Pohutukawa Coastal Chalets — Hotel in North Island

What was great: Our host Bronnie was nice. We got a complementary bottle of bubbles. Thanks very much! The views are beautiful. A peaceful and very quiet place. Our chalet was nicely decorated, although looked tired. Most of the things you would need were provided: TV with the Free View, quite well equipped kitchen, a washing machine, an iron with a board, books and DVDs were also available. What was not so great: The chalet hasn't been properly cleaned for weeks: dust and cob webs were everywhere, infested with spiders and ants. I had to clean the kitchen and toilet, and washed the dishes (the frying pan should be retired long ago!) before we could use them. Despite pets were not allowed, the furniture upholstery (quite stained and moldy) and floor was covered with animal hair. The chalet had cracked walls, which were begging for painting. Tap water there was very hard, you would find lime scale on taps and in the kettle. The staircase is a real health and safety hazard. Kayaks and puddle boards were available as advertised, but there was a catch: 5 days before our check-in we had received a message that kayaks would only be available upon the completion of a 3-hour online course and providing the certificate before arrival. I personally couldn't find 3 hours of spare time just 4 days before Christmas! Given all these, I think this place is overpriced. Tips: Bring a throw to cover your seats. Bring bottled water for cooking and drinking and special shampoo/conditioner for hard water if you dare to take a shower there. Don't leave your food open for insects. I would not recommend this chalet for families with elderly members or younger kids, especially if they wake up for toilet during nights, as bedrooms are upstairs, while the toilet is downstairs. The beach which is 5 minutes walk away from the chalets is not easily accessible: steep pathway and very rustic stairs may be a challenge for people not perfectly physically fit, elderly or young kids. The other beach advertised as "luxury" and "white sand" would be neither of these, if you have been at Pakiri or Northland beaches. The road to that beach is extremely narrow (literally 1.5 cars wide), partly gravel, I wouldn't recommend this road for an...

I have mixed feelings about these chalets. On the one hand they have a few good things going for them such as the views & peacefulness. Reading a book on the deck whilst the sun was setting was great.

However there are a lot of things which let them down:

The bed is more like a trampoline. Any tiny movement from your partner causes the whole thing to bounce.

Ants. There were a lot of ants in the kitchen. If a crumb is left on the kitchen surface then expect ants to find it. I had an on going battle trying to stop them from coming in through tiny holes.

We found a cockroach on the bedroom floor. We then found another one in the bedsheets on our last night.

The chalet got boiling hot. There's no air con, however we asked Bronnie for a fan which she kindly provided.

We only had one toilet roll and one bin liner when we arrived. We were staying for 7 nights, so we had to ask for more.

As other reviewers have mentioned, there's a lot of cobwebs & daddy long leg spiders.

I found a pile of scrunched up toilet roll under one of the beds in the second bedroom. The chalet's are definitely not cleaned properly.

The tap knob dropped off the tap in the kitchen.

There's no washing machine & the bed linen was never changed. We were sweating a lot during the night.

The chalet's are basically just slightly glorified cabins. Definitely overpriced.

We didn't meet the owner Bronnie, however she left us a bottle of wine when she dropped off the toilet rolls & bin bags which was...

without doubt the wierdest place i have ever stayed. found the place by accident was forth right with the owner bronwyn that i had a cat and that i smoked. she said no problem as she loved cats as long as i paid cash didnt want a reciept then it was all good ok fair enough told her i wanted to stay 3 weeks all good. made my way to the chalet was ok furnished as if it was 1980 color wise kind of like what your grand ma might like on the gold coast back in 1986..next minute her boyfriend comes down sits at my outdoor table bring his bottle of wine along with 2 yapping dogs they do know i have a cat who bolts under the house he then asks me if i have firstly any weed or seeds never met the guy in my life long story short the place is run by an aussie woman who thinks she owns the corromandel her boyfriend was a policeman so im told after a few days of thier very strange behavior i left found out later they are well known for doing this type of thing might be too much of the whacky tobaco they do say it grows wild up on the coromandel..heaps of better places to stay now in this neck of the woods where tyhe owners are normal kiwis well...