Whataroa Holidays from AU$1,593

Will stay again soon

I liked the location and the room itself was fine. My only complaint was the hotel had an offputting scent (wet carpet/wet dog). I can't really describe it and it unfortunately made my stay less enjoyable.

Will stay again soon

We originally booked one of the cheap rooms. But I couldn’t get over the style discrepancy. So I decided to upgrade to a red premium rooms as a surprise for my partner. Unfortunately, when I arrived, they didn’t have any knowledge of my room upgrade. We walked into the original room instead of the surprise. When we went back down to alert them to the error, I found out they’d given my room to someone else!! And after blaming Expedia for the error, they weren’t terribly apologetic or helpful. My surprise was ruined…. Which really bummed me out. But they gave us a comprable room and we made the best of it. The blue room was beautiful—we loved it. And the vibe of the hotel grew on me throughout our stay. It’s kinda dated and shabby. A lot of the art isn’t good. But it’s got CHARACTER! Being there feels like a fever dream-from the crowd to the improv jazz upstairs, it’s a vibe. A totally unique experience. So in the end I was happy. But they DO need to work on a few things—the bathroom near the pool had no toilet paper or seat covers. When I’m paying over $1K per night, I expect more. The service wasn’t particularly friendly or helpful. We never knew what the WiFi was, nor did anyone tell us how to find the pool and the jazz. The place smells like an eccentric old man, and kinda feels like that too. It’s not for everyone. But if you’re looking for a romantic hidden gem and like an out-of-the-box experience, this might be it!