Havelock Garden Motel — Hotel in South Island

Good and bad things about this place. Lovely comfortable place and the swimming pool was great. Staff very helpful and obliging . . . BUT!! When we called to make a booking I explained that we were 3 adults looking for 2 sleeping spaces. Got told that no 2 bedroom units were available so would have to settle for 3 luxury spa units at $150 each per night. When I asked if the units only accommodated 1 person each I managed to get through that we were a married couple with an extra family adult travelling with us. OK. So only needed two units because units only accommodate maximum of 2 people. Very expensive but had no option we felt. The day we checked out we discovered that both units we occupied had couches that fold out to a decent size bed. Using that for the solo traveller was never suggested as an option and it would have suited us perfectly. We never used any of the "luxury" features of either unit so felt we were somewhat ripped off. We will certainly explore other options if we stop in...

Lovely motor court type hotel in the little town of Havelock. We were driving from Picton to the Abel Tasman park and overnighted here after some wine tasting in Blenheim. Unfortunately bad weather prevented us from continuing on to Abel Tasman and the proprietors were incredibly helpful getting us the information we needed to reroute our trip. We had a two bedroom apartment that was spacious and well appointed, plenty of room for 4 of us to spread out. Havelock is a little town on the coast, the green lipped mussel capital of the world - try them at the local pub across the street from the motel (which is friendly, has a decent wine selection...

We chose Havelock Garden Motel for it's central location in the Marlborough Sounds...a great base for exploring nearby attractions (...& enjoying fresh juicy mussels @ the Mussel Pot Restaurant..!!). The motel is well-positioned away from the main road in a park-like setting...a peaceful refuge. Our studio unit was clean & very well serviced every day. Rates were very reasonable for the facilities provided. Hosts, Steve & Kirsa were helpful, friendly & very accomodating. Highly recommended...thank-you for helping to make our time in Marlborough a memorable...