Kaimata Retreat — Hotel in South Island

Very disappointing. A detour in the road from Dunedin made an otherwise very difficult route horrible. No one warned us of the detour, not our travel agency or Kaimata, even though both were aware of our arrival day and Kaimata the detour. After the long, treacherous, partial-dirt road arrival, we found what was billed as a luxury retreat. Far from it. Tiny little room with a ladder and four hangers (see photo) for a closet, barely enough room to negotiate around the bed because of your mandatorily unpacked bags, no view from our room, and no true ensuite bathroom (the bathroom, which had no lock, was in a passageway between the kitchen and room). Make sure, if you do go to Kaimata Retreat, that you avoid the room behind the kitchen, where we stayed. Every word from the kitchen/dining area could be heard. I'm not sure what caused it, but every time someone opened a door or something else to change the air pressure something in the room vibrated loudly enough to keep you awake, but not long enough to find. Perhaps it was the (generously-termed) artwork. A trash-strewn path down to the water had the ambiance of a back alley. That's enough time spent on this place. We stayed in six hotels/ inns/lodges/retreats in NZ. This was hands down easily the worst by a mile (check out my write-ups of Mollie's, Solitaire Lodge, Greenhill Lodge, Oliver's, Silverpine Lodge and Eichardt's Private Hotel). We have stayed in dozens of small, luxury accommodations around the world, as well as larger hotels. This is the very first one we have walked out of, as we were scheduled for three nights and...

Very disappointing. A detour in the road from Dunedin made an otherwise very difficult route horrible. No one warned us of the detour, not our travel agency or Kaimata, even though both were aware of our arrival day and Kaimata the detour. After the long, treacherous, partial-dirt road arrival, we found what was billed as a luxury retreat. Far from it. Tiny little room with a ladder and four hangers (see photo) for a closet, barely enough room to negotiate around the bed because of your mandatorily unpacked bags, no view from our room, and no true ensuite bathroom (the bathroom, which had no lock, was in a passageway between the kitchen and room). Make sure, if you do go to Kaimata Retreat, that you avoid the room behind the kitchen, where we stayed. Every word from the kitchen/dining area could be heard. I'm not sure what caused it, but every time someone opened a door or something else to change the air pressure something in the room vibrated loudly enough to keep you awake, but not long enough to find. Perhaps it was the (generously-termed) artwork. A trash-strewn path down to the water had the ambiance of a back alley. That's enough time spent on this place. We stayed in six hotels/ inns/lodges/retreats in NZ. This was hands down easily the worst by a mile (check out my write-ups of Mollie's, Solitaire Lodge, Greenhill Lodge, Oliver's, Silverpine Lodge and Eichardt's Private Hotel). We have stayed in dozens of small, luxury accommodations around the world, as well as larger hotels. This is the very first one we have walked out of, as we were scheduled for three nights and...

Nice and peaceful, quiet with a great view of the stars if it’s clear. Close to Allan beach where we saw seals and even managed to see 2 penguins nesting in the rocks. Not giving it a higher review though due to the fact that no where was it disclosed before booking that they use rain water (which is normal in many places of NZ) and no information about that when booking. Found out by surprise when i noticed the tap water was brownish with a smell and messaged the owner to make sure that was ok. I did get a prompt response but this is information that should be disclosed prior to booking as well as upon arrival that you need to use the provided bottled water for drinking, brushing teeth etc. We are fine but would be good to know especially given the cost of the place or at least a warning plus some information about how it’s filtered and being kept from contamination etc. road to get out there is sketchy as well, was ok as not much traffic and weather was ok but something to keep in mind if weather is to be bad, there was a small slip on one of the gravel roads...