Mitai Maori Village — Attraction in North Island

The whole evening felt chaotic. As other reviews have already pointed out, you spend most of the time packed in like sardines. Upon entry, you are assigned a table (around 20 tables with 10 seats each). It felt like far too many people for the space available, a real hazard in an emergency.

We had an introductory talk from our host (who was great) lasting about 10 minutes, then all 200+ of us were led down to the water to watch the boat display, lasting maybe 5 minutes. After this, the performances. Some performers were fantastic, they clearly enjoyed practising and sharing aspects of their heritage, while others looked bored and chatted amongst each other while on stage.

After the performances we were led back into the 'dining hall' (cafeteria with plastic chairs). It's a buffet style set up and each table is allocated a time to go up to the buffet. Vegetarians/vegans please be aware that you won't be provided with a main meal of your own, just the starchy side dishes that everyone else has. 3 different potatoes, rice, bread, stuffing, that's it. Only water is provided to drink, everything else comes at an extra cost at the bar. Dessert wasn't much better than the main.

After dinner, there was a Q&A with the host which was very interesting. He handled a particularly thoughtless, insensitive question from a guest with grace and we really respected him for it.

After dinner we were led back down to the water to look at maybe 10 glowworms. The path is minimally lit, so be very careful walking down. Apparently you could also look at a reconstructed village, but we didn't hear the instructions for this over the mass of people.

We paid over $300 for two people. Was it worth it? Absolutely not. If you want to learn about Maōri culture, visit the various museums in New Zealand or visit the Waitangi...

We had an interesting time at the Mitai Maori Village. It was a great experience and the hosts were very nice and welcoming. It felt like we were welcomed to the village by a big family of Maori.

The amount we paid might seem pricey but was very worthwhile because we got to experience so many different activities.

Our preferences for the activities are in the following order: After dinner - Cultural (Traditional) Maori dance and welcome. Warrior Paddling down the river Hangi unveiling After performance walk to the Maori village Buffet dinner Glow worm walk

Reasons why they were ordered as above: Traditional Maori performance - Emcee (Chef) and team were very engaging and the performance was clear and easy to follow. The team made it easy for visitors like us to relate to what and why Maori lived that way. Warrior Padding down the river - We got to experience how it looked like when warriors enter hostile or new territories. Hangi Unveiling - We got to see how it would look like to cook the food underground. Not 100% as it was traditionally but was able to image how they did it. After performance walk - The walk was interesting and we got to see how the villager would have lived many years ago. Buffet dinner - was alright. The best 2 dishes were lamb and chowder, but everything else were quite normal. Maybe a little spice or salt would go a long way. Glow Worm Walk - We got to see some glow worms, but unfortunately not many at all, we can count the number of glow...

As a local to Rotorua The Mitai Māori Village was a captivating journey into the heart of Māori culture and a pleasure to experience for the first time, a 10/10 experience offering an unforgettable blend of natural beauty and rich tradition. You embark on a guided tour through a lush, immersive forest, where the hauntingly beautiful Māori calls echo through the trees, creating an ambiance of curiosity. The biggest highlight was witnessing a tribe of Māori performers navigating a traditional canoe along the freshwater stream, a display of both strength and grace. The experience is further enriched by a delicious traditional Māori Hangi buffet, featuring foods (chicken / lamb / stuffing / potato & sweet potato) cooked in the earth, as well as delectable side dishes (including potato bake / seafood chowder / garlic butter mussels / prawns & fried bread to name a few). The evening crescendoed with a powerful live haka, where the intensity of the Māori performers coupled with their cultural weapons display truely brought the performance to life. The village offered an intimate setting for educational purpose, including a brief Q&A session from staff (this is the only area I believe required some attention as a few of the answers seemed a little vague and sometimes were answered quite abruptly - but this is just me being super critical). To conclude the night, we were treated to a magical night tour of the glow worms, providing a serene and enchanting finale to a truly immersive...