RotoVegas Motel

We stayed four nights with a seven-year-old, and found the rooms comfortable, well furnished, and very well kept. There’s plenty of parking on site. The washer and dryer are in an adjacent block and cost NZ$4 each for a wash and a dry. There are enough restaurants and a supermarket nearby. It’s a nice hotel in central Rotorua, and I’d highly recommend it.

We could walk from the motel to the supermarket and into town, which made the location really handy. The house worked so well for our large group, with a roomy, comfortable living area and a kitchen that had everything we needed. There were plenty of towels and blankets, too. The downside was that the house could have been cleaner.

The room itself was nice, but it was noisy on most nights, and the missing hot tub was a big part of why I’m giving it three stars. We’d booked and paid in advance for the $155-a-night room with a spa, but arrived to find we’d been put in the $140 room without one. The staff member said none were available and wouldn’t refund even the price difference or move us. Yet her online booking page showed another hot tub room available, and we were able to book a second room there. If we’d known we wouldn’t get the spa or a refund, we wouldn’t have paid extra. She quoted a consumer guarantee and said we couldn’t be reimbursed. I found that unfair and rude, especially since we had to pay before arrival. She was okay and could tell us where to eat, but wasn’t helpful with the room issue. I think the male staff member would have been more understanding and accommodating. The advertising felt misleading. I’d have given five stars if they’d refunded the difference between the room we paid for and the one we got.

The location put us right among lots of attractions, which was great. Our room had a cute retro look, plus a hot tub and kitchen. It got pretty warm during the day, but opening the windows at night cooled it down.