Hekerua Lodge Backpackers Hostel
11 Hekerua Road, Oneroa, Auckland, Waiheke Island 1081 New Zealand
Get rewarded with One Key
Get rewarded with One Key
Orbitz.com
Booking.com
eDreams
View all 12 deals
Payments made by partners impact the order of prices displayed. Room types may vary.
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.
Full view
View all photos (59)59
Dining (16)
Room & Suite (6)
About
#2 of 6 lodges in Waiheke Island
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
Welcome to our small social backpackers on the magical Waiheke Island, the island of sun, wine and fun! Only 35min from downtown Auckland. Waiheke is so close, yet so far removed from the rat race of Auckland City - come and see why Waiheke was voted one of the worlds top island destinations in the world by many travel magazines. The Hekerua Lodge Backpackers is centrally located secluded on an acre of stunning New Zealand native bush, only 5 minutes walk form Little Oneroa Beach and another 10 to the shops We cater specially for the international youth travel market, a place to meet new people, laugh and dance in paradise, so if you wish to socialize and have fun then the Hekerua Lodge Backpackers is the place for you!! We offer a chilled spot to get away from it all and immerse yourself in island and backpacker life. We have no TV so relax on any of our sun decks, take a dip in our rock pool or just wash it all away in our spa pool. Get involved with all our fun activities in the camp-ground including volleyball, cricket, beersbie and yoga!
Read more
Suggest edits to improve what we show.Improve this listing
Property amenities
Free parking
Free High Speed Internet (WiFi)
Pool
Hiking
Table tennis
Pets Allowed ( Dog / Pet Friendly )
Adults only
BBQ facilities
Street parking
Wifi
Hot bath
Outdoor pool
Board games / puzzles
Currency exchange
Outdoor furniture
Picnic area
Shared bathroom
Shared kitchen
Shared lounge / TV area
Sun terrace
Show more
Room features
Fireplace
Kitchenette
Room types
Non-smoking rooms
Good to know
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish, Dutch, Greek
Location
41Car recommended
Grade: 41 out of 100
63Restaurantswithin 10 km
24Attractionswithin 10 km
11 Hekerua Road, Oneroa, Auckland, Waiheke Island 1081 New Zealand
Getting there
Car HireSee all Oneroa car hire
251Reviews1Q+A20Room tips
ReviewsWe perform checks on reviews.Tripadvisor’s approach to reviewsBefore posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
Traveller rating
- 140
- 48
- 26
- 17
- 20
Traveller safety
Time of year
Traveller type
Language
More
Selected filters
- Filter
- English
Popular mentions
Sort by:
Most Recent
If you are looking for a fancy hotel look for another place.. if you are looking for a place where people care about you come definitely here! The place is clean even if the house is in the middle of the little jungle cause any morning many volunteers take cares of the cleaning You will find travelers and people live in the island so if you wanna shear your holiday or you need help for your stay you are surrounded by all you need..
Read more
Date of stay: December 2022Trip type: Travelled solo
Room Tip: You can camp with your tent/van or have a bed in shear room or your private room
See more room tips
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.
Helpful
I booked into this hostel by mistake, and now I don’t want to leave! This is such a welcoming place, from staff to guest, just get involved in the community vibe and you’ll be rewarded. I feel very lucky to have found this special gem, and I can’t wait to return and bring friends. The facilities are excellent. Hekeruah has everything you need for a comfortable stay: great beds and showers, a spa pool, a sociable deck area and beautiful scenery, whilst only being a short walk from the beach. There’s even a fabulous veggie garden and friendly dogs! The owners Tom and Audrey are extremely kind and generous with their time, their home and their energy. They’ve created a very safe, non-judgemental and seriously fun Waiheke world of their own and they’ve managed to fill it with lots of like-minded and cool souls. I’ve made friends here. Thank you, Hekeruah... you gave me everything I needed and so much more! See you soon! Anna…
Read more
Date of stay: January 2021Trip 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.
Helpful
Owner Tom Ferguson was unforgivable in absence of taking ANY responsiblity for total return of deposit (on a reservation booked by phone, so the 15% cancellation fee was never explained by staff at the time of reservation.) Although the cancellation was made within 4 days of original booking and well before occupancy dates; Ferguson insisted on extracting his 15% from one of two back-to-back reservations (different rooms) and the other (for over $100.00) ? Full amount paid NEVER RETURNED despite multiple attempts to communicate with appeals and threats! I finally had go get it back through cc company here in USA- a hassle and 1/2 ! Expecting a 15% cancellation fee (effective IMMEDIATELY after booking! ) is at odds with industry standard. BE AWARE when booking! Given the numerous negative reviews about cleanliness, etc. - I give this place a pass and go somewhere else....…
Read more
Date of stay: March 2020
Service
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.
Helpful
A very special hostel in the hart of Waiheke with a great vibe! Clean, tidy and very fun! People staying there is like a very big family and they'll make you feel as part of it as soon as you arrive! Highly recommended!!
Read more
Date of stay: November 2020
Location
Cleanliness
Service
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.
Helpful
Spent 2 night in the Hekerua Lodge, perfect location, nice facilities (incl. wimming pool, spa, garden) and bush surrounding (and Kaka 😊)! Warm welcome from the team, felt part of the family after two days there 😁
Read more
Date of stay: October 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.
Helpful
I slept 2 nights in this little paradise ! But not enough to visit the island. A clean swiming pool, a clean kitchen, toilet... It was a wonderful staying ! We feel welcome very quickly, thanks for the service guys
Read more
Date of stay: March 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.
Helpful
Response from Thomas Ferguson, Owner at Hekerua Lodge Backpackers Hostel
Responded 13 Mar 2020
Thank you Cloe, glad you had a great time. Save travels.....
Read more
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
I booked this hostel as part of a large, mostly female group, staying in different rooms for a birthday celebration. We booked it as the reviews were great so I had high expectations of a lovely clean and friendly ‘retreat’ style shared accomodation. It definitely has the potential to be this, but we were met with almost the total opposite. The whole place smells strongly like sulphur and needs a thorough deep clean and some maintenance. We got shown to our twin room and had to laugh because it was so small, the pictures online made it look bigger and nicer. There was nowhere to put our stuff, not even a shelf or hooks on the wall for anything except your towel. Only one power point and a tiny window (which didn’t close properly) for ventilation which wasn’t enough. There was also splatters of what looked like blood on the walls which I have attached a picture of. We felt it was overpriced at $80/night considering the lack of thought given to cleanliness, space and where guests might want to put their belongings. The duvet covers were also very stained, I’m unsure whether they are cleaned or not between guests or if they’re just old stains, but could do with refreshing. We also thought private rooms might have their own bathrooms, but they were shared. The shower doors don’t close properly and again, there’s no thought given to where guests will put their clothes, toiletries and towel, no shelf or bench even in the shower cubicle and only one small hook on the door. We were told no shoes inside, but it’s all wooden floors and FILTHY so your feet get covered in dirt. When I saw the pee around the toilets I couldn’t wear bare feet anymore and wore my (clean) jandals inside and in the showers after that (so much potential to catch warts and fungal infections from this in summer especially!). There was a smear of blood above the handle on one of the toilet doors that didn’t get cleaned the whole weekend while we were there. After this comes the other guests...there was a stag do on whilst we were there, complete with a stripper which none of us wanted to see. We were all trying to sit and relax around the communal table during the evening but a few members of the stag party kept harassing us, trying to talk to us even when we asked them to leave us alone. One sat next to me at one point and brushed his hand against my thigh, after that I felt unsafe and went to lock myself in our room upstairs instead of staying in the communal area. I’ll mention here that I’m married and 6 months pregnant, this was very unwanted, inappropriate attention. The next morning I was told off very rudely by an older woman who appeared to be a guest, for putting our rubbish in the bin in the bathroom. She thought since it was in a small paper bag it should be recycling and when I told her it was full of non recyclable rubbish she roughly grabbed it out of the bin and proceeded to go through it which was invasive and disgusting. I had to just roll my eyes and walk off, this is not appropriate behaviour from another guest. There are better ways to go about encouraging recycling than bullying and I feel she really should’ve minded her own business rather than worrying about what everyone else was doing. So all in all it was a disappointing experience and I have stayed in a lot of backpackers all around the world. This one was one of the worst and I would not return. The only good things I do have to say is the woman who checked us in was absolutely lovely and the beds were rrally comfortable with a good sized pillow. The location was close to Little Oneroa beach which was nice - but I’m sure there’s better accomodation available!!…
Read more
Date of stay: March 2020Trip 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.
Helpful
Response from Thomas Ferguson, Owner at Hekerua Lodge Backpackers Hostel
Responded 12 Mar 2020
Hi there. First and foremost, your claim of inappropriate behaviour from other guests, we can only apologise for not being present. Behaviours as such as the ones you explain in your review are absolutely unacceptable and you can be assured that we will be in contact with the guests in question. However the guest that you described as the “older woman” suffers from an intellectual disability, we appreciate that maybe she didn’t go about the business in the right way but we would expect other guests to be patient with her and treat her with kindness, as at the end of the say she has good intentions. As for the rest of the review, a recurring theme is apparent to me... the fact that we are a hostel. Not a retreat, an en suite provider, or hotel with large spacious rooms - which you say you expected. We provide clear descriptions of what we are, who we cater to and what we have to offer on our website and throughout the entire booking process. However, we understand that we may not be suitable for group bookings, we will take this experience with us into the future. We also feel that ‘filthy’ is not a fair description of the cleanliness of the floors, as they are vacuumed, mopped and steamed every day. We also do daily checks of the bathrooms and can assure you there was no blood on the doors. The manager checked in with you on numerous occasions and you all seemed and voiced that you were okay and enjoying your stay. We, and I am sure other hostels, would appreciate you communicating your true opinions at the time of question, so that we can work together to provide a more enjoyable stay.
Read more
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Serious safety incident
My first impression of Hekerua Lodge was a good one, we arrived later and it looked cute all lit up. There was a nice pool and a spa and the room was on par with other backpackers I have stayed at. The kitchen was quite dirty, but not the worst I have seen staying at hostels and the general cleanliness wasn’t great, with dirty underwear under one of our beds, filthy hand towels and no dishwashing liquid. The septic tank must have been quite close to our room because there was a sewerage smell every time we went outside (although growing up living with a septic system, I know this does happen). They also have a “no shoes” rule, which is a nice idea in principle, but not when the bathrooms are filthy and covered in piss. However, the location was beautiful and this would have been an average review of a backpackers I may have considered returning to if it wasn’t for the horrific behaviour of the male owner (the female owner was helpful and friendly). When we arrived back on our second night staying there we were subjected to several hours of the owner continuously harassing us and telling us off over minor things. He appeared intoxicated and was acting very erratically. We were told off things like having the lights on in our room as this would “attract mosquitos”. When we tried to inform him that mosquitos are not attracted to light, but rather carbon dioxide he proceeded to tell us that he had lived there long enough and would know, and then turned our light off (with us still in the room on our bunks). He was also making rude comments about other guests. These were just little things, but when you are being told off for something every 5 minutes by someone acting the way he was you start to get very uncomfortable. It got to the point we’re we considered leaving and getting the ferry back to Auckland that night as we were so uncomfortable. However, the owner then left to go to a party so we stayed. During this time there was also a Stag Party at the lodge, which the owner had some kind of connection to. While the majority of the guys were fine, we spent the rest of the night being intimidated by a few extremely intoxicated and drugged-up members of the group. They would not leave us alone and groped one of my friends. Some final points: - The wiring in the rooms needs to be checked, two of our phones overheated while charging to the point they started malfunctioning (luckily we were not charging them at night!) – my phone has never done this before. - Sort out the rude, elderly long term guest. I see her mentioned in previous reviews. She should not be telling people off, if she has an issue with something she should be going through management. And maybe ask he to use the path instead of constantly walking past the rooms when she doesn’t need to.…
Read more
Date of stay: March 2020
Rooms
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.
Helpful
Terrible place. Toilets and showers filthy. Two minute showers strongly pushed on us. The “no shoes inside” rule is disgusting, especially when the toilets etc are so filthy. Strong unpleasant sewerage smell the whole time. Was made to feel bullied/pestered by the owner. Intimidated by a stag do who were clearly on drugs. Only positive was the bed which was comfortable. Would never stay here again
Read more
Date of stay: March 2020Trip 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.
Helpful
Probably a good place to stay for backpackers with absolutely no expectations. The management is terrible, the owner is rude and a bully. The place is seriously unclean. Some of the other long term stayers there are just really rude and mean. We did not feel welcome at all.
Read more
Date of stay: March 2020
Value
Location
Service
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.
Helpful
Response from Thomas Ferguson, Owner at Hekerua Lodge Backpackers Hostel
Responded 9 Mar 2020
Hi there, thanks for your review. As a hostel, we cater to the needs of backpackers. The reason we have so many long-termers (some for up to 2 years), we believe, is because we are good at what we do. For this reason, I think it unfair to judge my management so strongly. As for the cleanliness, we deep clean the entire hostel for 2.5 hours every day. As for the guests that were supposedly rude to you, we cannot speak for. We are sorry that you didn't feel welcome, as that is something we pride ourselves on.
Read more
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
PRICE RANGE
US$30 - US$61 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
New ZealandNorth IslandAucklandWaiheke IslandOneroa
NUMBER OF ROOMS
11
Is This Your Tripadvisor Listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim Your ListingHEKERUA LODGE BACKPACKERS HOSTEL - Reviews & Price Comparison (Oneroa) - Tripadvisor
Frequently Asked Questions about Hekerua Lodge Backpackers Hostel
Which popular attractions are close to Hekerua Lodge Backpackers Hostel?
Nearby attractions include Sacred Blessing Sanctuary Garden (1.1 km) and Waiheke Wine Centre (1.2 km).
What are some of the property amenities at Hekerua Lodge Backpackers Hostel?
Some of the more popular amenities offered include free wifi, a pool, and free parking.
What food & drink options are available at Hekerua Lodge Backpackers Hostel?
Guests can enjoy barbeque facilities during their stay.
Is parking available at Hekerua Lodge Backpackers Hostel?
Yes, free parking and street parking are available to guests.
What are some restaurants close to Hekerua Lodge Backpackers Hostel?
Conveniently located restaurants include Island Gelato Company, The Oyster Inn, and Dragonfired.
Are there opportunities to exercise at Hekerua Lodge Backpackers Hostel?
Yes, guests have access to a pool during their stay.
Are pets allowed at Hekerua Lodge Backpackers Hostel?
Yes, pets are typically allowed, but it's always best to call ahead to confirm.
Which languages are spoken by the staff at Hekerua Lodge Backpackers Hostel?
The staff speaks multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Greek, and Dutch.
Are there any historical sites close to Hekerua Lodge Backpackers Hostel?
Many travellers enjoy visiting Stockade Hill (14.4 km).