Parehua Resort — Hotel in Martinborough Community

Late May I stayed 2 nights ($800) at Parehua Resort, having stayed at this accomodation multiple times since the property opened. I was excited for our stay knowing it was a special treat. However I got this completely wrong and came away from the 2 nights accomodation not only extremely disappointed but with a injury which I sustained on-site. First impression of the $400 per night villa was good, however once I sat on the couch I noticed peanuts scattered on the couch and on the mat under the coffee table. This required me to call for housecleaning to vacuum the mess and bring toilet paper as there was none. Not long after this incident another call was placed as the gas heater did not ignite…..this to was resolved but from a health and safety prospective this was not a safe way to get the heater to work. I picked this accomodation for the hot tub on the deck, this too was not in the best condition, pieces of the rotting hot tub came away from inside the tub while bathing, yet another health and safety matter. Breakfast the following morning was ok, had to ask for a cereal bowl, utensils. The second morning of breakfast was terrible, no staff overseeing breakfast, and the same issue with plates and cutlery. I sat in the dinning chair when we first arrived, then helped myself to the buffet (waitress never came through with cereal bowl), once I placed my food on the table I sat down and the dinning chair came apart. I fell and injured my right side of my body, waitress took the chair away to discuss with a colleague……did not offer assistance or another chair. A guest checked I was alright and got me another chair. After breakfast I reported the incident to Sarthak Binju (assistant manager on duty)and was informed that the dinning chairs had recently been through an audit as this had happened before. I kindly asked to put the incident in the health and safety register. On reflection a few days later and seeing how badly I was injured, extreme bruising on my right wrist, right shoulder and right side of my rib cage, along with extreme pain. I decided to follow up with an email to Sarthak. No response, so resent my email 2 days later and cc in the General Manager Skrikant Borishaha. I then got a reply from Sarthak stating the General Manager was away for a medical emergency but would get back to me next week…….this was on 2 June 2022, today is 27 June 2022. My injury is still an issue, and is under ACC. Never thought that such a highly reputable “resort” would treat a customer this way. In short while Parehua Resort has always been my first choice and recommendation for accomodation in Martinborough, I no longer hold this view, especially while the current hotel management are running the resort. Last warning, smoke alarm does not work, another health and safety issue, I believe that the smoke detector would not be up to industry standards for...

We booked a stay at Parehua Resort for our wedding anniversary, I wanted it to perfect and I read all the reviews, good and bad, so I'd have realistic expectations, we arrived and we're greeted by Sarthak Binju, who was friendly, accomodation and ready to help us with anything we need, check in was nice and easy, super quick! We arrived at our garden cottage and all expectations went out the window, it was much better than we'd hopped! The cottage was warm and welcoming! Very clean! Well stocked mini bar and a lovely note wishing us a happy anniversary which was such a nice touch! We got settled in and played cards and had wine in our little outside area it was so lovely.

We walked down to York Bar and Bistro, the staff were so friendly and the food was AMAZING! We are talking about making the trip back just to eat there again! Some of the more negative reviews mention issues with the food, in our experience, the food was incredible, the whiskey sour was impeccable! The best one I've ever had! 10/10 recommend!

We wanted to hop in the pool, it looked so very enticing, we never made it down there tho! Instead having a soak in our private hot tub after dinner, watching the stars, very romantic. The bed was very comfortable, we almost felt like we were sleeping in separate beds! (That's not a complaint!) It was so nice not to woken by the kids haha instead I was woken by my husband with a coffee and a fire going! I said is it check out time already? And he said no! Breakfast! This man is very good motivated.

We walked back to York Bar and Bistro and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast, that was included in our booking, certain items were available to be purchased seperatly, which I've seen complaints about also, but actually, it just makes sense, it's the kind of food you really don't want to be sitting out!! His sir requested the bacon.

We headed back and tidied our room and packed up to check out connecting with Sarthak again, and again very easy and quick, unfortunately I'd left a couple rings behind! I called back and he told me house keeping had just called him and let him know and he was just about to ring me! So circled back and he had them ready to go waiting for me so that was really ideal after a silly mistake I made.

We will be returning next year to make more memories, the stay was so wonderful, and the people and service really made it. The whole stay went way beyond my expectations and we recommend...

TL;DR Fantastic rooms, hot tub, and location Poor service, unreliable kitchen, and no cooked breakfast (Despite popular reviews to the contrary - more below)

Starting with the positives; the room was fantastic, beautifully made, super comfortable, and the hot tub absolutely fantastic.

However I think quality has slipped from previous reviews, and cuts have been made reducing the value and service. Cleaning was an hour late, delaying our check in - something that was not communicated to us clearly until we returned 15 minutes later to enquire on progress. When we did finally get to enter, the floors were wet and the rug hadn't been fully cleaned, with chips from a previous guest still present. - we did receive a complementary bottle of wine and cheese board as an apology.

Unfortunately disappointment continued at the onsite restaurant; where, despite my receiving a beautiful Sunday roast pork, my partner's lamb was not so well presented and the vegetables (the same selection as were so well cooked for my meal) were under seasoned and honestly unpleasant. The staff were apologetic and did discount the lamb from our bill, and despite the situation I was happy with their service, if not the quality of the meal.

Breakfast brought further woes with the (very well reviewed) cooked breakfast being very recently unincluded and now a paid extra - much to the surprise of my partner and I, and also other guests within hearing range. What was provided was limited in selection, and taste - if you don't like aged or smoked cheddar then look somewhere else. I have attached a menu and pictures of the current selection.

Overall there is so much to love here, and I would love to see it flourish as past reviews have suggested it once did. But I would hazard that either economic struggles or new management have taken their toll and the 5 star rated escape that the reviews praise is unfortunately becoming a memory. I hope that other guests have a good experience, and that this is but a short-lived mistake by the owners.

I would love to one day return, but think for now that I can't recommend it based on the price and...