Marsden Lake Resort Central Otago — Hotel in Cromwell Community

when first arrived we weren't given proper communication as to where our room was, we had to drive back to reception and ask again would've been nice to be shown. then to walk into the room and notice the blind in living room was up and our two year old son wanted to play with it. this blind cord was all the way to the floor so a chocking hazard for my child, i had to fix and tie this so he wouldn't touch as we were still unloading our bags. then the door knob on the bathroom completely came off when opening and my son closed the door behinds me , me not thinking much of it as he loves closing doors, to then relise were we locked in as i had the door knob in the bathroom with me, my husband thankfully was on the other side and used a utensil from the kitchen to free us, if he weren't there i had no phone to call anyone, let alone let reception know this, the bathroom was really hot with the heated flooring and lighting felt costrofobic and scared as what would've happened if my son was locked in there by himself or all three of us were a HAZARD AND DANGEROUS!!!! when we arrived we were upgraded to the bigger room which we didn't ask for but took, and to be told our son had to sleep on the fold out bed, we had no idea when booking this our two year old would have this as his bed. so we gave him our bedroom with king bed as he'll be going to be before us so having a fold out bed in the living room is soo not ideal, my husband and i slept on the fold out bed, it was so bad for our backs horrible sleep. we didn't receive enough towels and bedding for three people only two. i had to walk in the cold and dark to ask reception for more towels and speak to management about all this issues. management then came fixed the broken door knob and i explained the suitation about this room not ideal for young children at all!!! all management wanted to say was you've been upgraded to a nicer room, its not the upgrade i'm on about its your rooms facilities!!!!yes the room looks fabulous but not recommended for young families with young children is my point!!!!. the pillows were horrible, the fold out bed had a broken part to it, you had to physically move the coffee table to pull the fold out bed, so the rooms layout is all wrong. this room would only be great for a couple! the laundry facility is in the garage near front entry out in the cold, the doors to open had no latch to keep them opened so when the wind blow it actually hit the side of my arm leaving a bruise, this is totally not ideal laundry facilities, should be in a room not outside tucked away in a small part of garage out in the weather and cold. you have no way of speaking to reception from your room, you have to physically walk back to them in the dark and its a long walk! no place for children to play, thank god we only stayed one night, would not come back! not recommended...

This place really lacks quality due to this resort/part ownership model which means there's no attention to detail and a general lack of care. We paid $1000 for 4 nights so expected a lot more. Would give 1 star but the chick at reception was really nice and tried her best to cover the cracks and the views at sunset were really nice.

-Our villa had a broken stove top(see picture), which resulted in the stove being left ON the entire night while we slept even though it 'showed' as off ! A HUGE fire risk. Our tea towel was 20 cm away and could have set alight. Unbelievably poor that no one tests these things from the resort.

-First villa had broken wifi, (got $50 back for that) so they moved us to a Second villa which was disgustingly dirty, see pictures. I tried to clean some of it and it came off, so just laziness on their part. We ended up using the doona cover to cover the lazboys so that we wouldn't have to sit on the filth. The standard of housekeeping is quite poor.

-Had to clean the outdoor furniture ourselves so we could eat outside- it was disgustingly dirty and dustry

-Shower door was semi off the hinge, so whenever you closed the door it would SMASH into the other panel of glass. Will break eventually.

-Our villa had a grand total of 2 forks.

If you're in a downstairs villa, you will hear everything that goes on upstairs. Lots of waking up as tour groups checked out super early and the bedroom is directly next to the shared front door.

-No privacy curtains so all the villas facing you will see everything you do

-Mentioned we were on our honeymoon at booking time. Wasn't even noticed at check-in. Minor thing but just the cherry of mediocrity on top.

Overall really disappointing, and our visit seems consistent with the some of the comments in here, it's extremely hit and miss. Seems like the ownership place the onus onto the guests to report all these issues - No guys, its your (Heritage) name above the door, you're responsible for making sure our stay is great.

Just go to one of the local Cromwell motels, you will get better amenities for...

Shocking first time experience and would make others aware of the management team Tessa and Toby. We were clearly mistreated due to our skin colour. We advised the hotel that we will check in 2 hours later but upon arrival the room was not ready and Tess expected us to wait for the manager to fix the broken shower and tap during our stay time. There was no professional response or apology to us until my wife expressed our frustration. An upgrade was offered hesitantly by Tess who had no clue how to respond to the situation. When offered the upgrade which clearly they had to offer because there was no sign of a serviceman anywhere, Tess asks if we had used anything in the fridge? That is your job to find out Tess. Upon returning to the original room to get our gear, Toby the Hotel manager was there but didn't utter a word of apology or even introduced who he was. We had to return to the reception to return the original key and Toby walked passed totally ignoring us. I want the public to know that the apology and a free breakfast only got offered after 2 hours as they realised we posted a google review immediately. An email was sent by Toby and called to apologise then with the most pathetic excuses which has nothing to do with us. Last time i checked, we were the guest. Im only writing this review for the public to be made aware that an apology, free breakfast and an upgrade only came when the google review was posted on the same day. Also this is a respond to defend my wife's original review which Toby is trying to make excuses and justify by using "goodwill" and "apology" which came after the original review. Big thank you to the Pilipino and other ethnic workers who serve as cleaners and as restaurant managers - they clearly displayed cultural inclusiveness and made us feel very welcome, said hello every-time when passing by. Tess and Toby can learn a lot from these hard working individuals. I will be awaiting for an email address of Toby's Line manager from Toby and Tess. Racism is not okay Lake...