Find the best New Zealand hostels

Grimy bathrooms, grumpy management and depressingly overcrowded dorms. That’s what many budget travelers may face if they stay in hostels in foreign countries. How do you find a good one? Guidebooks and word of mouth help, and in New Zealand, there’s a free booklet of hostels rated by recent travelers published by Backpacker Budget Hostels New Zealand. The 2003 edition of its Blue Guide will be out next month.

New Zealand has a reputation for having the world’s best hostels, and one thing that helps to keep the hostel owners on their toes is the Blue Guide annual survey, which has been conducted for more than a decade. The hostel association, which has 300 member hostels, is operated by two independent hostel owners, Mark Dumble of the Rainbow Lodge Hostel in Taupo, and Eric Foley of Foley Towers Hostel in Christchurch.

On Feb. 19, at the height of New Zealand’s tourist season, the hostel association asked guests at 450 budget accommodations around the country to rate hostels where they stayed on a scale from 1 to 10. (Guests are told to exclude the one they are staying in.) An independent company tabulated the results, and hostels are rated based on the responses of at least 30 guests who each stayed at least one night.

“We expect to be listing around 20 new hostels in the next edition, bringing the total to well over 300,” says Foley, who is also working on an online survey that will supplement the published one. The guide includes ratings for budget accommodations in the Cook Islands.

Free copies of the Blue Guide are available at information counters at airports, Visitor Information Network offices and participating hostels. The information also is available online at www.backpack.co.nz.

Three hostels received the top rating in the 2003 guide. Hopewell Hostel (011-64-3-573-4341, www.backpack.co.nz/marlbro.html#303), in the scenic Marlborough Sounds region, scored 98%. You can reach the secluded lodge by water taxi from Picton. Accommodations in rooms with two to four beds cost about $9.50 to $11 per person, per night. The hostel has a log fireplace, trampoline, and kayaks and mountain bikes available free.

Tied for second place with a rating of 97% is the Old Slaughterhouse Hostel (011-64-3-782-8333, www.backpack.co.nz/wcoast.html#568). Known for its views, the hostel is on Slaughterhouse Hill in Hector, about 22 miles north of Westport on the South Island’s west coast. The area offers beaches, rivers and walks. The hostel has beds in dormitory rooms starting at $8.50 and in double rooms at $10.50.

Also earning a 97% rating is the beachfront Moana Lodge (011-64-4-233-2010, home.clear.net.nz/pages/moanalodge) at Plimmerton, just north of Wellington. Along with free kayaks, bikes and Internet services, you’ll find accommodations starting at $10 in a shared room or $12 in a single room.

Foley warns that it’s much easier for a rural hostel to get a very high rating than one in a city center.

Travelers with the Backpacker Budget Hostels Club Card get a discount of at least $2 on accommodations and reduced rates for some other backpacker-friendly services, such as a 15% discount on InterCity or Newmans Coachline fares. The card costs $20 and includes $9.50 in prepaid phone calls.

The student travel service STA Travel is offering a four-night package in Fiji that includes two nights at a B&B; and two nights on Robinson Crusoe Island, with breakfasts, two dinners and free water sports, for $119. This includes the boat ride to the island. For details, log on to www.statravel.com.

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Lucy Izon, a Toronto-based freelance writer, is author of “Izon’s Backpacker Journal.” Her Internet site is www.izon.com.