Picton Accommodation Gateway Motel

My husband and I stayed in a studio budget room - number 16 for 2 nights. On our arrival at reception there was one person checking in at the time. The lady checking us in seemed overwhelmed that someone was waiting and was not very welcoming. She told us how much we owed and when we paid, proceeded to hand us the key. I asked if she had a map of the area and was handed a bit of paper. No welcome, "enjoy your stay" or anything. We got a better reception and a map from the volunteer welcoming those off the cruise ship and the ferry. The room was on level 1 and a bit of a struggle carrying 2 suitcases and backpacks up many stairs. It was clean and appeared to be recently painted with a newly tiled bathroom. However, the skylight in the bathroom gave away the age of the place as it hadn't been touched since the motel was built. It looked terrible. The hot water came through reasonably quick, the towels were of good quality but only a sachet of shampoo and conditioner provided and no tissues. There was a king size bed, a single bed, 2 old bedside chests with 1 drawer in each. A small ***** light on the wall above the chest of drawers which you had to get out of bed to turn on and a ceiling light. A small round wicker/glass table and 2 wicker chairs were crammed in against the front window. Some of the slats on the venetian blind were broken and the curtain was not much better than a piece of rag. One plus for us was the long bench space where we could put both suitcases up off the floor. It would have been better to have renovated the room in its entirety and made it more attractive. A bit overpriced compared to the previous 6 places we had stayed in on our road trip around New Zealand.

Highly disappointed when getting to my room. The website paints the picture that this place is amazing with sea views and nice rooms… WELL LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING. This place is disgusting. Paint peeling off the walls, pillows need replacing, carpet needs to be replaced as it is filthy in fact the whole room needs to be gutted and started from scratch. I paid $200 per night and expected some thing decent . This is worth about $75 per night on a good day. Kitchen is so old that the paint on the walls wants to leave. I travel a lot and stay at some pretty nice places around the South Island and will never be staying here again… I regret coming here …Don’t waste your money you can and will do better.

Won't be back, photos online looked decent but different story. A Staff member was rude. Pillows were paper thin and shower head was broken. Loud and noisy. Left a day early as was not happy at all..

Great central location with restaurants, bars, shops & inter island ferry within short walking distance. A good size room that was clean & well set up. Check in was quick & with friendly helpful staff. Car rentals are close by and on site parking is provided. Couldn’t go wrong staying here & great value for money.

Perfect. With a ferry delayed by seven hours and arriving into Picton at 0130 am. this trip could have turned sour. Communication was perfect and made a difficult situation easy. Room is spacious, clean, quiet and heaps of clean white towels. Definitely a good stop in Picton.

Only book this place if no other option in Picton. Worst experience I’ve had in 15 years of staying in motels/hotels for 6 months a year I’ve had!! Staff breach privacy on 2 occasions and when questioned was told to F…OFF. Shame on GateWay Motel. Book at own peril

It is what it is: a basic, no frills motel situated on the main street of Picton town. Ideal for a 1 night stay if you are catching the ferry to keep the rain off your head The positives are: the bed was comfortable, the sheets clean and crisp. Cutlery and crockery was spotless. Our bathroom in the upstairs Queen room seemed to have recently been rennovated although the shower has an enormous step up to get into it, its quite humerous. If you have limited mobility youd struggle. The negatives: very few powerpoints, and what ones there are are in weird locations. You have to find one behind the TV just to plug in the kettle. The TV sitting on a bench has a spaghetti of cables which is unsightly (should be mounted on wall with plugs and wires hidden). Wi-Fi is shockingly poor, no good if you have buisness to do. The bathroom sliding door had no guides at the bottom so the entire door can swing in and out. The lighting in the room is hiddeous; super bright ***** lights behind the bed and an ugly glass shade and basic bulb on the ceiling. Decore cheap with ugly artwork and Warehouse curtains. Single glaze windows allows voices from people sitting on the balony in the evenings to be heard clear as day in the rooms, not ideal if you are trying to rest for an early morning ferry crossing. The table and chairs in the room is actually aluminium patio furniture that should be outside. UHT milk in fridge horrid. Is it worth $175 a night without breakfast? Probably not, but I guess they can charge what they like because ferry passengers often need to overnight in Picton.