Quest on Durham

The friendly woman at reception offered a $45 discount for the inconvenience, but the broken spa bath had already spoiled our romantic night. We booked room 16 for my wife and me, though you can’t choose a specific room and are assigned one at random. The spa bath we expected was out of order. The window looked onto a large white plastic covering for the building work next door, and the balcony was shared with about ten other rooms, so there was no privacy outside. The TV picture was so poor you could hardly see it, and the air conditioning was far too small for the room. No other rooms or upgrades were available. Very disappointing, and highly unlikely we’ll book here again.

The bed was amazing, and the room was very clean and affordable. The location is handy for both central Tauranga and the Mount. They kindly let us check in early. Even with construction across the road, it was so quiet, the rooms must be soundproof.

The bed was nice and the room was large, but that’s about the only positive. We paid $195 for one night in room 138 after booking through booking.com, and it felt like we’d been given one of the worst rooms because of that. We arrived at 3pm while room service was still cleaning it. There was just one towel and face cloth for two people, no view beyond construction about two metres from the window, and only four tea and coffee packets with three mini milks. Some lights were blown, there was mould in the bathroom, and no shampoo, conditioner or body wash. The sofa was ripped. This wasn’t up to standard and should be considered one or two stars. I would avoid this place.

The night manager did a good job of being on call whenever we needed something, but the room wasn’t what we expected. We were meant to have a spa bath and there wasn’t one. The carpet was filthy and the beds had cheap mattresses. I was there with my family, and I don’t think I’d stay again or recommend the place.