Kingswood Motel — Hotel in South Island

The motel was clean, roomy and had recently been renovated. ||||Sadly, there were some omissions and ill-advised additions. We've stayed in motels frequently throughout NZ and know what is standard in motels today. This motel missed the mark.||||There was no steam/toilet smell extraction in the bathroom. Opening windows proved a poor alternative. There was no cooling by air-con or fan. When I asked about a fan they didn't have one and was told they don't have a lot of hot days in Waimate. A couple of side tables needed so we could put our mugs/glasses on something while watching TV. The height of the TV gave us stiff necks. The recommended height for a TV of that size is 108 cm to the middle of the screen. We were assured that the double glazing would deaden any traffic noise. It didn’t and we were woken many times in the night by traffic rumbling past, many of them trucks. The fridge cannot be opened with one hand. The top sheet was heavy and unyielding. Finally, it is bad practice to give customers a toilet roll with only a few squares left on it.||||We won't stay there again and unfortunately, there are few other...

I am absolutely shocked by the appalling behavior of the owner at this hotel. After she moved us to another room, there was some confusion about the price. When I politely questioned it, she reacted with complete unprofessionalism, standing up, throwing her hands in the air, and exclaiming, “I can’t do this! I'm having a bad day, I’m trying to make money here, do you know how much it costs to clean that room?”

We were stunned by her outburst—it was completely unnecessary and uncalled for. On top of that, she asked us to cancel our booking through Booking.com so she could offer a $50 discount, which felt incredibly unprofessional and dishonest.

The entire experience left us feeling unwelcome and uncomfortable. A hotel owner should provide good customer service, not make guests feel like an inconvenience. I would strongly advise others to think twice before booking here. The room was lovely and spacious however all the beds were hard, I ended up sleeping on the couch. My one and only time that we will be...

We stayed here on our way back from Dunedin for a concert. It was the nearest place available but we’re so glad it was. I rang the motel in advance as I knew we wouldn’t be there for check in and wouldn’t be back from Dunedin until around 2am and asked if we could grab the key on the way through. The owners were more than happy to do this which made our experience so much easier.

On picking up the key they told us our room was ready early and let us drop our bags off in what can only be described as the cleanest motel room I have ever stayed in. It had just what we needed, the beds were comfy, the room warmed up quickly and the shower had good pressure and plenty of hot water.

The staff were all very friendly and we bumped into the owners in the local bakery the next day and had a nice chat with them.

I would highly recommend a stay here and we won’t hesitate to stay again in the...