The Remarkables mountain range and Lake Wakatipu from Queenstown, Otago, South Island, New Zealand
Σ64 · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Kea Basecamp Hostel

Hostel · Town Centre · Queenstown

8.3from 471 ratings

The adventure-crowd default: gear lockers that fit skis, a sauna for post-Remarkables recovery, and a job board that half the town's seasonal workers came through. The location is unbeatable and so is the Friday-night volume — this is a social hostel in a party town, and the quiet floor is quiet only by comparison. Book the four-bed dorms; the ten-beds are a lottery.

Why it earns the score

Sauna, ski lockers and lakefront steps — the whole adventure economy in one building.

Will you sleep well?

The details that actually decide it — not the thread count in the brochure.

  • pod curtains in the small dorms
  • quiet floor (relative)
  • proper duvets

Amenities

Fast Wi-FiKitchenLaundryHot tub / onsenWorkspace

Standard unit sleeps up to 1 guest.

The honest price

Nights
3 nights
Guests
1 guest
Base (3 × $42)
$126.00
Fees (mandatory)
$0.00
Taxes (15%)
$18.90
Total
$144.90

= $48/night all-in

Elsewhere this is advertised at $42 — it actually costs $48/night. We lead with the real number.

More stays in Queenstown

Same city, same honest math.

Explore Queenstown →
FL8.2

Fernhill Lakeview Apartments

Apartment · Fernhill

$224 /night all-in

TW7.3

The Wakatipu Grand Resort

Resort · Town Centre

$402 /night all-in

PL9.1

Poplar Lodge Arrowtown

Lodge · Arrowtown

$713 /night all-in

Reviews (1)

Owen Pritchard@owenoutside

Adventure-driven · Friends trip · Visited Jul 2025

8.1

Ski lockers, sauna, lakefront. Sleep is extra credit.

Good
Lockers that actually fit skis, a sauna that fixed my Remarkables legs nightly, and a job-board community that had us in a crew by day two. Location is unbeatable at any price.
Bad
Friday night in a party town does not respect the 'quiet floor' concept, and the ten-bed dorms are a snore lottery — we paid up for the four-bed and still heard the stairwell.
Verdict
Ski-season crews should book the small dorms early; anyone over their hostel years should spend the extra $60 and sleep in Fernhill.
Aug 19, 2025 88