Kokonga Lodge — Hotel in Maniototo Community

My wife and I were booked on a five day, four night Rail Trail with my parents (a 70th birthday present for my Dad) and Kokonga Lodge was our final night. We arrived just after 12pm after biking the short 18km from Ranfurly for that day.

My wife and I went in while my parents waited out on the trail. Geoff, who was on the lawnmower at the time, approached us at the front gate looking fairly unimpressed. I initiated the conversation introducing myself and saying I was aware we were really early, apologised, and asked when a suitable time would be for us to come back. The response was short: “Yeah, you’re way too early. This is our time. We can’t do anything for you until about 2pm”. He then backtracked somewhat saying we could be shown to our rooms but “that’s it”, but then rode away. Given the reception, we both left.

The four of us then arrived at 2pm where we were met at the door. Geoff introduced us to his wife Jo and asked us how the ride had been. I was honest in saying it was great until we arrived at 12pm. This was laughed off by him and responded to by Jo with “Oh very welcoming” - ironic and not the responsibility of guests either. Rather than try to address it with me though, Geoff showed me and my wife to our room upstairs and instead entered into a verbal altercation about it with my parents. This was a discussion that had absolutely nothing to do with them given they weren’t even there at 12pm. They told him we would be finding elsewhere to stay and Jo proceeded to then scream at them “If you don’t like it then you can F* OFF!” - loud enough to be heard upstairs by me and other guests.

Geoff told Jo that she should go home and said to me from the bottom of the stairs “Well I did say to you you came early”.

Fortunately, our Rail Trail provider was able to transfer us and our bags to Waipiata Hotel at short notice, so we rode the 8km back for the night where, like with every other host we encountered during our trip, we received faultless hospitality.

Kokonga Lodge was the only negative experience on our trip, which is a shame because the grounds and views are lovely and the reviews were very encouraging. We soon learned however that it is only their first season as owners and most reviews pre-date this. Given their replies to reviews elsewhere I trust they will read this:

We were early, yes. I acknowledged it though, apologised and asked when to come back before you said even a single word to me. You chose your attitude and the approach you wanted to take when you responded, then took exception to being called out on it.

I truly wish you luck if this is how you intend to run your business. You would both do well to remember the pivotal role your guests play in it before behaving so unprofessionally over something as simple as an inadvertent early arrival. No one should be spoken to in the manner we were - it’s disgusting. If I behaved in the same way toward any customer in my current or previous lines of work then I would lose my job.

We will never return, nor recommend Kokonga Lodge to anyone and will be sharing this experience with all those that we know.

Some final points: Had we done a little more research and looked more into the area, the facilities, venue setup and cost breakdown (one lump sum was paid for the whole trip and everything booked) then we would have gone elsewhere, but these points are worth considering:

[ ] Our room had no facilities other than a bed and ensuite. Everything else including Tea/Coffee was all communal. Spa bath was placarded as unusable. [ ] Crowded/busy: 10 people were booked during our stay and I understand it can house more. [ ] No other food options in the area. Unless you bike or drive back to Waipiata or another town the additional $55pp cost for dinner is essentially unavoidable. [ ] Expensive - considering all of the above, the in excess of $800 we paid for one night (2x $325 per room + 4x $55pp for dinner) this isn’t great...

*0We rode up to mini paradise, beautiful sounds of everything in the gardens. Then Jo’s cooking wafted to greet us. OMG delish but too early so Jo made us a wonderful cheese platter & we settled outside in the sun with a great local white wine. Geoff then let me help him feed the lambs, hysterical! Wish I’d taken a photo of the roast dinner although that’s a meal I’ll always remember. After a walk around the garden we settled in by the roaring fire. We feel like we have been here for days! Massive thanks to Jo. & Geoff. Ps the littles touches like flowers from the garden in our room & on the dinner table which we really loved. Pps Thanks for the great tips on accommodation in other gorgeous...

We stayed here while on the Otago Rail Trail. It's fully set up for bikes including charging stations for e-bikes under cover. There are about 5 bedrooms in the lodge so you may be sharing common areas with others on the trail but that is part of the experience. The beds are very comfortable and I had the best sleep of the whole trip! ||The property is lovely with a stunning view across to the ranges which were snow dusted on our trip. There is a full size pool so bring your bathers. Jo made us a delicious dinner - best pavlova I've had for a long time! Alcohol is available for purchase. Continental breakfast sets you up for what was our last day...