Interior

Reviews of Jailhouse Accommodation - Hostel

2 out of 5
Jailhouse Accommodation - Hostel
338 Lincoln Road, Addington, Christchurch

Reviews

8.8

Excellent

Rating 10 - Excellent. 136 out of 282 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 119 out of 282 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 23 out of 282 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 1 out of 282 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 3 out of 282 reviews" "

8.8/10

Cleanliness

8.8/10

Staff & service

8.8/10

Amenities

8.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.4/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Lily

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The kitchen was nice in this property and the spaces to hang out within the building were very comfortable. I really liked the signs explaining the history of the building and the commitment to the prison bit! (cute cat lives outside as a bonus)
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024
Response from Jailbird on 16 Apr 2024
Thank you so much for the 5/5 review! We are so glad to hear you appreciated the history of the Jailhouse. We think Pumpkin the cat is pretty cute too :)

10/10 Excellent

JUSTIN

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Absolutely fantastic service went out of their way to assist us We would be staying here again
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024

8/10 Good

Joanna

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I only stayed here one night. Solo traveller, female in a mixed dorm. Everything was clean, the check-in was done via email so that was easy, there are a few parking spaces so that was handy and everyone in my room was really nice and considerate. I had a very comfortable stay. It's definitely quirky and cool staying in a converted jail house and the lack of visible staff around definitely added to the ominous, abandoned vibe! There's not a great deal to do in the immediate area but it's just south of Hagley Park and in proximity to buses into the center. My only recommendation, which I give to almost all hostels and backpackers, is that the simplest of details really go a long way. Shower cubicles aren't designed to keep guests' fresh clothes and feet dry after they've showered. A shelf for belongings, a mat raised off the floor and a small stool are the kind of details people rarely say thank you for but REALLY appreciate.
Response from Jailbird on 16 Apr 2024
Thank you so much for the thoughtful review! We are glad to hear you enjoyed the simple check in process and found the Jailhouse lovely and clean. Thank you for the recommendation around the shower cubicles, we will certainly look into options for that :)

10/10 Excellent

Aaron

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The historical information
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2024
Response from Jailbird on 16 Apr 2024
Thanks for the 5/5 review :)

8/10 Good

Desmond

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Quirky staying in jail cell. But really giod feel.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from Jailbird on 16 Apr 2024
Thanks so much for the great review, we are glad to hear you enjoyed your stay in Jail! :)

10/10 Excellent

alex

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
an absolutely stunning building, amazing atmosphere
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2024
Response from Natalie from Jailhouse on 5 Mar 2024
Hi Alex, Thank you for your feedback! We are glad you enjoyed your stay with us and hope to see you back in jail soon :)

10/10 Excellent

Margaret

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Jailhouse on 5 Mar 2024
Thanks for the 10/10 review! :)

10/10 Excellent

Robyn

Unique helpful clean
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Jailbird on 5 Mar 2024
Thanks so much for the 5/5 review! We are so glad you enjoyed your stay :)

10/10 Excellent

Stefanie

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2024
Response from Jailbird on 20 Feb 2024
Thanks so much for the 5/5! We are glad you enjoyed your stay :)

10/10 Excellent

Elise

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Really cool place with lots of history and friendly staff. This has been an experience for life, and I will recommend this place to everyone that are going to New Zealand!
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Warden on 9 Feb 2024
Thank you so much for your lovely review! We are so happy to hear you loved staying at the Jailhouse! We think it’s a pretty cool place too

10/10 Excellent

Iona

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
See above
Response from Jailbird on 20 Feb 2024
Thanks for the 5/5 review!

10/10 Excellent

Paul

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2023
Response from Jailbird on 20 Feb 2024
Thanks for the 5 star review! :)

10/10 Excellent

Joseph

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Unique historic building. Enjoyed our quick overnight stay.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

8/10 Good

Jeanette

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
I was happy with my room but toilet facilities were challenging. Having to share just one toilet in the shower room with the men. Would be good to have another just for women downstairs.
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2023

8/10 Good

Fred

Travelled with partner
Liked: Property conditions & facilities
For a person on a budget that likes to meet people it was nice. Would recommend it for a convenient stay as it’s $4 on the #7 bus from town and if you are smart with the interchange that will get you to/from the airport
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2023
Response from Warden on 2 Dec 2023
Hi, thanks for your review. If you are in Chch for longer then buying a metro card for the buses means it is only 2 per trip :)

8/10 Good

Achinoam

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
A particularly cute place, great beds, shared and very clean toilets and showers. I enjoyed very much! One problem that is important to know is that there is no elevator! It was a little (a lot..) problematic to lift the suitcase... other than that, a great place!
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2023
Response from Jail warden on 2 Dec 2023
Hi and thanks for your lovely comments. The stairs are an amzing feature of the former prison, so we have left these in place instead if installing a lift.

8/10 Good

Mike

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023
Response from Boss on 5 Oct 2023
Thanks for your rating, hope you can stay again

8/10 Good

Susan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great place to stay overnight - I came in late and left early the next day. Checking in was electronic via email with codes etc, so easy
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023
Response from Boss on 5 Oct 2023
Thanks for your great review. Rapt you found our digital self check-in worked so well.

8/10 Good

Theresa

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Was a fun place to stay. Definitely will stay again
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2023
Response from Jail warden on 27 Aug 2023
Thanks so much for your lovely comments, hope to see you again soon.

10/10 Excellent

Sam, Brisbane

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
This property provided a unique experience with the opportunity to step into another world, that of the jail history, combined with contemporary well equipped kitchen, and comfortable bed rooms eating areas and bathroom.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Marjolijn

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Unique and fun because of its history. Great location. Friendly staff in the evening. Could check toilet rolls in ladies more frequently and put in correctly 😉 Well planned kitchen, dining and lounge areas and bike parking👍Welcoming foyer/reception.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Shane

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Not the sort of accommodation I would normally select, given I was working through the week and only wanted a safe, convenient place to sleep, the Jailhouse was perfect in every sense. Will certainly make use of the Jailhouse next time I am visiting Christchurch.
Stayed 5 nights in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

Joel

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Self-check-in makes this place. We needed emergency accommodation and really appreciated the no hassle getting in at 3 in the morning
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

6/10 Okay

Allie

Travelled with family
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

Abby

Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2023
Response from KH on 28 Apr 2023
Loved to see your 5/5 reivew, thanks

10/10 Excellent

Jean

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
A very nice stay,at this property. Perfect for a short stay,and good value. Great location . .
Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2023
Response from KH on 28 Apr 2023
Thanks for your lovely comments, glad you had a great stay

10/10 Excellent

James

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Awesome
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023

10/10 Excellent

Francesca

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Always nice coming back and feeling like I'm home away from home. See you next year
Response from Caitlin on 16 Dec 2022
Hi Francesca, Thank you so much for your kind review, we work very hard on making our hostel homely (for an old prison), so glad you loved it as much as we do!

10/10 Excellent

Yoon suk

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I recommend jail house very good kindly member I normally stay jail house comfortable and good accomodation

6/10 Okay

Sukh

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Jail view is just unique
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022

2/10 Terrible

Edith

The main receptionist treated me like a homeless person cause of my bags, looked down on me from the beginning, she was horrible and at the first chance she kicked me out singling me out. The owner seemed to try to show some humanity by offering me a ride.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

Neil

Business traveller
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The environment, the place itself is extremely clean, quiet and great staff that are so helpful and willing to assist on anything you may require. It's not somewhere I would normally wish to stay, but that has changed significantly. I'm staying on longer also. It's a great place to stay. I'd certainly highly recommend it to others without reservations. It's a fine place to stay if you need too.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022
Response from Jail warden on 20 Sept 2022
Hi, thanks for your great review. Love that you are so happy here you are staying longer! Appreicte your nice cooments about our friendly Jail wardens too

10/10 Excellent

Donna-Marie

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022

8/10 Good

Jason

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I enjoyed the stay, only couple of things to improve.. heating in the room was very limited and didnt do alot, the luver windows created a lot of draft and cold. Otherwise good stay
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022

6/10 Okay

Sarah

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
Neat hostel.
The hostel was super neat! We stayed in a double bunk room, the beds are very short, so if you’re tall and don’t love sleeping in the fetal position, you might want to check out other options. The bathrooms/shower room was kept up and clean. Location is great, and very walkable to good cafes/restaurants /bars. You’ll have to pay extra for shower towels.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2022

10/10 Excellent

Jennie

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2022

8/10 Good

astrid

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
it was fun to stay in a jail
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2022

10/10 Excellent

Rachael

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Such a novelty would totally recommend
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2022

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
The Jailhouse Accommodation/Hostel was a cool and interesting experience. The concept and prison type architecture is very original as far as hotel accommodations go. There was no one at the reception desk when we arrived after 6:00 pm. But, we were able to check ourselves in via the ipad they had at the reception desk. The rooms are clean and very simple (no frills). The rooms have the original bars on the windows and a heavy metal entrance door. I liked the combination lock to enter. I felt a bit more safe. There was a sign on the door that warned guests not to let nonguests in and the sign also had a picture of a young male to be aware of. You share showers and toilets/restrooms with the other guests (like living in a dorm). I am assuming the toilets and sinks are original. There is a large kitchen to cook and a laundry room. It was very quiet in the common areas. The surrounding area was not close to the city center and definitely not posh. Great prices if you just need a place to get some sleep and get to say you stayed in a former prison. It wasn't very crowded when we stayed-- mostly young single people, who seemed to be staying for longer periods. Jailhouse Accommodations only had a few parking spaces in their lot. We were lucky to get a parking space. Overall, it was an interesting and unique experience.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2021
Response from Jail warden on 23 Jul 2021
Thanks very miuch for your comprehensive review. Very glad to read that you enjoyed the interesting unique features of staying in Jail. We love our Express check-in Kiosks and digital locks too, and that very much adds to it being a secure and safe place to stay. Yes the toilets and sinks, cell doors and window bars are original, we have tried to keep as many original feature as possible but upgraded where necesary, the beds and mattresses for example are fortunately not original! It is a fantastic, clean and comfortable and very reasonbly priced place to stay in Chch. Hope you can stay again.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
My first experience in jail
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2021
Response from Jail warden on 23 Jul 2021
Hope to see you in Jail again !

10/10 Excellent

gillian

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in May 2021

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Loved the experience of staying in a prison cell
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2021

10/10 Excellent

Helen

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
un and educational experience
My son and I stayed together. We had a great time. Feels safe and is also an historical education.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2021

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
stay elsewhere.
WiFi does not work outside common areas. This is just laziness as it would not be hard to put repeaters in the rooms. Kitchen is small and cramped. A lot of questionable people hanging around this hostel at all hours of the day with lots of people drunk and high. With stories of a massive fight from a few nights prior. The simple fact that their smoking area is where you have to walk through to get into the hostel is unacceptable when most places are completely smoke free. In times like these go spend your money elsewhere in accommodation that will actually appreciate your stay.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2020
Response from Nikki on 27 Oct 2020
Hi there, Thank you for taking the time to rate your stay with us. We really appreciate your feedback and so sorry to hear that you encountered a few issues during your time in Jail. We're really pleased to be able to offer free, unlimited wifi and it works super fast in all communal areas in the hostel. We are unfortunately faced with a challenge with the signal strength in the guest rooms because of the two feet thick walls. We do, however try and point this out to our inmates at check in and offer tips on how to get around the problem like opening the room door slightly to get a better signal so we're sorry if you missed out on that. We're sorry if you found the kitchen to be do small. We have tried to design and organize it so that there is as much space as possible and unlike most hostels, we keep it open 24 hours a day so that guests can choose their time to use the space when it might be less busy. With regards to the outdoor area, we are completely smoke free inside the building and whilst we don't encourage smoking and it's our preference for people to smoke away from the property, we feel it would be unfair not to provide a designated area outside, should some guests wish to smoke. We take security and our guests welfare very seriously and have cameras installed in various areas and your comments have prompted us to look at placing extra camera surveillance in the garden area. We don't allow non guests in any area of the hostel or it's grounds or accept any bad behaviour, including being intoxicated. We may not be open on the desk 24hrs a day but we encourage guests to contact our Night Warden, who is on site after hours should there be any issues or concerns. There is a buzzer on the front desk you can press to call them so we hope you were able to use that to alert them. Once again thank you so much for your comments. Kind regards, Nikki and the Jailhouse team

2/10 Terrible

Kathi

Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2020

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I like that most of the interior is still original, the tables are made with the original cell doors, there's also original and preserved prisoner art work on display.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2020

10/10 Excellent

Eljas

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Biking in nz
I spent there 2 nights before a 1-month bikepacking journey. They let me keep the bike inside. Staff was really friendly. The place was overall very clean.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2020

8/10 Good

SydW

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Was a very cool place to stay—wish we could have stayed longer!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2020
Response from Nikki on 10 Mar 2020
Thank you so much for your review and we're so happy that you enjoyed your time in Jail. You're welcome back anytime! Kind regards, Nikki and the Jailhouse team

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Facilities and rook fine. Stuck with some loud room mates which made for trouble sleeping
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2020
Response from Nikki on 10 Mar 2020
Hi, and thanks for taking the time to rate your stay in Jail. We're really glad to hear that you liked our facilities but sorry to hear about the problems you experienced with your room mates. We do encourage inmates in the shared dorms to be courteous and respectful towards others but we realize that sometimes noise disturbance can happen in shared, communal spaces. We do sell earplugs for a small fee at reception and for loud, unacceptable noise disturbance there is a Night Warden on duty throughout the night to assist should our guests need help with something. They can be reached by the call button on our front reception desk. Once again thank you for your feedback. Kind regards, Nikki and the Jailhouse team

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Unique. Very accommodating for late arrival. Thanks for good stay.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2020
Response from Nikki on 10 Mar 2020
Hi and thank you for your fantastic 5 star rating! We're really happy to hear that you enjoyed your stay and that our late check in system went smoothly for you. We'd love to see you back in Jail another time. Kind regards, Nikki and the Jailhouse team