The Lakeside Villas — Hotel in North Island

The Lakeside Villas is a well situated timeshare facility across the road from the lake front approximately a 10 minute walk into Taupo town centre. A great location without a doubt. We were warmly greeted by the staff and given a good induction into the facility and what it offered. It has an indoor pool, a few spa pools, loan bikes and kayaks to name a few things. It has a communal laundry for the studios but the larger units have their own I believe. We exchanged our timeshare week for a week here via DAE. I guess we have a lot to learn about exchanging timeshares as we thought that owning a recently updated 2 bedroom lakefront timeshare would mean that we would get something similar. Unfortunately not. What we got was a studio at the very back of the facility next to the childrens play area and tennis courts; it was noisy at times during the day. But never mind, there was just 2 of us so it would do fine. But... Our unit was tired and dated. There was a hole in the ceiling adjacent to the wardrobe. The interior decor was light shades of mushroom colours and the carpet was stained and old. The bed was as hard as a plank and the pillows were either thin and limp or big and boofy. The cleanliness of the linen was questionable which we only discovered when we stripped the sheets off at the end of our stay. On the wall opposite the bed, approx 3 metres high, well beyond reach, was a window which got the morning sun. No blind or means of stopping the sunlight pouring in at dawn, straight into our eyes. The bathroom was adequate, but the mould around the glass on the frame of the shower would suggest that there was a longtime lack of attention to detail when being cleaned. We noticed that some of the dishes in the pantry were dirty when we got plates out to eat. We didn't know what was clean and what was not so ended up doing load after load of dishes to ensure their cleanliness. There was a little balcony off the lounge area which was just big enough for a small table and two chairs. But when the aircon was going, the outside unit dripped water on the table. There was nowhere else to put the table as the balcony simply wasn't big enough to move the furniture.

We were prepared to overlook all of this as we were in Taupo to enjoy the great outdoors - which we did. We weren't really going to be inside all that much. By the end of day 4 we had enjoyed plenty of time outside and we needed to be inside out of the sun for a couple of days. At this point we realised that being inside the unit for a couple of days was not going to work for us, so we packed up &...

The effort that has gone into this place should be applauded! Attention to detail very apparent. The assistant manager Sherri was very welcoming and helpful. We didn’t get to meet the other managers. Everything you could need is in the villas . Our studio villa was very clean spacious with a very comfortable bed. Reverse cycle air conditioner for warming or cooling.full kitchen even with oven and dishwasher. Ensuite bathroom with good water pressure. The resort has a tennis court, fun mini golf, a indoor pool at 28 degrees, games room with table tennis and pool tables . A squash court, very well equipped library with books, puzzles and dvds. There were kayaks , bikes,paddle board plus life jackets available to borrow. The grounds were well kept with several BBQs and a trampoline. There is a communal laundry with washer and dryer with no charge.. the resort is opposite the beautiful Taupo Lake with views to Mount Ruapehu on...

We stayed in Villa 09 as part of a time share. On the surface the villa looked clean and tidy, but once you had a good look around there were cobwebs around the window sills. The shower under door seal was filthy black with mold and gunk. There was a chair in the lounge area where people put the hands on the arm rests was all marked with dirt and worn. The pull out couch was very uncomfortable to sit on, I think the springs have gone it. On day 2 of our stay we used the spa pool that is with the villa, the water had an awful smell to it. We reported it to reception, which they said they will have someone come and empty the water and put fresh clean water in that day. This never happened. The big pool was dirty. Over all I would say the whole complex is very tired looking and needs an upgrade. It doesn't look like it has had any upgrading to it since the 90's apart from one bathroom. On a positive note, it is in a...