Central Gateway Motel

The staff were friendly and the room was well looked after, so we had a comfortable stay. We were downstairs, though, and could hear noise from the people above us. Aside from that, it’s a lovely place.

We stayed four nights and had a brilliant time. Everything was clean, tidy, and working well, from the facilities to the immaculate rooms. Our host even offered us a lift to our dinner engagement when we weren’t sure where to go. That was really above and beyond, thank you!

We arrived after 8pm and found nobody at reception, so we couldn't check in. I hadn't noticed the fine print, but there were no after-hours directions to get to our room, no attempt to contact us, and nobody answered the help number. We ended up with nowhere to stay that night and slept in the car. Later, we learned the fine for sleeping in a car in NZ is $800. Lovely. After getting back to my home country, I checked with Expedia about the owner's response below. They said they had no record of the hotel owners contacting them. I also checked my phone records and had no incoming calls from the hotel. We did leave a message at the emergency contact number posted on the office door. For situations like this, I’d suggest putting directions to the rooms at the check-in counter. Other places I’ve stayed have done that. And if a customer calls the emergency number and leaves a message, someone should return the call. Those are the facts as I know them. I’ll leave it to others to judge.

We spent five nights here on our South Island trip, and the motel was better than we expected after staying at quite a few others. The units were spacious and well situated, the beds were great, and both the staff and host were excellent. Thank you, we’ll be back!