Chester Street Backpackers

We arrived to Chester Street in the middle of September and were instantly greeted by Antony who welcomed us in and showed us our room. He gave us some really solid advice as we are backpackers about various things in the city, cars, etc. We met Karen shortly after and had a long chat with her, it made us realize quite how much both Antony and Karen had a passion for the Hostel and to keep it running as smoothly and as well maintained as possible.

We were initially only meant to stay here for a week but ended up liking it so much we stayed for over four months. The rooms are a good size, the kitchen is fully stocked and has a comfortable amount of room, and the bathrooms and utilities were spot on. We also made a strong connection with Pipi the cat who was just absolutely adorable and took a liking to us and she ended up sleeping in our room for about half the time we were there, which was really nice and helped us really feel at home as we're both animal lovers.

Would definitely recommend for anyone who's looking for a good priced hostel that's well maintained and has a super friendly environment, only a 15 minute walk to the city center.

what should I say about this place to put it in the right spot?
This place is awesome, the owner is a kind and smart guy who always takes his time to have a chat with you. The house is clean and compare to other hostels nice and quite with a great working kitchen. (fresh eggs and herbs are even in the garden! The rooms are cozy with single beds not packed like in every other hostel. It's just a great place to stay for a day or a month.
I miss this place now already but I will definitely come back if my travels ever bring me back to Christchurch!

Cozy, little, homey hostel which feels much more like a shared flat than a regular hostel, as the max number of beds in a room is 3. The rooms are all decorated very homely. The staff is very caring and friendly and provides good insider tips about what to do in Christchurch and around. City Center is at walking distance which makes it very easy to discover the city. When the sun is shining – which did very often while I was there – it is great to sit outside in the little garden (: I’ll definitely stay again at Chester Street, when I come back to Christchurch!

What was once a loved renovation project turned backpackers is now just a forgotten inconvenience for the owners of Chester street backpackers. 2 out of 3 sinks don't work, 1 out of 2 showers, hardly ever cleaned, old stove that doesn't work well anymore, mice inside, tiny- expensive rooms, what's sad is the owners know about all of this and don't seem to care anymore. They really have seemed to have given up on the place.

Rooms, showers and bathrooms were quite clean, and the atmosphere is nice. The whole place was pretty cold though...and the kitchen towels were needing a wash. If you're really alergic to cats don't stay here. There is one sweet gray cat that wanders about.