Challis Lodge

Absolutely rubbish place. The bed had stains and hairs. The bathroom was smaller than a wardrobe, the sink was almost falling off. The TV was broken. The lamp was broken. Mould on the walls. Oh yeah, and the ceiling lightbulb fell out in the morning. I've stayed in backpackers that were nicer. Seriously, spend a bit more money for an infinitely better place.

A backpacker place without admitting it. Communal toilets and pallid rooms conspire to make 'cheap and cheerful' a generous description. However, it did the job - the beds allowed sleeping - although even for the price you might do better..

You pay for what you get very basic not very clean and outdatef

I didn't want to spend too much for an overnight accomodation as I was having to fork out quite a bit to attend a friend's wedding. Thought this was place was pretty affordable and the online reviews were okay. Made a booking via Wotif, but Challis Lodge mucked up the booking and gave us a twin instead of a double. The room was tiny as, and the toilet as well. The room was seriously stinky - smelt kinda like super mouldy carpets and/or bug spray. The TV wouldn't switch on, and the electic kettle was missing, with only the base remaining - it wasn't as if I would've felt safe enough to use it anyway. The only partially redeeming fact was that after we complained quite abit, that they decided to refund us the fee we paid for the room. At the end of the day, eventhough it was cheap (about $90 per night), it was not worth the torture.

I travelled to Sydney with a couple of friends and we wanted somewhere cheap to stay so we could spend more money on other things. The budget side of things really met my expectations you get what you pay for. However on the second night I noticed on my wrist I had what looked to be a spider bite with about 4 bite marks. This continued to get worse as the stay went on. Once back home in New Zealand I was convinced by my partner to go to the doctor to check what looked to be chicken pox. The doctor notified me that it was scabies caught from the bed I slept in (Usually caused from unwashed sheets). After several emails to the manager I feel that the problem has not been resolved and they are not taking responsibility for what happened. I have also noticed on trip advisor that back in Dec 2009 there was another complaint about bed bugs, which really gets me thinking this wasnt an isolated incident. I am now stuck with a sour taste in my mouth and left out of pocket from Doctors bills. I wont go on too much about how the room wasnt clean, you pay cheap you shal receive cheap, but getting scabbies is not acceptable at ALL!