Dunedin's Youth Hostel Association backpackers has closed and is on the market, but the association says it wants to retain a presence in the city.
Stafford Gables, a 110-year-old, 22-bedroom villa in Stafford St, was placed on the market last week, with offers invited by September 28. The property has a rateable value of $550,000.
It had been owned and run by the Youth Hostel Association of New Zealand (YHA) for about 30 years, corporate services manager Maureen McCloy said when contacted.
The YHA website says Stafford Gables stopped accepting guests on Monday.
Guests contacting the central reservation service are being referred to another Dunedin backpackers' facility.
About half the association's 50 hostels throughout the country were owned or leased by YHA and the remainder were owned privately by associate partners who operated under the YHA banner, Mr McCloy said.
The Dunedin hostel was being sold to free up capital and because the association believed Dunedin could be serviced by an associate partner.
"We have been rethinking where we own hostels and where we have associate partners. My understanding is we are committed to a continuing presence in Dunedin."
YHA had been through a similar exercise in Oamaru recently, she said, selling the Red Kettle hostel to its managers and accepting them as associate partners.
Elsewhere in the Southern South Island, YHA owns, leases or has partnership hostels in Wanaka, Queenstown, Te Anau, the Catlins and Stewart Island.
