Peppers Bluewater Resort

The staff were friendly and professional, and the room was comfortable with a good supply of basics for self-catering. It was an easy place to find on the main road from Christchurch, and only a short walk from the main sights, so it worked well as a base for exploring. We had a very happy, comfortable one-night stop on our road trip from Christchurch to Queenstown. Would highly recommend Bluewater Resort!

Bring your own extension cord. The location is outstanding and the view is amazing, but the apartment layout makes no sense. You enter on the bedroom level, while the living area and kitchen are upstairs. There are no outlets by the bedside tables, only outlets on the floor or upstairs in the kitchen, and all the others are near floor level. I called reception because of the lack of outlets and asked for an extension cord. They said they don’t provide one. When I asked what I was supposed to do, they suggested using the outlets upstairs. But how could I leave something charging there overnight? What if I got an important call, or couldn’t hear my alarm? Don’t expect help from duty manager Monica. I was ready to leave, and Monica kindly, sarcastically, suggested I do just that. But there were no other hotels with same-day availability. It was a lovely attitude and no solution beyond leaving if I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t happy, but had no choice 🤷🏻‍♀️. The location and view do make the attitude and inconveniences easier to forgive.

The bathroom was the best part, well appointed and with a nice shower. At reception, we were curtly told that the restaurant was fully booked and there was no room for us at dinner. That turned out well, since we found a lovely meal down the road for half the price. We stayed one night. I know it’s a luxury resort and you get what you pay for, but even though we booked their lowest room category, this was the most expensive stop on our holiday. The room was about 4m x 4m, more like a standard bedroom, with two single beds and barely enough space to walk around. There was nowhere to put our suitcases or hang clothes. At that price, we’d hoped for a lovely room, not the dog box we ended up with.

We only stopped overnight, so didn’t use the hotel facilities, and there was no T5. The reception welcome was friendly. Our one-bedroom villa was on the third floor overlooking the lake, which made the views perfect. It was a nice room with a large bed.