Hotel Reviews
We stayed in some fantastic places in New Zealand, from the character blessed Formerly The Blackball Hilton with wonderful host Chris, to the majesty of The Hermitage hotel at Mt Cook.
Hermitage Staff Complete Knobs Dickheads Obnoxious Jerks
As nice as The Hermitage was, many of the staff are complete knobs.
I was having a cleansing ale on the bar balcony late at night and had the experience of a pissed group of workers from the hotel sitting across from me slagging off guests for 20 minutes or so!
The staff might seem nice to your face, but once you’re tucked up in bed you get a good old fashioned slagging for daring to act like a guest should!
Okay, let’s start at the start and run through the hotel accommodation at each place we stayed.
Trailways Hotel – Nelson
We stayed at Trailways at the beginning and the end of the trip.
Friendly staff withe clean modern rooms, Trailways also features a delightful and reasonably priced restaurant.
After a long day’s traveling, the restaurant was good enough to stay open a little later to ensure we all got well fed and watered.
A about 500 metres from the centre of Nelson…read here for more.
Kaikoura – Kaikoura Gateway Motor Lodge
Kaikoura is a lovely part of the country on the east side of the South Island.
The Kaikoura Gateway Motor Lodge is a fairly new (opened in 2005), modern complex of 40+ units.
We had x2 2 bedroom apartments and they were….click for more.
Akaroa – Akaroa Criterion Motel
What a gorgeous place Akaroa is.
With a great position, the Akaroa Criterion Motel is ideally suited to enjoy the quaint French established tourist town right on the water……click here for more.
The Hermitage
Nice enough hotel with the most amazing view of any place I’ve ever stayed (click here for the view out of my window), but some of the staff are, without doubt, complete obnoxious jerks who speak appallingly behind the back of guests…..click here for more.
Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park
What a bargain the Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park was!
Beautifully situated just under the start of the Skyline Gondola that takes you to the top of the mountain, the Holiday Park is a very short walk to the centre of town (just a couple of hundred metres).
At this very popular and efficiently run Park, we had ourselves a….click here for more.
Westhaven Motel – Fox Glacier
Fox Glacier is a small tourist town set up for tours of the nearby Glacier and The Westhaven Motel is a nice, clean and tidy motel.
It’s pretty much smack, bang in the middle of town….read on for more.
Formerly The Blackball Hilton
I love hotels with character, friendly unpretentious service (yes The Hermitage, I’m talking about you!) and style.
Formerly The Blackball Hilton ticks all 3 boxes easily and was an absolute delight…..click here for more.
Song of the Tui
Okay, I confess.
When we rode to the top of the hill to the luxury B& B that is the Song of the Tui my first thought was “Oh Riley, you’ve screwed it up this time!”
After some terrific accommodation that suited 5 blokes on a motorbike trip around New Zealand, you can imagine my surprise to find ourselves at a gorgeous Bed & Breakfast run by an English artist called Reg Turner.
It didn’t really seem our style. And we were here for 2 nights!…..click here for more.
