a year of my travels in NZ as it was the first hostel I stayed at. I felt really welcomed there and it finished the circle for me perfectly. I really like their kitchen+common area, rooms are spacious and plenty bathrooms(you always have a private shower and toilet),it's a social yet not a party hostel.Thank you very much! I hope to be back one day.

I have stayed here a few times before, it is always welcoming and I love the large rooms and spaces. Light and well ventilated, backs onto a large park setting and super convenient being close to the shops in Ponsonby. Would recommend, and will come back again !

We're lucky to have Vehrandas's where it is: an affordable backpackers in a great spot in well renovated buildings not far from public transport and an easy walking distance to eateries, parkland and more. I've stayed here a few times now; it's my go to place in Auckland. The staff have always seemed friendly and helpful. Improvement wise, there's only one thing I can think of: as new renovations are carried out (eg: 1st floor bathrooms on the reception building) the owners, like most, are getting LED lighting fitted. Often this is too bright and the wrong colour temperature, making use of the facilities uncomfortable at night and having a very real effect on sleep (exposure to bright blue-white light at night can put the sleep cycle back by hours). My suggestion there is that the owners pay particular attention to the brightness and colour temperature of the LED lights they're fitting: they should be warm white (2600-3000 kelvin) rather than daylight white or cool white. This would not cost any more, and would help maintain the warm and homely ambience that Vehrandah's already mostly has.