I stayed at a Imperial backpackers two years ago and was very keen to persuade my four friends to stay with me this time. Frustratingly, a bunch of little irritating things add up to a negative review, when actually Imperial backpackers should be a great place to stay. The kitchen is great, with lots of equipment and fridges and space for your food. The hot water in the bathrooms takes a while but it’s really hot when it does come through. Beds are comfy and the room had an efficient heater. And there’s a guy called John who is so helpful – he was a guest last time. I was there, but now he works for the organisation. All in all, it should be a five star place. However, in the past couple of years, I don’t think they’ve done much maintenance In our room, the locker doors were either locked shut or couldn’t be shut (and there was no place to put the padlock that the website suggested we bring!). Our flyscreens were also badly torn, while in our friends’ room across the hall, there were gaps at bottom and top of the windows, which let in both freezing blasts of winter air, and the hideous smell of cigarette smoke from directly beneath the windows. Stuffing several towels in the gap eventually did the trick, but it shouldn’t be necessary. And there’s a bunch of inaccurate/ misleading/ dangerous signage. Firstly, there are 2 huge fire doors as you climb the stairs from the night entrance. They both have large signs saying they must be kept shut at all times (they are, after all, fire doors). But they are both left open all the time, and I was told have been for a while. On the main entrance door, opposite reception, the biggest sign says office house are 9-5.30pm (same as last time) but right below it is another sign saying office hours are 9.30-230pm This shorter opening time impacted our stay in several ways,l. With that office only open from 930 to 230pm, eerything else is “ after hours”. So, if you want to use the laundry - you pay a deposit and a per hour fee - you have to do so between 930 and 2:30 pm. If you want to leave your bags during the day, after checking out at 10 am, you can only do so till 2:30 pm. (Last time we left our bags until 5pm , when we got the Skybus to the airport(. We phoned the Imperial number, at 3pm on day 2 , to ask for a second key to our room, and we’re told that there would be an “after hours fee” of $20, even though it was still 3 pm. None of this happened on our first visit, and the website doesn’t mention that all the services mentioned are only available 5 hours/ day. So, like I said, I should be giving a great rating, but I’d go for 2 1/2 stars.
