Update: 11am, 2nd March 2011
YHA New Zealand is slowly re-opening in Christchurch. We want people to understand that although the centre of the city is closed there are backpackers operating outside the CBD. We completely understand that you might not choose Christchurch for a holiday right now, but it does mean you can still get into the South Island and enjoy a tour from here.More details are below:
At our Customer Services Centre and Head Office life is slowly returning to normal. We have nearly all of our staff back. Everyone has been magnificent putting in a big effort to clean up and to overcome their own fears and troubles to come back to work.
Some key points are:
- We are open for bookings around New Zealand.
- Our 0800 278 299 phone is diverted to an off site call centre at the moment
- Email is the best way to contact us.
- We have cleared the backlog of emails since the earthquake
- We will honour all cancellations made during and because of the quake. This applies to Christchurch and to other New Zealand hostels
- Refunds may take some time
- We are still not able to access our Christchurch hostels
- One of our first priorities will be to collect all luggage and try to get it back to guests
