Laneway Backpackers 107 Manners Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011

"Booked into a private room with my boyfriend, it was very basic and no window making it very cell like. The toilets were disgusting, all the sanitary bins overflowing and bugs in the shower. One sink was broken and so was the soap dispenser. Anything you wanted to use in the kitchen needed washing first and it didn't looked like it got cleaned very regularly. Was meant to move into private room myself later in the week however have cancelled to go elsewhere and would recommend anyone else planning to stay here cancel and find somewhere else."

"The reception staff here are lovely, my room was ready so i was able to check in a bit early which was so helpful. I was also able to move down to a bottom bunk. The showers are decently hot and clean. The down side to this is there isnt much daylight in the entire place, my room had half a window which unfortunately allowed the next doors tv 25 to be heard in my room and smell when they smoked, this also meant my room smelled of smoke quite a lot, it also meant no fresh air could get in the room. The place is reasonably quiet, although sometimes the flats above continuously lump for a while, unsure why they did this as we never made noise. The kitchen has everything you would need, including actual ovens, and they have a common room and a laundry. You also get a locker for each bed which is really helpful and they provide a towel and flannel for each guest so that was a lovely touch, all in all i liked it."

"The cleanliness of a public bathroom meets the joyful atmosphere of a funeral. Even though I got a window room it was pointless as they don't open, which means the entire place has no fresh air. It was also stupidly hot. The bathrooms genuinely were more dirty than some public bathrooms despite them apparently having cleaners. The blue shower curtains have a brown band of grime at the bottom. The staff were nice, but unfortunately that's the only good thing about the place."

"This hostel is clean, has a nice atmosphere and friendly staff, it all looks pretty modern and the security is good! There's only one issue and it's a big one, they don't turn the air conditioning on! We stayed in a room with no window and it was unbearable. We then changed to a room with a window which was much better, unfortunately the kitchen and lounge don't have windows either and it got so unbelievably stuffy in there, it feels like you can't breathe. I don't know if the aircon has broken, but I really think since it was the middle of summer when we stayed, there should have at least been a warning or a discount or something."

"- Disgustingly dirty/Everything smelt - Bad facilities (and not enough for the amount of rooms there) - Bad service and reception - Extremely cold room and thin blankets - Annoying check-in time couldn't even get in building - Great central location The location is close to the city which is great but its down a sketchy alleyway that is difficult to find off of the street. Upon arrival, I couldn't even get into the building and had to wait for someone to let me in and direct me and was then told I could not check in till after 2pm. At 2pm when I went to check in I was told my room wasn't ready and to come back later I didn't get into the room until around 3pm after being there since 11am. I had only stayed the one night and found it strange that check in was so early (10am) compared to check in time you aren't even allowed in the room for a full 24 hours I was allowed to wait in the common room which was filthy with dirty dishes and empty bottles of beer and wine left on the floor. The rest of the facilities were even worse and it was obvious that it does not get cleaned every day let alone every week. The kitchen had very few cooking materials there weren't even any cups, the sink was clogged and food had been spilled on the floor and not cleaned up. And the women's bathrooms had stains on the floor no hand towels or working dryer. The showers had no room to change while the shower was running, you have to get undressed in the middle of the bathroom and cannot keep your clothing in the shower stall as it will get wet, you have to leave it outside the stall basically on the floor. The elevator had stopped working but my key wouldn't allow me access to the stairs was stuck in the foyer for 30 mins. The room was very cold and dark with no heater and the thin blanket left me shivering all night. There is no natural light in the room so when you turn the lights off even at midday it is pitch black. The walls are extremely thin and you can hear every single sound throughout the nearby rooms and common room. However, the mattress was surprisingly comfortable. I know that this was a cheap budget place to stay but the experience was very bad and made much worse by the late check in and my wait to even get into the room and it didn't feel very safe especially for two young women alone at night."