Wai Ora Lakeside Spa Resort — Hotel in North Island

Myself and 3 of my friends stayed at this hotel on the 23rd of April. I want to write this review on behalf of all four of us who had an extremely unpleasant time. We travelled from Hamilton to have a well deserved weekend away and the second we walked into the hotel we were greeted with arrogance. The man who was checking us in was abruptly rude and should not be working in a customer facing position. We asked to pay individually, we had two separate rooms. When asked he proceeded to roll his eyes, sigh and say “yup, ok” in a disgruntled tone like us paying was such a huge inconvenience. Once we were in our rooms we realised that we did not have robes like it was stated in our booking, which may seem like a superficial thing to be annoyed about but when the spa is on the opposite side of the hotel and there is not adequate spaces provided that allow us to store personal clothing that will stay dry during our time in the spa then the robes become handy for us to not walk through the hotel in our swimwear in late afternoon. When approached and kindly asked if we could grab some robes for us and a couple extra towels we were told “the policy has changed” we mentioned it was in our booking so he said “fine I will get you some to your room”. 10 minutes later we were met with an extremely sarcastic “here you go” and unnecessary attitude in dropping the robes and towels off to our room, which were damp. I’ve never been made to feel like such a huge inconvenience somewhere that I am paying for, it was quite disgusting to be completely honest. We are a group in our mid twenties, we didn’t bring any alcohol, or “rowdiness” we were kind and respectful and just met with unprofessional rudeness. When we went to the spa it was freezing cold. At this point we just laughed it off thinking our hotel stay was just doomed from the beginning and unfortunately it continued to stay that way. Both of our showers only stayed on scorching hot and at one point we had no running cold water out of our taps. After the attitude about the robes we were no longer comfortable with contacting reception so we just dealt with it. At the very end of our stay the fire alarms began to go off and we were already closing our door as this was happening. Luckily we were leaving and it was a false alarm but had it been real, watching the other guests and ourselves no one had a clue where to go in case of an emergency, there were no signs and we could not find anything in either of our rooms in terms of evacuation plans. Overall a very disappointing stay, we were made to feel annoying and very uncomfortable with the way we were treated by this one person and I really hope he is not the manager because he was awful to deal with. There were two women at the desk also and they...

Wai Ora Lakeside Spa Resort sounded promising for a special birthday treat for my son, but in reality it fell far short of even basic expectations. If you’re looking for an experience that makes you long for the comfort of your own mould free bathroom and clean amenities at home, then this ‘resort’ is for you.

The pool, despite being listed as one of the selling points, is unheated. Unless you enjoy a five second hypothermic dip that rivals swimming in the actual lake, don’t pack your togs. The spa tubs weren’t even turned on until the very morning of our departure, and only after we complained that they were ice cold to reception.

Our ‘king’ bed turned out to be two singles awkwardly pushed together, complete with an uncomfortable ridge down the middle which felt more like laying on a park bench than sleeping in a king bed at a 4 star ‘resort’.

The room itself felt damp and musty, as though it hadn’t seen a proper airing in months. There was mould on the shower curtain, dirty marks smeared the walls and skirting boards, and the basin and minibar fridge were sticky and unclean. Sky TV was available, but only the most stripped back version. No movies, no special channels, so our evening was spent channel surfing the bare minimum.

We had hoped to unwind in the sauna and steam room, only to find both out of order, their handles literally broken off and the facilities unusable. My son, who loves nothing more than a swim, was understandably disappointed in his birthday stay and so was I.

Even the staff seemed resigned to the fact that guests aren’t happy with their stays. The staff member who showed us through casually pointed out several of the resort’s issues like it was par for the course, and at checkout, I wasn’t even asked how our stay was. Just told ‘you can go now.’

Despite its lakeside location, this place felt more like a budget roadside motel and calling it a ‘resort’ is exceptionally generous. The photos online must be relics from a better time, because nothing matched the reality we encountered. At the price charged, Wai Ora Lakeside Spa Resort simply isn’t worth it. In short: do not stay here.

I’m not usually one to review things, but this place made the effort required to write one a necessity for the good of...

False advertising on Booking.com when looking, then arrived and didn’t get what was on the website at all. It was old and out-dated, the bathroom was way too small (height-wise) for the average human (my husband is 6’3ft and I’m 5’9 and we both struggled to use the bathroom facility). My husband could smell black mold on arrival as well, which is unsafe for someone like myself who has asthma.

Half of the items that are listed are not there, such as soundproofing. I live in a busy city in an apartment block not far from the main roads, bars, train tracks, as well as an airport and we have more soundproof rooms here than at a supposed 4 star resort.

We were there for our wedding and honeymoon, it honestly affected the whole honeymoon for us and we had to come home early in the end as the bed was so uncomfortable it messed up my husband’s back. We felt they didn’t really care about making the experience enjoyable for us, we felt we were more a money-making machine than a customer who is entitled to a good experience, especially when staying at a supposed 4 star resort, with a spa attached (which I found through review you have to pay for, $30 to sit in a lukewarm spa).

We didn’t let the staff know of these problems as we found them rude and unprofessional, especially at check in. On check in, as my mother had booked the place, I thought it was paid for. Just to find out from a very rude manager, that it had not been paid for. He then went on to be very condescending towards myself and my mother on the phone when I had to ring her up. And as a couple who has worked in hospitality before, it was OHS nightmare honestly.

We didn’t eat at the restaurant as it looked closed the whole time and it was very over priced for small portions. We also didn’t use the spa section as well, due to price and the fact we saw reviews about the spas not being warm.

We will never be returning and I will definitely NOT be recommending anyone stay here unless you enjoy back pain and getting the flu or Covid-19 with the black mold...