Boulevard Waters Motel — Hotel in North Island

Sometimes you come across accommodation that just ticks every box. Accommodation that you cannot find any real faults with.

Ex Taupo resident here, and regular guest at Taupos many accommodation providers. I have struggled to find a regular. There are some nice places, but none that I would return to religiously.

I had a Reward Night owing on my Hotels.com account, so decided instead of pressing on another few hours, to stop overnight in Taupo. I booked a room at Boulevard Waters around 1pm, and sent a message asking if they would allow me to check in early, as I was nearly there. The lovely Dayna answered my request straight away and said that was not a problem.

The Hotel is right on the waterfront - any closer and you'd be in the lake itself. Slightly out of the CBD, but within walking distance for the eager, and a easy 2min drive for the not so energetic (me!). Lovely welcome and then shown to my ground floor apartment. There was a really nice, restful feeling in the room. Everything was very well presented and clean. The carpark is pretty small, and a bit tight. And there really is only enough room for one car per unit. So keep this in mind if you are traveling with more then one car.

At the back of the Unit is a small bedroom with a bunk bed and another single. Full kitchenette, stocked with all the equipment you would need to cook a full meal. Fresh Milk and loads of Tea and Coffee sachets. And biscuits! I love biscuits! There was also a Nespresso Machine, with capsules provided. Bathroom was very clean, with an awesome shower! Also supplied with loads of Shampoo and Body Wash sachets.

In the main room was a lovely big bed and a Spa Bath tucked in the corner. Bubble Bath stuff provided, Bliss to have a hot bubbly Spa and watch Sky Movies on the telly! There is also a large dining table and a couch. There were even lollies on the table! I love Lollies! The room and patio looked straight at the lake. Enjoyed sitting on the couch looking at the waves and the ducks.

The bed was very comfortable with crisp, clean Linen. I slept very well, right through until 9am! Nice thick curtains made sure the room stayed nice and dark. The apartment was very quiet, no road noise and only a couple of noises from upstairs unit. Nothing too major. The unit has a heatpump, but I found that the blissful underfloor heating throughout the room, kept the temperature at a perfect level.

The Hotel has direct access to the Lakefront walking track, and also a couple of bikes for guests to use. There is also a lovely heated outdoor pool, which was a beautiful 38°C on my visit. Pool Towels supplied.

It was hard to find anything to fault with Boulevard Waters. To find something would be absolutely nic picky. Great room, great service and great location. Boulevard Waters gets all the fundamentals right, and then some. The accommodation sits roughly in the +$200 mark, and to be fair, I think the offering is bang on for the money.

Friendly farewell, and also a Discount Code for my return visit.

I think I have found my Taupo regular. Keep up the good work Boulevard...

There are loads of motels in the area but this was a really good one. Our room was clean, spacious enough for two people, had an equipped kitchenette as well and a beautiful view of the lake from our room and balcony. It was so near the lake that we could hear the waves throughout our stay which created a nice relaxing atmosphere.

We were there for a week and the stay was comfortable with geothermal floor heating, friendly staff and a Nespresso machine (didn't know I would miss it that much when we stayed in another city without it). We prepared meals half the time and found the kitchenette to be very useful. The location was quite good as well, far away from the main town that it was quiet and peaceful, yet near enough that it was only a few minutes drive away.

Probably the only thing we would've asked for would be directions on how to use the spa bath to be posted on the wall maybe? It was our first time to try one and ended up turning on the jets at the highest setting and with the jets turned up - so water shot out towards the room and my laptop! The laptop survived, thank goodness LOL!

Otherwise, it was a nice stay and we can see ourselves booking there every time...

On a recent trip to North Island we stayed in 13 different lodgings. I research a lot so feel like I generally have reasonable expectations. My partner and I agree, of the 13 lodgings, this one was the only one that fell short of our expectations, especially given the strong previous customer reviews and the pricing. To be sure, there are some positives... for example the thermally heated pool and the in-room large spa tubs. What fell short for us was 1) the ground floor unit was much less private than we expected, even knowing there's a walking bath behind them. The path is really close and people can't help but look over the short wall into the room. 2) The room was long and narrow, so even though it was open to the lake, the room was very dark. Not much they can do about those two items at this point, except perhaps improved window treatments. But 3) the room was also pretty "tired". Could use freshening paint, flooring, tiles, bathroom. Now, we could foresee going back with changed expectations, but would consider other...