New Zealand Hotel Reviews

We had a group of eight, so organizing eight outspoken persons (especially my four year old), was challenging. We did tour Nelson Lakes, the Marlborough Sounds, and the Abel Tasman Park (as well as Nelson itself). It is hard to think of a region in New Zealand with as many things to do.

Spent driving around for 4 days in Christchurch and Mt Hutt. The drive up Mt Hutt is not for the faint hearted. The Thai restaurant in Methven was quite nice. Some authentic Korean restuarants in city centre. The cable car experience was very nice. The sunday market was a bit dissapointing.

Can recommend Auckland Wine Trail Tours - the owner really knows his stuff. City museum well worth a couple of hours.

Rotorua was a lovely place. We were there for the Lions rugby, and we were made to feel very welcome by ALL the locals.

For a little action, I tried bungy jumping at the Kawarau Bridge, and the Shotover Jet boat ride. Both were excellent and tons of fun. Rather expensive, but worth the money. For scenery, I booked the Nomad Safari LOTR tour. There are 2 tours to choose from and both cover different locations. I asked the booking desk to recommend and the 2 people who worked there both recommended the Glenorchy area saying that they''ve been there and it''s extremely beautiful. Since we were going on a 4W drive, we expected a bumpy ride. But the ride going away from town was about 45 minutes to an hour and was on curvy roads. So if you get car sick, don''t do this tour!!! Anyway, we did stop at Glenorchy, but only because the driver needed to go to the bathroom. Was it as beautiful as the booking desk ladies said? I''ll never know because I only saw a small town restaurant and a public bathroom next to it. The major sites we stopped at was Isengard and the site where Sam cooked rabbit stew. It''s just some dried bits of land but its background sceneries of the mountains are nice. We drove by some wooded area (which may have been the forest of Lothlorien, part of the tour), but never went through it, and I don''t believe it was even mentioned. We did drive by miles of sheep farms and that was different and nice. For the money, I thought this tour was not worth it...and a waste of time. There were nice background sceneries, but you get these beautiful sceneries anywhere your head turns in Queenstown, and it''s free. Also, definitely take the gondola up to the peak for wonderful views and there''s no rush to go down. Try the luge ride, great for adults as well as kids. Nice little cafe there too. Food prices are unexpectedly reasonable as I always expect to get "robbed" when I''m at these type of tourist places. As for food, I always like a good mix of higher end restaurants and affordable restaurants. One of my favorite "affordables" is the Express Diner. I believe it''s on Shotover Street. Great wait staff, fair prices, and pretty good food. I went during low season and most of the restaurants are quite empty, except for the Express Diner. Don''t let the name fool you. It''s a few notches above the average diner in the United States.

Christchurch is a city to walk around in. The Arts and Craft Center downtown is an excellent place to buy something special. We enjoyed whale watching and the Trans Alpine although the scenery at home (Alaska) I must say is just as beautiful. Nevertheless, we found the railroad trip worthwhile especially since you don''t have to drive.

I really enjoyed visiting Dunedin. We went to Larnach castle and to Royal Albatross Colony. Both of the excursions were very interesting, and I would highly recommend the tour about the albatross.

I strongly recommend the Night Sky tour run by staff from the nearby Observatory. On a clear night with good visibility the stargazing from this little town is stunning and you need a professional guide just to find your way around the sky.

Stewart Island is a wonderful place to visit for a few days, but to get the most out of it you need to be fit and a good walker not dismayed by steep hills. Don''t miss a trip to Ulva Island to see rare NZ birds. Ruggedy Range Tours do an excellent half-day guided trip starting early in the morning when the birds are active. I saw 14 species including an owl which is supposed to be nocturnal! You can also take a trip in a semi-submersible which lasts an hour, although after twenty minutes you are unlikely to see anything you haven''t already had your fill of. To see kiwis in their natural habitat you have to go out on a small boat at night and spend a couple of hours tramping around the bush with torches-great fun if you are lucky enough to spot a kiwi but there is no guarantee of sightings. The South Sea Hotel and the Church Hill Cafe both serve a decent lunch of local seafood. I was very lucky with the weather but I don''t think I would have enjoyed myself nearly so much if it had been wet or cold. Take plenty of reading material with you because you won''t be able to buy any, except booklets on local and natural history.

Hired a car for a couple of days which was brilliant as we went to a few places which would have been difficult to get to otherwise, ie Glenorchy, which has the most amazing walks around it from 1 hour to 3-4 hours. Arrowtown which is an old mining town and extremely interesting and the ski slopes ( no snow ) but very interesting. Took a coach booked through hotel to Milford Sound which was wonderful. Too much to see to think of driving and the coach Great Sights was wonderful with a great driver/commentator. We took a coach with the same company from Christchurch to Queenstown which was well worth it as the scenery was amazing. Of course the drivers know all the good places to stop for the photographers! Best meal was a restaurant called The Captain, brilliant food and service. Queenstown a wonderful experience. Recommend it to everyone.

Glenorchy (about 45 km from Queenstown) was stunning, beautiful and very much worth the drive.

A beautiful city with lots of lovely eating places, eg Dux du Lux nearly opposite the YMCA, and a wonderful market on the Sunday. The Arts Centre is ''something else'' and, of course, the Wizard is not to be missed! The tram is so handy from the YMCA to the city centre and is very cheap at $12.50 for 2 days. Can''t wait to come back!!

Dunedin is a lovely city. Would recommend Royal Albatross & Penguin Colonies. Monarch Cruises are excellent.

Do try the Twisted Hop micro brewery & pub if you like English beer!

We chose the Bayview Chateau NZ. because we decided that we were going to attempt the infamous Tonagriro crossing. This is a 17km tramp across 3 volcanoes and the hotel is situated very close by. The hotel staff helped with organising a return shuttle to and from the start and end of the crossing, the walking was up to us. 17km does not sound like a long way to walk throughout a full day, however when most of it is either straight up or down, it soon becomes more of a task. The effort however is well worth it, the views are simply spectacular, the live volcanoes beneath your feet are awesome and the bath at the end of the day is extremely welcome. Please if you visit the North Island in New Zealand take time (and good walking boots) to visit this amazing place.

Just far enough out of town that having a car was helpful for us (I''m not sure what transportation facility was available at the hotel.) We were close to, and visited, nearby winery (several times for cheese platter and wine), 18-hole golf course (NZ$125 pp plus cart fee), and a couple tourist stops (Craters of the Moon, and park). Taupo itself is a nice little town with a variety of restaurants and taverns, not to mention the lake (very beautiful.)

We hired a car from Avis which we were very pleased with and loved the flexibility it gave us to explore such a beautiful place! I''d definitely recommend NZone tandem skydiving (located in the Town Centre) - very professional and fun and it''s definitely worth buying the DVD! We also did Off Road Quad Biking, good value for money and a decent time on the quads - make sure you wear old clothes as you get very dirty!!! The gondola/luge is also quite a fun way to spend a couple of hours and see the amazing views.

The hotel is next door to the Antarctic Center. It is a good place to go. There is a bus stop in front of the hotel that you can go to downtown Christchurch. There is great shopping and food and tourist attractions. At the firehall, there is a Sept 11 memorial and they have some of the steel beams from the World Trade Center in a sculpture. Downtown is a good place to spend several hours. Buy a "day pass" when you get on the bus for $7 and you will be able to return to the Sudima whenever you want that day. I mistakenly bought a one way for $5.

The new musueum, Ta Papa is excellent, must visit. Love the quayside areas and the wondeful mix of old/not-so-new architecture. We made the mistake of not allocating enough days to ''do'' W''ton properly - by far the best, most interesting, scenic City in NZ.

We only stayed the one night,as we were moving on to Hamilton the very next morning. So no actual comment can be given about Auckland. Travelled the next day by the "Overlander" train to Hamilton. This was also a very nice experience, and a very good way of seeing the countryside of New Zealand.