Halfmoon Bay Cottage would certainly rate as one the best backpackers I have stayed at. It is a beautiful character home, with large rooms and a comfortable bed. The lounge and dining room are well appointed with period furniture, and there is an abundance of books, magazines and games. The verandahs around the house have comfy chairs, inviting you to hang around all day and enjoy the beautiful country garden. The kitchen is well equipped although overcrowded and busy at times. To be fair, we found the other guests very pleasant and considerate.
The owners Cornelius & Margo are very hands-on around the house from early morning to late at night making sure everything is kept in tip top condition and clean. The main drawback would be that there is only one separate toilet and two showers, so with 16 people in the house at the time of our stay, there was a lot of pressure on the facilities, and often long waits. There is not even a separate hand basin on site if you wanted to wash your hands (as the basins are in the toilet and showers). When we booked the Air B’n B description mentioned “luxury accommodation” and ‘shared bathroom facilities’ however, it was not evident that there would be such a large number of people for so few facilities or that this is actually a Backpackers. So it wasn’t quite what we expected. (It seems that since we stayed they have updated the description). We booked through Air B’nB and paid substantially more than had we booked directly or through the Backpackers association. I would definitely recommend this accommodation if you want a clean, well kept backpackers in a beautiful setting, however, if you wanted a bit more privacy it might not be for you. Also recommend not to book through Air B’nB.