Haka House Lake Tekapo — Hotel in South Island

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy my stay at Haka House. I booked a single room for my 1 night stay in Tekapo and was left feeling disappointed with the accommodation here. I would not stay here again and I advise anyone looking for a hotel in the area to avoid Haka House for the following reasons. Firstly, I cannot emphasise how much noise penetrated through the walls of the room I was in. Not just noise from loud hostel guests but also noise from cars around the building coming and going at late hours of the night. I could hear hostel guests yelling ‘country roads’ at 10:30pm while I was trying to get to sleep in my room. Now I see why it’s called Haka House, because of all the yelling that goes on inside. It appears that when they constructed this building they used absolutely no sound deadening materials for the rooms, which seems bizarre to me considering that it is combined with a hostel. I could also easily hear people walking around the hallway outside of the room and opening and closing doors to other rooms. Secondly, the grate in the bathroom floor is interconnected with pipes from other rooms (orange speckled bathrooms floors are hideous as well). Therefore if someone in a different room uses water then the pipe in your room gurgles with the sound of water draining. This gurgling sound occurred all through the night, which kept me awake at times. Thirdly, there were large specks of black mould in the sealant used in the shower. Fourth, the room was a complete rip off for the price I paid, it felt too small/cramped, average upkeep, average level of quality and the biggest let down was that it had no front facing view of Lake Tekapo. Fifth, I had to park my car in an absolute swamp of a gravel carpark 50 metres away from the hotel which had massive craters of muddy water everywhere. I had to navigate my way around the craters of muddy water while carrying my luggage to the hotel entrance. Lastly, the room amenities were below my expectations. They provided 1 ply toilet paper in a public toilet-esk dispenser and a small selection of tea, coffee and milk… which was cheap of them. Front desk also made me give them my drivers license so they could take a photo of it, this is the only hotel that has ever asked me for this and it is an invasion of my privacy… go away. Only positive is the location as it is close to the shops/supermarket on the main street and is within easy walking distance to the lakefront and surrounding attractions. The location is the only redeeming factor about this place and is the reason why I’m giving Haka House 2 stars...

BEWARE Sorry it's long winded but I want to give the full picture. I booked a room for my son and I for one night through booking.com. I read the conditions for cancellation and we're happy with them as we were definitely staying in tekapo. On the night we had booked we left christchurch after our work and stopped at ashburton for dinner. While there I got a notification from the group we were meeting up with the next day that the road in and out of tekapo was closed due to hazardous road conditions. I tried contacting haka house both through the tekapo phone number and the 0800 number. Getting the same out of office answering message. I emailed haka house explaining about our situation and how we were physically unable to get to tekapo and we trust we would get a refund as it was beyond our control. I booked some accommodation in Geraldine for nearly half the price which turned out to be lovely. A few days later I received an email from haka house saying 1 They are unable to process a refund as it was through booking.com. 2. Their terms and conditions 3. there was nothing they could do about the snowfall and road closure. Moreover, the road was open during most of the day time, which means that the majority of the guest could make their way to Tekapo. This didn't help me as I was traveling after work, 5pm. I then contacted booking.com who said it was up to haka house to give partial or full refund. They would contact haka house. They responded "Unfortunately, the accommodation has not confirmed your fee waiver request." Needless to say I am extremely disappointed and...

We booked an en suite room with a lakeside view. I could rate the place down on the basis that it was a tiny room with basic facilities and a not particularly welcoming front desk experience but possibly that would be unfair as Haka House is basically a hostel catering for backpackers rather than couples of a more mature age. So the reason I mark it down is that I thought it was really very expensive for what it was. We paid the same price per night here as we did for some very much nicer rooms elsewhere on our travels. I think the price fooled me into expecting something much more than we got. I guess the problem is that Lake Tepako is a popular destination with limited accommodation so places can charge what they like. |For us it was a one night stop between Mount Cook and Christchurch so not a particular hardship to stay one night. The bed was ok in fairness but the room was tiny! ||We drove up to Mt Cook and did the circular walk at the top. We enjoyed the magnificent views. We sat by the lake and took the usual photos. It was a moonless night so we got some nice pictures of Orion behind the church of the Good Shepherd. Overall though I am not sure the stay was worthwhile unless you have unlimited time. I am not convinced that Conde Nast are correct that this is one of the 50 best places in the world to see! The night would have been better added to another destination on our trip around...