2 Best Hotels in Christchurch and Canterbury, New Zealand

This is the biggest spot in town with a main lodge that has private and shared rooms; there are also two separate cottages, two motel units, and backpacker dorms in the old YHA lodge. You can sign up for one of the bedrooms in the cottages, reserve an entire cottage, or choose a bed in the private or dorm rooms in the main lodge. There's one women-only bunk room. The interior design may be homely, but you can't argue with the impressive peaks right outside your window.

Wake up to fresh-baked bread and newly laid eggs (when chickens are laying) at this basic-but-rather-quirky backpacker lodge housed in old railway carriages and huts. It's first-come, first-served for breakfast in the station waiting room (now a communal kitchen). Some of the carriages retain old leather seating and travel posters. There are also powered campervan sites and a number of tent sites, and they are close to the Weka Pass vintage railway.