We arrived in Punakaiki and found a twin room in their second location, just down the street behind the tavern and off the beach. The common facilities were excellent. The kitchen seemed new and the bathrooms were extremely clean. It wasn't on the beach, but we could still hear the waves crashing at high tide.

As other posters have mentioned, there isn't a lot to eat in Punakaiki, so bring your own food.

My only recommendation for the owners would be that they need new sheets for the bunks. The sheets in our room were extremely worn and thin.

Very nice experience, excellent location right by the beach.
Our double room had a great double bed and was overlooking the ocean.
The communal area is quite big with lots of board games and luckily no TV. The bathrooms are clean. Access to wi-fi was $10 for a full day (until the check out on the following day) - much better than in other hostels where you pay that for limited data.
It's about a 10 min walk to the Pancake Rocks.

Me and my friend were travelling from Dunedin to Auckland and stayed a night here. This place was magic, rooms ten metres from the beach , friendly manager, and all round friendly people staying there. It was in walking distance to the pub also. Amazing place.

I stayed here in December 2010. When we arrived the very friendly owner asked us did we want to experience an unusual place to stay, and we said why not. So he showed us to our room - a truck/ camper van type set up with no wheels. It was cute and basic and definitely different, but not great if you wanted to use the bathroom during the night as its very dark and we had to cross the yard to get to the building. The bed was comfortable and the howling wind outside made us feel very cosy and secure in our little van.

The weather was pretty bad when we stayed here so we made us of the hostel facilities. There is a very nice kitchen/ games room and comfortable space to lounge and read. The key Punakaiki attraction (the rocks) is about a ten minute walk away. Apart from the local pub there is not much else here, but in hot weather it would be an amazing spot as it is right on the beach.