Twinlake Villas

Our villa faced the lake and was very clean. It had plenty of supplies, including extra pillows and blankets, kitchenware, and fans in every room. The host was gracious and available whenever we needed anything. The only letdown was that the geothermally heated spa on the resort grounds wasn’t warm by evening, though that’s outside the Twin Lake Villa managers’ control.

We loved the unusual villas, the wraparound boardwalk, the lake view and the canals for paddle boarding. Everything was clean, the beds were super comfortable, and the amenities were generous, including lots of hot drink sachets and milk. It felt like great value, with a handy information pack and town nearby. Sheree was helpful with local tips, but some off-colour comments she made about Maori and local iwi left me uncomfortable. I hope she doesn’t make other guests feel unwelcome.

The owner was kind and very friendly. She even offered us a kayak at no charge and showed the children how to use it, which we really appreciated. Our group of 20 stayed for two nights in Dec 2017, and this was one of our favourite places on our New Zealand road trip. We’d definitely book these Villas again if we return to NZ. :-)

We found it safe and reasonably priced for a room of that size. It’s a nice place for families, with good views and decent-sized rooms. The owner was very friendly and quick to respond whenever we needed something. The city isn’t far, and a huge entertainment centre is about 15 minutes away. The one downside was the Wi-Fi, which didn’t work on either of our two visits. That wouldn’t stop us coming back, though. We could use unlimited data from Spark instead.