Brackenridge Country Retreat & Day Spa — Hotel in Martinborough Community

We stayed in a studio room. If you want peace and quiet, then this is the place for you!||||Initially, I was a bit hesitant due to previous review however my first impressions were good. The room and space were lovely! OK, get that the space is dated and somethings need tending too (paint scratches, mould on the bathroom tiles, lichen on the outdoor wood trellis etc). ||But, On the plus side, room size was good, great natural light with a nice grassy olive tree outlook, and there was a workstation desk on one side and a bedside tray table on the other with 2 comfy chairs at the end of the bed for watching telly. The bedside lamps tend to shed ample light (so if your partner needs dark to sleep, bring a book light). The lighting is adjustable but not too bright. There is a quiet heat pump should you need. ||Parts of the bathroom has adjustable underfloor heating. Our toilet was faulty as it carried on ‘hissing’ after a flush (my partner fixed it after a midnight flush) but Brackenridge need to check this out to remedy it. The shower is spacious and has a fold-down seat and non-slip bathmat provided. Bathroom had plentiful, towels and tissues, hand & body washes, conditioning shampoo, toilet paper, etc. and nice, clean and spacious.||||The little kitchen area (at the entrance) had all the crockery and cutlery you would need for a comfortable stay for 2 people (including a couple of bubbly glasses as well as water & wine ones). Eggs and frozen bread, cereals, coffee (for plunger), spreads, milk, apple juice, tea bags, S & P and cooking oil were plentiful.||||Now, luckily, we bought a couple of ramekins with us (not everyone does this, I know) and we used these to do experientially learning on how to microwave eggs. Not sure how to avoid ‘explosions’ but the best result was had with mine when I began with 25 seconds and kept going with 5 second burst until the egg looked cooked (around about 45 secs in total (no guarantees). T had 'explosions' with his eggs.||||This was all because the hotplate provided didn’t work, the left element did not heat up at all and the right element heated up for about 3 mins and turned itself off so I can’t see how it was possible to cook anything with it other than warming water!||||I did a walk around the complex; the cottages are probably the quieter options (as they are further back from the road (not that the studios were noisy mind!). I thought the whole complex scenically was a bit boring (just look at previous photos) They do not look ‘pretty’ or even inviting or interesting. Nothing wrong with lots of fields of grass with the odd tree but there needs to be more landscaping or gardening to make the place more appealing. Outside each cottage are a pair of planters outside the front door with some foliage or tree in it but nothing else to add colour or anything of interest. There is plenty of scope here, I am not a landscaper but why not a bed of roses, some colourful flower beds or outdoor feature (pétanque pitch, outdoor chess set, fountain/water feature, pond, sculptures (I saw one outside the gym entrance). The outdoor woodwork and concrete fences could do with a good waterblast to get rid of the lichen and dirt. Nothing wrong with quiet and peaceful but I did think it was just a bit boring visually.||Outside each studio, there is small table and a couple of chairs which were very handy for afternoon/evening relaxing wine downs and al fresco breakfasts. I do recommend that management consider a little table for between the inside comfy chairs (as al fresco dining is not really an option in winter).||||That all said, I did enjoy my stay but would I return? Unsure/ possibly a 'yes'.||||Note that there was booking availability here whereas many places in Martinborough & Greytown of the similar price point were booked out way beforehand. This place is located a very short 4-minute drive from centre of Martinborough and does have a very good gym and length swimming room (nothing in there except for the pool, some plastic plants in here could enhance the décor). The spa facilities were not open while we were there but due to open on 17 January 2023 again. It does cater for events such as weddings in a function room behind reception.||||The were also adequate double power points on both sides of the bed and While no Wifi password was required, it did require you to 're-connect' each time you needed to use it (yust slightly annoying; perhaps Brackenridge could review this setting and allow 'pairing' automatically, but that may require a password).||||I think some investment needs to be put into the whole complex to ‘juosh’ it up otherwise, it is going to miss out and in hindsight, there are many "pluses" going for this place but...

We booked this as it seemed to have everything we needed for two couples heading away for a weekend break.||Lovely welcome, easy access (as we arrived after 4pm and reception closes at 4 it was a self check in) and the cottage was spacious.||Rooms a good size, bathroom layout was odd (and not as advertised with one meant to be ensuite), good gym and a pool which I did not have time to use yet it looked welcoming.||On the downside, well, its all just a little bit '2001', showing signs of tiredness, wear and tear, dated and to be frank, I feel its original quality intended product has been overtaken by cheapness and cost-cutting.||Our toiletries in our chosen bathroom were really poor - hand-soap on basin and in the shower it was one of those pump action dispensers you see in public toilets.||The tissues on offer numbered 2 sheets only - yes two sheets. I blew my nose and realised they were all gone lol. The toilet wouldnt stop flushing but we fixed it ourselves. No daily housekeeping (which again we did not know prior) but we got a note that it wouldnt be happening due to Covid - which, sorry I don't buy. All of the 4 and 5 star places we have stayed at over the past two years - bar this one and the QT in Wellington - have continued with this basic service. Clearly it's a money saving measure thats being sold as a safety concern.||Breakfast for four was meant to be provided for two days however we only got given 8 frozen slices of bread for the four of us. There were about 10 eggs and we cooked two but found that they were old (two of us a qualified chefs so we know whats good and whats not) and as such we didn't cook any more. We had 5 or 600mls of orange juice for all of us as well and two very small pottles of milk. There was a good amount of cereal. We thought they would replenish our breakfast supplies for the second day but no, this did not happen. We had to have breakfast out on the second morning. When we sat at the dining table our arms and hands stuck to the top of it. It needed to be scrubbed down as years of wiping with cleaning products had left a film on it. It was yukky to be fair - having to peel your skin off the furniture.||There was an open fire which we lit and ample firewood which was lovely. There was an information sheet that advised that kindling was also supplied but there wasn't any. There wasn't an axe for us to cut our own so we used some eggs cartons that we had in the car as fire starters. There were no pokers to tend the fire either. The couches and cushions were dirty and I doubt they had ever been cleaned. The beds however were very comfortable and we all slept very well.||Crusty ironing board and an old iron that smelled when we used it.||||Overall, the quality they advertise is simply not what what we received.||There should (in our hospo view) have been breakfast baskets supplied daily with a small loaf of fresh bread, a selection of cereals, butter wrapped in greaseproof paper, proper conserve and fresh juice - an extra $10 outlay for a 5 star experience. To provide sliced bread frozen in glad-bags, cereal in large containers which would be months old, stale eggs and Craigs butter in those tacky wee packs does not scream 'class' - it just says 'we are trying to save money'. Also, the body wash in bathroom? Tragic - I get those pump action soap dispensers at my gym and the last place I expect to see them is in a room that costs $500 per night.||||So the big question is - would we stay again? No. Things need to be upgraded and management need to look at the quality of their product with a point-by-point internal survey of every aspect of those rooms and their amenities plus a good scrub of the cottage would not go amiss either.||I am well aware that the bread and butter income for Brackenridge right now is domestic tourism - who may be more forgiving however internationals would not choose this place and if they did they would be disappointed.||I do not want to make things harder for Brackenridge as I know that right now its incredibly challenging for hospitality yet I need to call it for what it was.||I encourage them to run an internal audit, get things on track again before the country opens up so that they can get to peak fitness and be a market leader in an industry that will be fighting tooth and nail for those arriving in the next fresh wave.||Keep well and...

I had high expectations after reading reviews and the retreats website however Brackenridge needs to invest in their offerings to match the price charged. I feel the cottage was very sub-standard compared to other places we’ve stayed in around NZ for a similar price point. Everything in the cottage is dated, it was freezing cold when we arrived and it took a long time to warm up even with the fireplace. It would’ve been nice if the heatpump had been turned on prior to our arrival given Inhad phoned to let Brackenridge know our intended arrival time and due to how cold it was. The tiles were cold under foot throughout the living areas which made the stay unpleasant (with exception to the bathrooms as the tiles were heated) this was made worse when we woke up freezing at 2am to find the front door had blown open due to not deadbolting it. We closed off one of the bedrooms we didn’t need to try and retain the heat but also because there were three dead blow flies on the floor next to the bed, they took up residence for the duration of our stay despite housekeeping cleaning each day. There was one dead blowfly in the second bedroom and two more in the dining room. These also stayed for the duration of our trip. On arrival, there was no newspaper to light the fire only firefighters and a very small pile of kindling, there was also no frying pan to cook the eggs. These were remedied quickly after mentioning it to reception. The bathrooms are very dated with poor water pressure and very cheap 2 in one shampoo/conditioner and body wash. Not at all what you’d expect from the level Brackenridge advertises themselves at. Paint in the bathroom is flaking off the ceiling, and there were a couple of resident spiders in the corner of the dirty skirtings - there is no real attention to detail either with cleaning, maintenance or products offered. The kitchen facilities were great ie. a full sized fridge, oven, microwave and dishwasher however the utensils and pots were incredibly old and all mismatched. It lacked things like a decent knife for cutting anything that wasn’t bread, scissors to cut the glad wrap, cheese knives etc. The breakfast provisions were great and were replenished on our second day although the juice wasn’t as advertised on day two. The couches in the lounge were incredibly old, squeaky and just uncomfortable not at all somewhere you wanted to spend hours in cozied up in front of the fire. We moved one of the couches forward closer to the fireplace, it hadn’t been vacuumed under and even though housekeeping visited, it remained un-vacuumed. All in all, I don’t believe Brackenridge reflects good quality accommodation especially for the price paid. It is easily the least favourite place we’ve stayed in the Wairarapa. I’m sure twenty years ago it would’ve been amazing but it needs some serious TLC and money invested. The positives of this place is the fireplace with plenty of wood stacked in the shed, the bed was super comfy but that’s as far as it went for us. While the breakfast provisions were good, we didn’t feel the cottage was somewhere we wanted to hang out and have breakfast or spend much time in. Generally, we like to stay in accommodation better than home or that makes us sad to leave, unfortunately we contemplated leaving soon after arriving as it just wasn’t as we expected. The only reason we stayed is due to having our dog with us and the fact we wouldn’t be refunded. Possibly I have high standards but when you’re paying $680 for two nights plus another $100 for our frenchie to stay, I’d expect to receive a product that is...