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The Prince Albert Backpackers & Bar is centrally located in Nelson City. Our Heritage class building is located only minutes away from everything Nelson has to offer including mountain biking, hiking, natural swimming pools, arts and crafts and the famous Saturday Markets. The Prince Albert Backpackers and hostel provides today's travellers with the very best in modern facilities and accommodation including free unlimited WiFi and a free daily breakfast, while the locals bar and restaurant allows friendly interaction between the Nelsonites and the backpacker traveller.We have a range of rooms from 6 bed dorms, 4 bed share rooms, twins, and doubles. All of our rooms have en-suite facilities along with laundered and pressed linens and duvets. The backpackers uses a secure electronic keycard access system. Our guests also enjoy the exclusive use of a private sunny courtyard, private lounge, private kitchen and laundry facilities.Other facilities that you will find here at The Prince Albert Backpackers include a games room with Fussball, Darts, Ping Pong & Air Hockey, cruiser style bikes free of charge to explore Nelson and for the more adventurous individual we have quality mountain bikes for hire at the cheapest rate in town. With our free luggage storage you can also make The Prince Albert Backpackers your base-camp hostel to explore the 3 national parks within 1 1/2 hours from Nelson including the beautiful Abel Tasman and the alpine National Lakes.Factor in the discounts you will receive around town with our branded Prince Albert Backpackers wristband and we truly believe that once you have stayed with us you will seriously consider staying just that little bit longer...
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Business
Budget
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish, Portuguese
Location
113 Nile Street, Nelson 7010 New Zealand
The Prince Albert Backpackers
211 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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This is one of the best hostels I have stayed in so far in NZ. The staff are great and the atmosphere relaxed. We booked a twin room with ensuite shower. Shower was fabulous, beds v comfy and the room light and airy. There is an awesome courtyard to hang out in - with hammocks! Perfect for relaxing with a beer on a sunny day. The pub does excellent burgers and desserts and the cafe next door serves really good coffee, pastries etc. Would stay here again.
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Date of stay: April 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Fantastic place to stay. Nice spacious bedroom and bathroom. Very clean. Big bar and restaurant downstairs with outdoor seating. Quiet at night while sleeping which is always a bonus. Central with parking. Easy walk into town centre. Breakfast was cereal, toast, waffles, tea/coffee etc. Only thing I would say is I’d have liked tea/coffee making in the room but that’s my personal preference.
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Owners were friendly (I think it's family owned), and the rooms and amenities were very nice for the price (tbh I was expecting a lot less). The breakfast was a nice touch, had dinner there a few nights as well. I love how close the river is.
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Date of stay: December 2020
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Food was absolutely delicious could not be faulted. However, the waiting staff were inhospitable, and the 2 women at the counter unfortunately were inadvertently bad mouthing their third colleague, whom was on her lunch break. It’s a great shame that they felt the need to do so, loudly and in front of myself and another table of 2, they really let the side down. Hopefully they see this, and might perhaps refrain from ill speaking in front of customers at the very least next time.
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Date of stay: December 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stayed over several nights with family. The premises looked after our luggage whilst tramping. 12 min walk to city and pick up to go on walks. Good simple breakfast included. Pub meals a little on the dear side but really good quality. Clean comfy with friendly staff. You really can’t go wrong. For a budget accommodation I would recommend without hesitation
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Date of stay: March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed at the Prince Albert Hotel the day before setting off to tramp the Old Ghost Road. Despite being affordable the backpackers/hotel was a great choice. The room was clean with an en suite bathroom, the staff were friendly and helpful and we ate in the bar and the food was excellent. The hotel is also conveniently located near Nelson City Centre.
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Date of stay: October 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We went to the Albert on St. Patrick's Day & had a blast. Two excellent Irish bands, a very tasty corned beef & cabbage and a wee bit of tap Guiness. Fun pub & great crowd! It is just the type of local pub that is most fun to visit. We were on holiday from the U.S. & it was a special evening.
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Date of stay: March 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Corporate run hostel masquerading as a traveller freindly backpackers .expect to be confronted with facism excessive survellance an bigoted owners whom exert social control over the residents and run the place more like a cult. overall the facilities are quite decent, get in an get back out avoid the rude people 🌝
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My friend and I chose Prince Albert because of the great reviews about service, and were surprised to have a very different experience. We found the owner was incredibly rude towards us. When we arrived mid-morning the owner seemed a bit grumpy and tired, and not very keen to interact with us. When we returned early eve to move into our rooms, we asked what room we were in and were told "Room 5, like I told you" in an annoyed tone. We went out for dinner and returned at 9.45pm. The front door was locked. We hadn't been given any instructions and could see the owner inside, so knocked. When the owner came to the door he said in an annoyed tone that he'd told us to come in the back way. When we said he hadn't told us he proceeded to argue with us, saying he tells everyone this, and something like "oh yes, just like I didn't tell you it was room 5." When we asserted that he didn't tell us he continued to argue with us. I eventually said "No you didn't tell us, and why are you arguing with us!". We couldn't believe it. Even if we had both somehow blanked on him telling us, it's hardly normal to argue so aggressively with customers. It was late at night so we stayed. We knew he had advised the breakfast time in the morning, and both thought he'd said until 10am, but couldn't remember for sure. We checked the info on the wall of our room but it said that breakfast times vary. We certainly weren't going to check with him! We arrived for breakfast at 9.10am. We could see a waffle maker and some cereal. My friend politely asked the owner whether it was make your own waffles (this was after she had said "hello" in a friendly way a couple of times and he'd ignored her). He completely lost it at this point, saying he told us breakfast finished at 9am, that he'd also told us the room number and night entrance, that we don't listen - "just yabba, yabba, yabba" - he actually motioned with his hand like a talking puppet while saying this! He said he says the same things to every guest and wouldn't forget. I said he had seemed very tired when we arrived. He said, as though it was our fault, "Yeah I am tired, I'm tired every day!". I told him he was being very rude and he said that I was the one who had snapped the previous night and "I am this close to kicking you girls out". He then told us we had until 11am to pack our bags and he would give us a refund and help us find another hostel. We returned to our room, organised alternative accommodation, and left. When we returned downstairs we did get a refund, and he even offered to order us a taxi, but he was being very cold about it all. We couldn't believe we had been kicked out of a hostel! My friend later overheard someone else saying that she'd got into an argument with the manager of the Prince Albert. We can only assume that something was going on while we were staying, as obviously it wouldn't be possible to maintain a customer base if the service was always this rude. We have never written a bad review on here before, but we thought it was important to share our experience.
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Date of stay: January 2016
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Unfortunately for me at both of my favorite hostels I only had 1 night. I would have loved to stay here another night, especially since I liked Nelson more than I thought I would. This is set just about a 5 minute walk from the centre and is in a quiet area. The staff here was awesome, they were all very friendly and went out of their way to make sure we were happy and had all we needed. They also have lots of deals for guests with drink specials, free breakfast, and a $12 dinner and dessert deal. The night I was there it was a Shepherds pie and a banana pudding for dessert. It was a good amount of food for the price and was very tasty. I booked a private room thinking it would be tiny, but I actually had a good amount of room, and the ensuite bath was spacious as well. My room overlooked the patio so I got to hear the music and smell the hops that are growing over the patio, it was great. The dorm areas also looked nice and the separate patio from the restaurant was really cool to have.
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Date of stay: March 2017Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Natalie -
We provide a Free shuttle service to and from the bus terminals in town (of which there are two) between the hours of 8am and 9pm. All that we ask is that you pre-book it.
There are more places to choose from in the Nelson area.
PRICE RANGE
$81 - $110 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
New ZealandSouth IslandNelson-Tasman RegionNelson
NUMBER OF ROOMS
13
Prices are provided by our partners for one room, with variable occupancy rules as provided by the property, and reflect total costs of the stay, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
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