Guest User
February 29, 2024
Our stay was disappointing. We are locals who have stayed in many places around the world and NZ in varying levels of accommodation and Awaroa Lodge is definitely not good value, even allowing for its isolated setting. Neither the service, the room nor the restaurant met our expectations of 4-star accommodation. The location is fantastic and it’s a real shame that poor management lets down a place with such potential. We paid $539 a night for a room that was only just ok. For a start, it is built over a swamp so that even opening the door just a fraction left it filled with mosquitoes, and there was nothing in the room to repel them. Two windows have screens but you can’t step out onto the balcony without letting the insects in. As well, the fridge wasn’t working until we called the maintenance man, the shower pressure was poor, and the shower drained so badly that it flooded the bathroom. The shower wasn’t even clean. The room wasn’t serviced for the 3 days we were there, which we were told was due to Covid. That should have been communicated to us before booking, with a commensurate reduction in price. There were none of the things you might expect of 4-star accommodation - no beach towels, robes, shampoo, conditioner, or even body wash. The restaurant service was a version of Fawlty Towers. We were brought a knife and fork to eat our Granola with at breakfast, and at dinner one meal didn’t arrive until we had finished the rest. Cutlery and glasses were mixed up, many different staff members attended our table (and there were plenty of empty tables) but none of them seemed to know what the others were doing. The food was average to terrible. One side dish (fried eggplant) was inedible and the ‘fresh garden salad’ consisted of a bowl of just one type of lettuce and sliced gherkins. The breakfast menu was limited and disappointing, the food average. We had elected to include breakfast when we booked our room, assuming it would be a buffet with plenty of options, but only once we sat down for breakfast on our first day were we told that we could only choose one item from the menu plus a drink and a coffee. This meant that the ‘breakfast included’ option is well overpriced. Even the booking process, and check-in and check-out, were disappointing, with questions going unanswered and requiring us to be proactive about our bags etc. It seemed like there was no overall plan about anything. These kinds of problems can’t be blamed on individual staff who were clearly poorly trained. This is a management problem, yet when I offered feedback to the manager, their response was defensive and customer-blaming. I would love to see this place be as good as it could be. PS By way of contrast, the pizzeria just 5 minutes away, offers really delicious pizzas and cold drinks in a lovely setting with excellent, friendly service. Far better value than the Lodge restaurant.