The Redwood Hotel

For a budget stay near the airport, I'd definitely recommend it. The building is dated, which shows in the price, but our room was absolutely spotless. The housekeeping team deserves real recognition for keeping an older property that clean.

The bathroom's water pressure was so poor that showering was nearly impossible, and the location is quite far from town. We also had a leaking toilet during our three nights at the Redwood Hotel. When we told reception, they said they already knew and couldn't get a plumber, offering an extra towel to put down instead. We went to reception three times on Saturday to ask about some compensation, since we didn't think we should pay full price for a room with such a major problem, but nobody was there all day. We then texted them. They said they'd try to sort it out with their boss, but when I followed up days later, after we'd left, they told me to email the boss. I did, and haven't had a response. We thought the price seemed reasonable at first, but I really don't recommend staying here. If you end up in this room, you're basically paying for a bed.

We ordered a seafood pizza from the Redwood restaurant, and it was delicious. There were also several other restaurants nearby, and Mobil, Caltex, Gull and other petrol stations were close, with great fuel prices. Our five-night booking covered an amazing six-day trip to Christchurch. The room was tidy and well kept, with clean floors, good heating, a small fridge and compact kitchenette. Tea, coffee, a few cookies and glassware were provided. The communal kitchen had all the usual cooking items, and the bathroom had reliable hot water. Housekeeping came every other day, which was lovely after long days exploring the mountains. Parking was easy, right in front of the unit, with plenty of room to load and unload bags and open the car doors. My only small suggestion is to upgrade the Android TV to a newer version, then it'd be good as gold. Five stars from us, and thanks for a wonderful stay.

The main problem with our three-night festival stay was a leaking toilet in the room. Water spread across the bathroom floor from around its entire base, and the smell was disgusting. When we reported it the next morning, the staff member said, “Oh yes, you’re in the ‘mystery room’. We call it that because the toilet leaks and we don’t know why.” They already knew about the fault and seemed to make a joke of it. They refused to call a plumber and offered a spare towel for the floor, even saying, “Don’t worry, we won’t charge you for the extra towel,” as if we should be grateful for that. It never came, and we had to stop a cleaner and ask for one ourselves. The shower was almost unusable, with only a weak trickle coming out, so we had to stand in the bathtub and splash water on ourselves. That's unacceptable for four people staying several days. The website says the hotel is eight minutes from town, but it took us about twenty minutes to get to the main part. By the second-to-last day we'd had enough. We went to reception several times to discuss compensation for the toilet, shower and lack of effort, but the desk was unattended every time. We eventually found a number and texted. Replies came very slowly, then stopped. They told us we could “contact the boss if we wanted.” As paying customers, we shouldn't have to track down management just to get a legitimate complaint acknowledged. We emailed the boss as suggested and still haven't had a response. We know the festival may have filled the hotel, so moving us might not have been possible. But after spending our hard-earned money, we expected at least a real attempt to fix the situation. They knowingly let guests book a room with a broken, leaking toilet. We think some form of compensation was the reasonable response. Instead, our messages were ignored. We'd never recommend staying here. Avoid it if you value basic hygiene, working facilities and even a small amount of customer service.