We spent two months in New Zealand hostels and this was The Best--quiet, well-equipped, in a gorgeous location with the best host and hostess in the country. They spent lots of time with us, giving us directions on where to go and what to see in great detail. The fire in the evening was terrific. We were fortunate enough to see the yellow-eyed penguins several times while we were staying at Billy Browns. Billy also showed around his sheep shed, explaining everything to us.

Billy Browns Backpackers has only 3 rooms (1 Double, 1 Twin and 1 4 person bunk bed). We booked the whole unit for our group.

The unit is located on top of the hill, overlooking the harbor. Though the drive up to the backpackers is challenging due to the steep driveway, however, he view is spectacular and amazing. You may call Billy for help, if you have difficulty driving up the hill.

All rooms in the backpackers are clean and spacious. There are few bathroom and toilet available. However, there is some gap at the toilet's door where ladies may feel uncomfortable with when sharing the backpackers with stranger. The lounge area has a fire place, and some antique furniture.

We were lucky and feel thankful to Billy, who brought us for a short stroll in his farm. We enjoyed to see how Roy, the sheep dog gather all the sheep into the barn!

My daughter and I stayed at Billy Browns while waiting for the Canterbury University to reopen after the earth quake....we stayed at many back packers and by far Billy and Ann were the most honest and open Kiwi' owners we ran into. Their backpacker is filled with antique furniture, 3 well designed baths, (one ADA) some private rooms, and a kool dorm with 1950's farm magazine pages as wall paper. antique 9 foot entry doors and a homey sitting area with wood stove and LP albums to listen to. The immaculate building sits on top of a high hill over looking the bay on two sides and is surrounded by Anne and Billy's flower gardens and a real red English phone booth. Billy runs a sheep ranch and the wandering critters in the neighboring pasture add to the homy feel. We planned to stay one night but felt so at home we felt lucky to be able to stay for two.
This is a Gem and the highlight of a 3 week tour of the south island

The views, the accommodation, the local wildlife and Anne and Billy make this is a fantastic place to stay. This is a top quality hostel, there is a laundry, two cookers one gas one electric, a toilet, two showers plus a shower/toilet and no television was a plus for us. Both fur seals and sea lions breed on the local beaches and you can take the Monarch boat trip looking for albatross, penguins and other wildlife. The museum in Port Chalmers is worth a couple of hours and opposite that is the library with free wifi. Ask Anne and Bill about the local history, the old school, the cheese factory and how they met. There are only two points which could be improved, it does not have internet access and the drive up to the hostel. You may have heard of Baldwin Street in Dunedin which is reputed to be the steepest street in the world well I think that parts of the drive to the hostel are as steep as that and this is only gravel. Some guests left their cars at the bottom and walked up or got a lift from Billy. If you have front wheel drive reverse up otherwise you will have trouble. We stayed four nights and would have stayed longer if we could. You won’t be disappointed with Billy Browns