Hotels near Cairnfield Reserve, Whangarei

This is a great motel. After Easter camping washed out this was my bolt hole. I needed dry and wifi for a couple of days of work. The management are friendly, efficient and considerate. The room was fab- fresh, clean and spacious. With big comfy bed, FULL and well equipped kitchen (speedy convection hob and oven), the bathroom is new with a powerful hot shower. The little detail of a provincial style table [rather than ugly built in desk unit] is cute. Double extra points for clear signed in room recycling, no single use bathroom products and they don’t take the towels when you don’t need them too! There’s a small pool, but it was seasonally closed in mid April :( The negatives… there’s no cafetière and the shower door leaks! Would recommend and would happily return.

After many years working in high end luxury lodges - I realised the thing that set us all apart was the service we provide and our ongoing pursuit of exceeding the guests expectations. Whilst the Pembrooke Lodge is not a Luxury Lodge (and nor does it pitch itself to be), the service I received way exceeeded what I expected. Firstly - the rooms are dated yes - but they are VERY clean and spacious and the bed very comfortable. I arrived early in the morning as I was heading north for the day on business so asked if I could park my car on site as I was travelling with a colleague. Not only could I leave y car there, but was handed the key and told to check in to the room if I wanted to - and is was not quite 10am!!! Upon returning from Kaitaia, I went to my car to see something over my drivers side window - and immediately thought that someone had broken in - but no, I had left the window open and after a beautiful morning in Whangarei - the heavens opened in the afternoon and the owners saw my open window and took it on themselves to cover the gap with a towel to prevent the inside of my car getting wet. I was of course incredibly grateful. That is the stuff that impresses me and reaffirms in my mind that this is exactly the place I will return to, over and over when transiting Whangarei. I will also tell this story a hundred times in the hope that other travelers through Northland experience the wonderful husband and wife team who manage the Lodge. Thank you for a memorable stay in your lodge and yes - I will absolutely return!!

Nice, quiet place had everything we needed for our 4 day stay. We only needed to sleep there and were out everyday. It served its purpose. Fastest service ever. Has a nice quiet garden area, spa, lots of parking.

Please look after Pau the same way she looks after us! She is amazing.She makes mine and the boys stay very good. Pretty much the only reason we come back is cos of her. The food is yum, portions could be bit more for us though as some of the boys don't come breakfast yet we are still charged for it, but if we ask for extra food they don't really give it cos it aint in the ”budget” of $110 that our company pays for food everyday.

Was an ok stay for one night slightly higher pricing and the mattresses were a bit past so not a good sleep unfortunately then we were rudely awoken by someone bashing on our door and didn't stop til we opened it only to go sorry wrong room this was at 7am unfortunately we left before open hours of the office or we would have asked for a partial refund on our stay

The hotel location is good, but it is old, but the bar is good, parking is convenient, we drove past Wangrei to rest for one night, so the requirements are not high, and it is ok

Restaurant review: I went with a group of friends so luckily sociability was more of a priority for me than the food and this was the saving grace for the night. Flames in my opinion cannot be described as an atmospheric dining experience as touted. For the non discerning diner who is happy with pub style fare the menu served, it was questionably passable. Those seeking atmosphere or a romantic intimate setting should look elsewhere. That aside the staff were pleasant. Overall the standard of food was not up to basic chef standard which makes me question if there was a trained chef in the kitchen.. My chicken Parmigiana and accompanying risotto balls were deep fried and overcooked resulting in dry fillets rather than succulent as described in the menu. The tomato sauce was missing and it was covered in what looked like a crinkled yellow sheet of plastic type cheese. The accompanying piece of broccoli and bok choy provided a welcome relief to this desert fare. I managed to get through half of the meal only. Complaints abounded from others who complained of tough steaks, dark brown chips, coleslaw instead of seasonal salad and the desert menu looked more suited to a child's menu being lots of over-sauced and cherried icecream and a panacotta that was tasteless and resembled a very solid door stop .What was served was at odds with the description on the website and I failed to see where any real or imaginative cooking or presentation had taken place. It all seemed more like freezer to deep fryer fare and this is fine if those were our expectations and the menu priced accordingly. If this review seems harsh its not meant to be, I wish it were the opposite but hopefully it will lead to reflection and improvements. its just that I can tell when food is not prepared with care and love and its somewhat irritating when ingredients are seemingly trampled on, they deserve better. Suffice to say, I will not be frequenting this restaurant for a 'dining experience' again. Unfortunately no photos were taken as despite the poor quality of food the company was excellent and we all had an enjoyable time catching up.