Hostelling - The Shining

Traveling on a budget requires some austerity measures, and among them is staying in hostels. Sometimes these can be quite interesting; you get to meet other travelers and the owners/hosts are often very cool. On the other hand, sometimes you find less than desirable places to stay. We have a couple of reference books, and they provide excellent information about most sleep options in the places we visit. However, these can be a little out of date, or entirely inaccurate as the case may be.

While traveling from Napier to Wellington, we came upon a nice looking place (from the outside) and it was getting late so we decided to stop. I’m sure it was a lovely place in its prime, but that must have been many years ago. To be honest, I was reminded immediately of The Shining, but I didn’t say anything to Erin about it because we would have had to move immediately.

The next morning (when I had my courage up), I went for a walk through the place to explore it from end to end and I came upon the JA Betts Lounge area. The pictures do not show the true creepiness of the lounge. Even in the daylight I expected to see a scary ghost working the counter or even Jack Nicolson carrying an axe. Fortunately, neither were in the house.


If you ever find yourself in Masterton, look elsewhere for room & board.

J