Manor House Backpackers - TBG

This place is mostly inhabited by long term tenants, people look down on their luck. Our first night there was continual arguing in the corridor with doors slamming throughout the night. The next day one of the staff apologised and said we would be refunded (we hadn't asked for this or complained). The noise disturbance continued the next two nights with the Thursday night the guests in the other room talking until 5am. The walls are very thin. I spoke to the manager the next day about cancelling our last two nights and he agreed to refund us for the tuesday and the last night, he took my bank deets and said he would pay it there and then. Cut two almost two months later and several phonecalls being fobbed off or being told they will be in contact, there's been no refund.Seen that this has been the case in other reviews. With them responding saying the review was incorrect, without a chance for the reviewer to reply. Don't believe them and read the other reviews.Apart from some good willing staff/full time guests, a nice kitchen, this place is not welcoming to short term guests. Which might be fair in this pandemic, but seriously don't say your going to refund if you're not. And if you have guests that are disruptive at the cost of other guests experience, then do something about it, or at least monitor it in the night. I feel like they were friends of the manager though, as they were all sat in the office.Where is your manaakitanga?

It is more of a homeless shelter than anywhere you’d pay to stay. I do not say this to be rude, the only other guests were homeless people who seem to stay long term.If you are a solo traveller, or even a group of females, I strongly suggest you look at other options and pay the extra few bucks, as it doesn’t feel like a safe environment at all.*you are not given a key for your room*This stay taught me the lesson that I should always look at reviews before booking.The only reason I give this place the extra star is because there was an employee at reception there who said he was new who was really good to us. We had a mixup with the payment and he came back upstairs to give us the money we were overcharged and as we felt very unsafe heOrganised with the owner to get us a key for our room; which they otherwise don’t give to guests.Other houseguests seem to be high most of the time and while other reviews state that there was a lot of noise from other guests at night we were blessed with a mostly peaceful and quiet night.10/10 would NEVER stay here again :)

Definitely the worst two nights of my life, I thought I was going to die. People in the next room were assaulting each other and were extremely loud. The worker eventually kicked them out however they came back in and nothing was done about it. Smelt horrible, and was extremely unclean including facilities. The bathroom felt like it was about to fall apart. Should have slept in the car. DONT STAY HERE :)

I stayed here for 5 weeks while waiting to start work in Cromwell, so I've managed to form a pretty good opinion about this place. Overall the hostel itself is great, and the management often goes beyond in terms of what it offers to guests, but the main downside are the type of guests it tends to attractSome of these people are out of work or have no fixed home and have chosen to live here either temporarily or indefinitely. While this is not an issue of itself, it has meant that there has been disorderly behaviour and loud arguments between people at any hour of the day, particularly because of minor grievances and the different attitudes that they have. The high consumption of alcohol and tobacco/ other drugs can often fuel these issues. The management is trying hard to change the image of the Manor by being strict about not tolerating bad behaviour and enforcing rules around alcohol consumptionI believe in time the management will achieve these changes and I may consider returning here should I come back to visit DunedinHere is what I would say are the benefits of staying in the Manor:- close to the city centre- free off-street parking- free breakfast (cereal, weet-bix, bread, milk etc)- free tea and instant coffee- towels are provided- option to sleep in your car in the hostel carpark for a cheaper nightly rate- management (in particular Michelle) are very friendly and willing to go out of their way to help you

I wouldn't recommend this spot, especially if you're travelling alone, and regret that I haven't been through the reviews before. Good location, central and in a free parking zone. The rooms, toilet and kitchen were clean. I stayed just for one night in a four-bed dorm just by myself but didn't have a room key.. Wich is unusual and made me feel insecure especially because of the long-term residents around that were a bit dodgy. They gave the place a very weird vibe. Some of them got drunk in the evening and they even had a fight in the parking spot at the rear of the building, next to the dorm I was in. One of them came back in the kitchen with his eyebrow arch cut and bleeding. I went to my room but was ready to leave this place at any time if this mess was still going on. Everything calmed down around 10:30 pm but it didn't feel nice at all staying there. Sounds like the person in charge that night knows exactly what's going (he was around) but doesn't care at all, since I've seen him the morning after and realized he was a staff member.

All in all: it was okay. But in my opinion 3 showers and 3 toilet are a little bit too less for that among of guests. In the morning and evening the kitchen was overfilled. I think there were 30 guest in the accommodation. There wasn't that much of space to eat, when the kitchen is that full. Anyway the staff tried to do the best. There were constantly friendly. The showers were clean. The toilet not always (rather the staff's problem more than the guests). Good price-performance ratio.

The location is great, rooms and toilet were clean. Plenty of parking and the lady at reception was friendly. I stay there solo and I had a four-bed girls share room, and they didn't provide room keys, so that was quite weird and made me feel insecure. You know, anyone can enter any room anytime. Check-out is at 10, but they want you out as soon as possible; knocking on your door 15 min before, that didn't feel nice tbh. The place have permanent residents, some of them seems like elder man and that is quite weird on a hostel. I think is more like a community house. The place does not have a good chill, nice hostel vibe, you know, is more like a one-night sleep place. I will probably don't book here again just because of the key and vibe thing.

Lovely staff . Other guests are nice and kind. The beds are nice comfortable the kitchen is nice free coffee etc .. free breakfast smoking area nice sunny spot nice view close to bus stop city centre nice and warm very homely nice tv room I feel sad when I leave . Nice and clean also towels are provided for showers

Probably the best backpacker I have stayed at. Homely, comfortable, the owner and people working there were highly friendly, respectful and helpful. I am very grateful for having such a place to stay while tending to things in Dunedin. Usually backpackers are not very homely, and little quirks some of these places have ruin the experience and make things stressful. The kitchen gets locked, for example, and if you really need to use the kitchen in the middle of the night tough luck, no food or drink for you... None of those unreasonable rules here! My stay was therefore very much free of stress, which is what I really needed. The kitchens were awesome, and I did all my cooking there and everything with no trouble whatsoever. It was peaceful, and relaxing. Make sure to ask when booking, if you have requests so they can arrange it. For me, for example, the other part (annex?) of the hostel was quieter and more suited to me. Others may prefer the main part to socialize and be nearer to the tv room and big kitchen.

Overall the staff are really nice. Tina is lovely. They clean the facilities everyday. Unfortunately i think i came at a bad time as there was fights and angry arguments going on out in the hallway keeping everyone awake until the early morning. Police had to come in the morning as i left. Was a bit disappointing not to be offered some refund or compensation for what happened. If i was there and was a more vulnerable person with children id of felt quite scared. My bed sheets also smelled of urine until i washed them myself. Overall i probably would return but maybe just got unlucky coming at the wrong time as other reviews show it’s a decent place.Thanks