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Based by the Lake - Hostel

2.0 star property

Photo gallery for Based by the Lake - Hostel

Restaurant
Exterior
Interior
Restaurant
Deluxe Double or Twin Room

Reviews

7.4 out of 10
Good

Popular amenities

  • Bar
  • Housekeeping
  • Kitchen
  • Laundry
  • Free WiFi
  • Restaurant

Explore the area

View map
7 Tuwharetoa Street, Taupo, North Island, 3330
  • Place, Taupō Museum and Art Gallery
    ‪3 min walk‬
  • Place, Taupō i-SITE Visitor Information Centre
    ‪3 min walk‬
  • Place, Taupō Marina and Boat Ramp
    ‪6 min walk‬
  • Airport, Taupō Airport (TUO)
    ‪11 min drive‬

Room options

View all photos for Shared Dormitory

Shared Dormitory

Shared Dormitory

  • Sleeps 1
  • 1 Twin Bunk Bed

View all photos for Double Room

Double Room

Double Room

  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 Double Bed

View all photos for Deluxe Double or Twin Room

Deluxe Double or Twin Room

Deluxe Double or Twin Room

7.6 out of 10
Good
(5 reviews)
  • Lake view
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed OR 2 Twin Beds

View all photos for Basic Triple Room

Basic Triple Room

Basic Triple Room

10.0 out of 10
Exceptional
(2 reviews)
  • Sleeps 3
  • 1 Double Bunk Bed

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About the area

Taupō

A stay at Based by the Lake - Hostel places you in the heart of Taupō, within a 10-minute walk of Lake Taupō and Taupō i-SITE Visitor Information Centre. .This hostel is 0.2 mi (0.4 km) from Taupō Museum and Art Gallery and 0.7 mi (1.1 km) from Waikato River.
View more Hostels in TaupōOpens in a new window

What's nearby

  • Taupō Museum and Art Gallery - 3 min walk - 0.3 km
  • Taupō i-SITE Visitor Information Centre - 3 min walk - 0.3 km
  • Taupō Marina and Boat Ramp - 6 min walk - 0.6 km
  • Spa Thermal Park - 3 min drive - 2.2 km
  • Taupō Hot Springs - 4 min drive - 3.2 km

Getting around

  • Taupō Airport (TUO) - 12 min drive

Restaurants

  • ‪McDonald's - ‬4 min walk
  • ‪Fast and Fresh Bakery Cafe - ‬4 min walk
  • ‪Dixie Brown's Cafe - ‬3 min walk
  • ‪Cafe Baku - ‬3 min walk
  • ‪Piccolo - ‬3 min walk

About this property

Based by the Lake - Hostel

Lakefront hostel with a restaurant and a bar
Based by the Lake - Hostel offers 34 accommodations. This Taupō hostel provides complimentary wireless Internet access. Guests can make use of the shared/communal kitchen. Bathrooms include showers. Change of towels and change of bedsheets can be requested. Housekeeping is provided daily.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.
Make yourself at home in one of the 34 guestrooms featuring refrigerators. Prepare your meals in the shared/communal kitchen. Complimentary wireless internet access is available to keep you connected. Bathrooms with showers are provided.
Make use of convenient amenities, which include complimentary wireless internet access and a vending machine.
At Based by the Lake - Hostel, enjoy a satisfying meal at the restaurant. Quench your thirst with your favorite drink at the bar/lounge.
Featured amenities include complimentary newspapers in the lobby, luggage storage, and laundry facilities.
Based by the Lake - Hostel has a restaurant on site.

Property amenities

Internet

  • Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
  • Available in some public areas: Free WiFi

Parking and transport

  • No on-site parking available

Food and drink

  • A bar/lounge
  • A restaurant

Things to do

  • Billiards/pool table
  • Hiking/biking trails
  • Skydiving

Family friendly

  • In-room refrigerator
  • Laundry facilities

Conveniences

  • ATM
  • Free newspapers in lobby
  • Laundry facilities
  • Luggage storage
  • Safe at front desk
  • Shared microwave
  • Shared refrigerator
  • Vending machine

Guest services

  • Change of bedsheets (on request)
  • Change of towels on request
  • Housekeeping (daily)

Outdoors

  • On a lake

Accessibility

  • If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please contact the property using the information on the reservation confirmation received after booking.
  • Handrails in stairways
  • Lift
  • Visual alarms in hallways
  • Well-lit path to entrance
  • Wheelchair accessible (may have limitations)
  • Wheelchair-accessible path of travel
  • Wheelchair-accessible path to lift
  • Wheelchair-accessible public bathroom
  • Wheelchair-accessible registration desk
  • Wheelchair-accessible restaurant

More

  • Designated smoking areas

Room amenities

Bedroom

  • Bedsheets provided

Bathroom

  • Shower

Food and drink

  • Cleaning supplies
  • Cookware, dishware, and utensils
  • Hob
  • Refrigerator
  • Shared kitchen access
  • Toaster

More

  • Heating

Policies

Check-in

Check-in start time: 2:00 PM; Check-in end time: anytime
Contactless check-in available
Minimum check-in age: 18

Check-out

Check-out before 10:00 AM
Contactless check-out available

Special check-in instructions

The front desk is open Sunday - Thursday (8:00 AM - 5:00 PM) and Friday - Saturday (8:00 AM - 5:00 AM)
Front desk staff will greet guests on arrival at the property

Access methods

Staffed front desk, smart lock

Pets

Pets not allowed (service animals are welcome, and are exempt from fees)

Children and extra beds

Children are welcome
Rollaway/extra beds are not available
Cribs (infant beds) are not available

Payment types

Important information

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card, or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
This property accepts credit cards, debit cards, and cash
Cashless transactions are available
Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher, a smoke detector, and a first aid kit

National rating

For the benefit of our customers, we have provided a rating based on our rating system.

Property is also known as

Based by the Lake
Based By The Lake Hostel Taupo
Based by the Lake - Hostel Taupo
Based by the Lake - Hostel Hostel/Backpacker accommodation
Based by the Lake - Hostel Hostel/Backpacker accommodation Taupo

Based by the Lake - Hostel Reviews

Reviews

7.4

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 38 out of 115 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 34 out of 115 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 24 out of 115 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 8 out of 115 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 11 out of 115 reviews

7.8/10

Cleanliness

8.2/10

Staff & service

7.2/10

Amenities

7.4/10

Property conditions & facilities

7.4/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Convenience the only reason we stayed here

We stayed here last year and booked again well ahead of time and were given a room on the noisy side and up on the top floor and the lift only goes to the first floor, it's got more run down since our last stay, no knob on toilet cistern, no teaspoons, no plug for hand basin and kitchen very rough
Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2025

6/10 Okay

Paul

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
A good back packers, but be aware of 3 flights of stairs if an issue for you. Shame it is opposite the party pub with lousy loud bands.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2025

2/10 Terrible

Myrthe

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I don't recommend staying here at all. The noise from other rooms (slamming doors, thin walls) and the noise from outside make for an awful stay. If you do decide to come here, bring earplugs or construction headphones. Even then you'll be vibrated out of your bed. The facilities are sparse and dirty. The kitchen is grimy, disgusting, and missing chairs. Almost all the plastic chairs for the balcony are missing a leg or are completely broken. Sparrows are regularly flying in and out of the kitchen to pick away at breadcrumbs, and leaving birdpoop behind: on the tables, on the counters. We will never return here.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2025

10/10 Excellent

Nicholas

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Good service
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2024

6/10 Okay

Raman

Travelled with family and small children
It is good the price we paid for. It’s noisy and small room with bathroom which was nice and clean. Its value for money, no complaints!
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2024

10/10 Excellent

Jemma

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2024

6/10 Okay

Liliana

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Property was fine, room was clean and was fine. What I didn't like much was the kitchenette as the fridges weren't completely clean.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2024

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2024

10/10 Excellent

Emma

Stayed 1 night in May 2024

6/10 Okay

Melanie

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2024

4/10 Poor

Jenna

Travelled with partner
The windows in our room were left open and the ceiling was covered in sandflies because of this. The room smelled quite bad, and there were no forks or spoons available to use in the kitchen.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

Satbir

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Everything was perfect
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

Jackie

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Easy access to the township. An affordable stay, great value for money.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

Rose

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very central, easy parking and good service
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024

2/10 Terrible

Erick

Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024

8/10 Good

Donna

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
There were a couple of things that we didn’t enjoy about staying here, and that was the loud music and noise coming from the nightclub over the road, and the squeaky floor boards upstairs, when people walked up & down the corridor during the night, apart from that, everything else was ok.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024

10/10 Excellent

patrick

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
all good , but loud til 2 am on friday saturday
Stayed 5 nights in Feb 2024

10/10 Excellent

priscilla

Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024

8/10 Good

Wendy

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service
Very basic but all that we needed. We had an amazing view of lake and everything right at our doorstep. Only drawbacks were that there was no fridge in the room, the plumbing from the room next door was very noisy and there is no lift (we were on the third floor). All in all it was good value for money and suited our budget.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2024

8/10 Good

Sabine

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The hostel was pretty much ok. I had a private room and it was like a hotel room. The kitchen was a little bit run down but ok. Unfortunately was my room close to the main AC or something very noisy during the whole night.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024

6/10 Okay

Chesson

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Noise from pub below until after midnight. Then street cleaning noises in early morning meant we didn't get a good night's sleep.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024

2/10 Terrible

Karl

The booking was cancelled by the hostel. They advised the room booked was not available and the reception is not staffed after 10 pm despite it being listed as staffed from 8am- 5am
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024

8/10 Good

Tony

Good place to stay in an excellent location. Ear plugs are included in room and were needed due to street party noise
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

Helen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort

Awesome location

Awesome location with everything you need
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

Helen

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort

Close & easy

A 2 night stay for the Taupō Summer Concert. A perfect place to stay as parked the car. & left it for the weekend as everything was walkable.
Broken fan base
View from our balcony in 305
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2024