We stayed at Lake Tekapo Scenic Resort for one night during our stay in Tekapo…read more As soon as we arrived, we checked in at the office and they escorted us to our room facing the beautiful blue lake! The room itself is very spacious and comfortable with a bed, couch and neat bathrooms. I loved waking up to the sight of the lake. So refreshing! There is car parking space in the property. Breakfast joints and restaurants are 2 min walk away. There's also a convenient store nearby and a gas station as well. Best location! Lake Tekapo is a very popular place to see the milky way galaxy. At night, you simply walk out of the room and walk for a few minutes towards the lake and look up. Boom, if the skies are clear that day, then you see the lovely galaxy. I LOVED my stay in this resort and couldn't recommend enough.

We had a perfectly serviceable stay here for two nights in a lake view studio…read more We booked well in advance because there are extremely limited options in this part of the South Island in terms of traditional hotel/motel rooms. It's about an hour from Mt. Cook, which was our primary reason for booking. The room is roughly on par with an American Best Western. The room was spacious and included a sitting area, small fridge, and balcony. The decor was dated but clean. The property included other rooming options for backpackers, so we were essentially next to a hostel dorm, but they were quiet. Keep in mind that Lake Tekapo is a small town. The motel office is not a 24 hour front desk (I think it closed at 8) so you may want to try calling ahead if you're arriving in the wee hours. There are some good dining options literally steps from the motel, but good luck getting a table or even finding an open shop after about 8 or 9. Plan accordingly. Finally, despite the very real beauty of Lake Tekapo, this spot is not especially serene one for two reasons: (1) the town is overrun by tourists (yes, I recognize the irony of that statement), and (2) the motel's lake view is increasingly obscured by a hostel and what looks to be a new astronomy center. Our view of the lake from the second floor therefore looked out over the parking lot and between those two buildings. I suspect this may be why we saw the motel listed for sale on a local real estate board.

We booked the small room. The bathroom is a good size, but the room space is very small for two…read morepeople. Our room had two twin beds. There is no closet and limited space to put suitcases. The room was clean. Parking is in front of the room. We added the breakfast. It had many hot options and you can order basic cooked eggs. Omelettes and fancy coffee drinks were extra. The free coffee machine made instant coffee. There is fresh fruit. You have a view of the mountains from the restaurant. There is a fireplace in the lobby and restaurant. Staff was friendly. There are no other amenities like a pool, hot tub, bbq grill, etc.

This was probably the most disappointing place we stayed on our NZ trip. It looks nice and the…read morelocation is great, but when you have driven 5 hours to get here and arrive at 4.15pm to be told that your room is not ready was not a good start. We were offered a free drink and told that it would be ready in half an hour. After an hour had passed with no update, we discovered that the concierge lady we had dealt with had gone off duty without leaving instructions, and the replacement had no idea that we were even waiting for a room. After demanding to speak to the manager, they suddenly managed to find a room for us but were completely unapologetic for the delay. Due to a large party of Asian guests arriving at the same time (who all mysteriously had rooms available), we couldn't get a restaurant booking until 8.30pm, and even then we had to wait until after 9pm to get service. The rooms are small with little storage space. There is a lounge area and kitchen downstairs with the bedroom upstairs, but on getting our luggage up the rather small staircase there was nowhere to put it, so we ended up leaving it downstairs. Wi-Fi allowance was a mere pittance at 250MB for the duration of the stay. Barely enough to check email. I'm giving it two stars because of the views, but had it been located elsewhere it would only be worth one.

All other restaurants in town were fully booked. Pleasantly surprised with great food and huge…read moreportion sizes :) Salmon and quinoa salad are excellent Food came reasonably fast and also reasonably priced too for their portion sizes Would recommend!

Good lunch special. I had the fish and chips and it was a nice sized portion. Plenty of easy…read moreparking, and a view of the church. Service was relatively quick and the place wasn't too busy.

I stayed one night in a standard king bed room. The room was clean, and the bed was comfortable…read more Sadly, there was a rather horrible smell from the bathroom fan, which turned on automatically when I needed the light. The room was pretty basic despite the high nightly fee. The staff members that I interacted with were friendly, efficient, and helpful. I was upgraded to a free breakfast when I checked in. I was not told why and didn't bother to ask. I wonder now if it had something to do with the smell. The location is perfect for the hikes I was interested in. However, I'd probably look into a different lodging option if I were to go back.

We had a great hotel and restaurant experience. Sadly the weather wasn't cooperating; it was…read moreextremely rainy and windy. So we didn't get to do much outside. The in house theater was great with stories about Mt Cook and Sir Hilary. They played throughout the day and you could come and go as you pleased. The dinner buffet was so big!!! So much to choose from and it was all delicious. At least 30+ items to choose from. I especially liked the fried chicken nuggets. Haha, a little taste of McDonalds. But they were hot, crunchy and fresh out of the fryer. They were actually really really good! The breakfast buffet is also large and excellent. Every breakfast item you can think of. I don't usually like buffets but this hotel did them very very well. Being stuck inside all day isn't so bad when you have all this food to choose from.

Mt Cook Village is very small und pretty busy with tourist wanting to enjoy the beauty of NZ…read moremountains. The more important it gets when you look for an acco at the end of the valley. There are a couple of but I anyhow choose Aoraki Court Motel. It was the best stay so far on my holidays here. The spacious room makes you feel like coming home, the panorama is awe-inspiring from dawn till dusk and the spa in the bathroom gives you a nice relax. On top of that, the owners rocking this Motel are very friendly and are super helpful with information about groceries, hikes, food and anything else to make your stay comfortable. I cannot say anything about other acco's here, but I bet this is one of the top-choices and surely a killer value for money. Bet you'd say the same!

The best hotel we stayed at in NZ! Because of hotel capacity, we had to get a two bedroom. I loved…read morethat the hotel room had two tvs! Although we didn't cook, the kitchen was extremely nice and had every possible appliance; even a rice cooker. And the best part: lovely bathroom amenities and a jetted jacuzzi in unit. A great place to stay in Mt. Cook Village, to enjoy both the natural beauty alongside modern comforts.

What a incredible place to stay and lovely owners!! We loved our stay here, we arrived at 8pm on a…read moreSunday we asked the owner of there was a good place to eat and she wasn't sure if there would be anything open in for dinner. She owner offered to feed us if we were not succesful, lovely gesture!! We stayed in the lodge with communal kitchen with everything you need to cook or make packed lunches. Rooms were clean and spacious with a great deck overlooking Mt Cook and a great place for star gazing at night. A nice heater in the bathroom to keep you warm on cool mornings. The bonus of having a pet dog for a couple days was awesome for our son who read to him and played, i felt comfortably safe letting him play. Would stay here again and certainly will be suggesting this as great base for Mt Cook, the drive up to the village along the lake is exquisite.

We just stayed at the hotel and our time here was great. The rooms are large and very modern. The…read moreroom was very clean and neat with a wonderful view. It is only a quick 5 minute drive to Franz Joseph. The owner is very nice and welcoming and provided a nice continental breakfast. We would definitely stay here again if we ever pass through this way again.

I'm here. Like right now. I'm actually in my room and still in awe of how clean, modern, and…read moreamazing this place is!!! This would honestly be a 5 star boutique hotel if it was in a larger city. Fantastic toiletries, towel heater, double sink, king sized bed, large flat screen tv, cozy electric fireplace, etc... We've been on the road for almost a week and this is definitely the nicest place I found on hotels.com. The reviews were outstanding. You won't be disappointed. Stay here. This place is truly an oasis.

Such a nice stay in Franz Josef! The room was decorated beautifully with everything we needed for…read moreour short visit. The rooms can be challenging to find, as the place has lots of twisty roads leading to different cottages, but once you're there it feels like your own private treehouse. The Monsoon Restaurant was too busy for us to get dinner there, but we did go for breakfast. Food was very good but service was INCREDIBLY slow. Don't go if you're in a hurry. But good food and a nice place to relax if you've got plenty of time.

We absolutely loved our stay at Rainforest Retreat! We were only in Franz Josef Glacier for one…read morenight, but I wish we had longer in these amazing accommodations. We were in a Gecko Cottage, which was in it's own little area with a few other cottages. We had a hot tub that was only for the cottages, so it was basically like we had it all to ourselves. Our room had a king bed, a little living space, and a bathroom. It was perfect for the 2 of us. And the location is great! Everything we needed was in walking distance, including a grocery store. There is also a restaurant as part of the resort, so it's easy to go get a meal and some cocktails without having to drive anywhere. We would happily return if in New Zealand again.