Haast Lodge

oki oki lemme talk lemme talk.

Hasst lodge was the one of the most maintained if not the best maintained and well kept old backpackers / camping accommodation spot I've ever been to.

I've been to hundreds of lodges, campsites, cabins, backpackers & hostels especially, and the old ones r always rlly run down, or bodgely repaired (the kiwi way yk that "kiwi ingenuity" 💀😐) but this one was diffrent.

The cabin I was in and the common area like kitchen and dining area like living hangout area was all 1990/80's origional, but in pristine condition!!

It was awsome!!

And not to mention how clean everything was (but tbf I was like the only one there apart from one other guy that was in another cabin + like 2 motor homes so idk how well they keep up when they're slammed but I'd assume without a doubt they always keep it up!!).

---

The Good Stuff

• Extremely well maintained
• Extremely well clean/kept
• Super kind/nice reception guy <3
• Awsome place to spend the night
• fairly decent kitchen
• one of the best lounge/dining/living areas, super big, open plan, nice big wood stove, dining area, lounge area, and balcony going around it all!!
• Piss wall in the boys toilets (i love a piss wall)
• Really really cool bunk cabins. (yes. they're as cool as they look in the photos)

The Bad Stuff (with solutions!)

• Heaters in the cabins are rlly poor + the thermostats on them are disabled to stop u running em too much

SOLUTION: Replace those old oil electric heaters with way bigger micothermic heaters (like this one for eg that I have). A bigger heater + recent tech means rooms get warm quicker & they be completely remotely controlled (just remove touch sensors next to display) and would use wayyy less electricity compared to the current setup. Management - this heater I've got is really good and would do wonders at your place.

• Cabins not insulated at all (nz standerd still tbf so don't get to upset over this one)

SOLUTION: Insulate the roof with blocks of polystyrene. rlly cheap & effective. For the walls I'm honestly not sure what to recommend without ruining the original look of the cabins.. its a hard one

• The main fridge in the commons area was in rlly poor condition (the only appliance/thing broken) was leaking and pissing out tons of water, and wasnt very hygienic. Needed replacing. They had a perfectly good other fridge next to the kitchen but that was turned off and they decided to go w the buggerd one :/

SOLUTION: Replace fridge with a commercial one. Commercial kitchen fridges are bullet proof, theyre built to be repaired and parts for them are made and sold exactly for that, and they last forever and are designed to take an absolute shit beating!!

• The commons building, kitchen/living building, was really cold as they had all heating off (tbf I don't blame em w only having 2 ppl there but still can be resolved)

SOLUTION: Heat-pump system for when the wood stove is not in use.

• All the indoor lights in all the buildings were harsh cold white bright LED's, which are horrible at night, absolutely runs the cabin, and makes everything feel like a hospital / commercial warhorse / kitchen. Not a warm cozy lodge. Modern harsh LED's really ruin the old astetic of the building and the benefit of a couple bucks of power savings is not worth it.

SOLUTION: Replace all cold white LED's with halogen/filament bulbs. You cant mess up with filament. Have only a couple of them on during night during quiet/empty times to save power + get all lights on dimmers (massive power saver right there for filliment).

• Really uncomfy bunk mattress. (i had a terrible terrible sleep)

SOLUTION: Replace mattresses with new ones :/ (I'm srry not rlly a cheap way around this exept thru)

 

and thats about it.

I would come here again but the quality of the mattresses just ruin it for me :( Its a bare minimum I have as my criteria for if I'll put a place on my come back to list, as the main thing I'm paying for is a bed at the end it.

 

If they could fix only 2 things, I'd go for the mattresses & lights. Good beds & lights, then this place is deffo a regular.

Check out Haast Lodge on Google Here!

Book directly on their site haastlodge.com

 

I visited here on 3/9/26. pls pls contact me if any of this changes and Ill update this log asap! I'd love to see this place improve, thrive and become the most popular #1 accommodation spot in the whole of Haast!! It really deserves it, the owners / staff r amazing, and the buildings on the place r awesome!!

(I didnt get any other pics of this place whitch sucks..ik ik, it was raining cats and dogs like crazy tho.. I guess I'll have to come back for round 2 at some point 🤷...)

 

This log was published: 10/Sep/26
Last updated: 10/Sep/26