Whangamata Motor Camp — Hotel in North Island

If you're looking for a campsite during your visit to NZ avoid this place. Unfortunately it's the only "campsite" in the town (a glorified car park), but you'll be disappointed and leave feeling ripped off like we did. You are charged $70 for a tiny site that's barely big enough for a tent and your car and there is nowhere with any shade, if you have a big tent you will need to park in the street outside of the park. It's an extra $30 per person if there's more than 2 of you sharing. Camping is 'festival style' - literally on top of one another so much so you can hear your neighbours snoring.

80% of this place is dedicated to permanent caravans on site and they're occupied by families - the kind with parents shouting at their kids to "shut the f* up" and "stop being dks". As you're so closely packed in there's no avoiding hearing it.

Sadly, the site owners have neglected to keep facilities properly clean and well maintained. The bbq was disgusting, even after cleaning it ourselves and scraping off the layers of thick blackened grease and grime it then didn't even get hot enough to cook our meal. The laundry only runs cold water washes - useless if you're planning on doing any bedding, towels or underwear washes. Showers cost $1 each, whether they work or not (one of ours didn't), and have no curtain to stop your clothes and towel from getting wet. The toilet and shower blocks weren't clean when we arrived and were not cleaned at all during our stay - grim. Then the wifi is so terrible it's just there to frustrate you more than provide any sort of use. When we were finally able to speak to management and raise our complaint (there is no staff on site after 5pm until 9am the next day) they simply said they had cleaned the bbq daily, nowhere in NZ has hot water laundry (not true at any other place we stayed at!), then refunded the $1 for our cold shower and said they'd take our feedback onboard. No compensation or so much as an apology offered for a really expensive and utterly...

Friendly welcoming owner in person and over the phone. Was given own choice of driving around the park and parked 7 metre van on hard grounded grass powered site. Not many people here so we were distanced from campers and cabins. Birds were really chatty up in the trees and ocean sounds were enjoyable through the night. We parked close to toilet block but walked further toward the office and entrance for showers as the one closer to us mid way was padlocked. Showers operate by a $1 coin. After a long day I enjoyed my long approx. 5mins of hot hard massage shower on my back. There is only a door to the cubicles. No shower curtain to separate the cubicle so make sure you have a plastic bag for your clothes to be in. I wet my pjs hanging up because my shower was high pressure and I wet everything. No shower mat so be can be slippery. As I was leaving the shower block I met a very chatty black cat that let me give him pats. For the the price we paid. I liked this place because it is within walking distance to town and the beach and we weren't surrounded by people. Not a flash area, mostly cosmetic but has all you need and no fuss. Drove out safely even though it...

Unfortunately I would not recommend Whangamata Motor Camp. My daughter was on a school camp and accidentally locked her key in the cabin, so went to the office (as her teacher asked her to) to get the cabin unlocked. A guy (who apparently doesn't work there, but lives there) told her to F* off and sleep on the grass. The teachers went and got bedding from a family bach and got the girls sorted for the night. The next morning both my daughter and the teacher tried to get a key again from the office, the guy again refused to get it for them and told them he would trespass them. Finally a kind cleaner quietly gave them a key. The teachers approached the police about the matter. I rang the motor camp office after speaking to the teacher today and the woman just raised her voice at me repeating what do you want me to do? She then hung up on me. If you are going to live at a motor camp, you need to realize that these things happen and that you need to be polite to people whether you are staff or living with staff onsite. Kindness and manners...