Lakeside Motel — Hotel in South Island

I URGE YOU TO READ THIS ENTIRE REVIEW BEFORE YOU BOOK HERE!!!||I am an 18 year old girl on my first solo travel trip to Queenstown. My goal in my search for a hostel was primarily price. I wanted to find an affordable but decent hostel. When I came across Lakeside Backpackers I saw many reviews about the disgusting state of the hostel itself, but nothing could have prepared me for my horrendous experience. I was made aware by the reviews that the place was rundown - and had accepted that I would sacrifice that for the price. However, the kitchen was a disgusting mess with the fridges filthy and covered in food. They were both also completely full of with nowhere for me to store my food no matter how I rearranged it - so I had to buy in small quantities and nothing refrigerated. I stayed for a total of 4 nights. Since I had arrived in Queenstown I had been up the mountain 8am-4pm every day due to my Snowboard Course so really was not at the place much. On the morning of the 5th day I exited my room to see a sign (ATTACHED AS IMAGE 1) ||Shocked as to whether it applied to me or not and why it said “Sunday the 3rd” when it was in fact “Monday the 23rd” I planned to call the hostel once reception hours opened. By this time I was once again at the mountain for my course and called at lunch time. This is not verbatim but still a very accurate recollection of how the phone conversation went:||Me: Hello, I saw a sign that said long term lakeside backpackers need to leave and was wondering if this included me?||Receptionist: What are the dates of your stay?||Me: The 19th of June until the 16th of July||Receptionist: Yes you need to vacate||Me: Can I please clarify as to whether I need to vacate this Sunday the 29th or Monday the 23rd as the sign shows an inaccuracy in date and day?||Receptionist: You need to leave today||Me: Okay. Well then I will be at your reception this afternoon after my day to collect my refund.||Receptionist: No you will need to talk to my manager if you want to talk about a refund. I will let you stay one more night so you can talk to him tomorrow as he is not in until then.||Me: I will be up the mountain tomorrow before your reception opens too, so it makes no difference. I will come in tonight how does 5:30pm sound?||Receptionist: No you cannot||Me: What time does your reception close?||Receptionist: 7:00pm||Me: Great, I will see you at 5:30pm.||That afternoon I went back to the hostel where I packed my bags and walked down to reception. I then told the receptionist I was checking out now as per the sign and would be collecting my refund accompanied by all my detailed. The receptionist asked “why are you checking out?” And I replied, “due to the renovations”. He then raised his voice as if irritated at me and said, “no that sign was not for you. That was for long term backpackers”. I said, “okay well that was miscommunication on your end then because I called to clarify and was told that I needed to vacate today. So may I get my refund now as I have had to quickly book new accommodation”. We went back and fourth and came to the conclusion he was not going to give me my refund as he stated it was his “first day working here” and he did apparently not have the authority to do so. I made sure he knew I was leaving that day and therefore only stayed 4 nights before leaving. The next day I sent the following email (ATTACHED AS IMAGE 2).||I was aware I’d likely not get an entire refund if one at all, however was forced to book expensive accommodation due to the last minute notice of vacation and no cheaper availability for that very same night. The next day I was up at the mountain again and received a call from them which I could not answer due to being in training. When I got back into town around 4:30pm I called back and explained who I was and why I was calling back. I was immediately met with the manager’s irritated voice who demanded “tell me what is going on ma’am!”. I began calmly explaining the entire situation and the mistake his employee had made before the manager began yelling over the top of my through the phone shouting thing like: “why did you not ask me first ma’am!” “That sign was not for you!”. I responded by saying “I was told by one of your employees I had to vacate and therefore did, it is not my job to double check with you as I trusted the information I was given by YOUR employee”. He then continued on repeating the same things before saying “your bed is still here ma’am you can stay as long as you need!”. I told him “I now have new accommodation of course as I believe I no longer had a place to stay, so there is nothing left for me to do except get my refund”. He began laughing on the phone and I said “do not laugh at me. I am serious. This is yours and your employee’s mistake and I am in right of my refund for the remaining nights”. He hung up the phone.||Shocked and so upset I finally let out the tears of anger I had been holding to maintain an assertive image while on the phone. I called my Dad in tears asking him why a manager of a business would be so unprofessional as to yell at a young girl when it was no fault but their’s. After some words of encouragement I grabbed my male friend for safety and walked down to the reception. The second I walked in I held my head high and said “Do you know who I am?” The manager could barely make eye contact. He so quickly backed down from the once aggressive persona he was portraying through the phone and responded with a quiet “yes”. I then asked “so would you like me to explain the entire situation again for you?”. He said “no”. He then pulled out his calculator and calculated the remaining cost of my stay. Unfortunately I failed to pick up that it was a bit over $100AUD short of what I should have been refunded, however I was anxious and all too keen to get out of there. Once he processed the refund I left happy and relieved. I have had to cut my losses and pray that karma will be the real price they pay and that this review speaks to people and stops them from learning the same hard lessons I had to. I urge everyone to put forward an extra few dollars to every night’s stay to have a better experience. On the other hand, shout out to Lylo Queenstown which is an amazing hostel which I am so happily sitting...

My friend and I recently stayed at this motel and, while we found the room to be reasonably decent and appreciated the convenient walking distance to the town centre, we had some concerns regarding the housekeeping service and our experience with their indian receptionist/manager.

During our stay, we requested for our room to be cleaned on two separate occasions. Unfortunately, on both instances, the service provided was incomplete. The housekeeping staff only changed the garbage bin liner and towels but did not replace or refresh the top sheets, despite our clear request for a room clean.

On our final day, we approached reception to ask for some sugar and creamer. My friend also requested two fresh towels as the ones in our room were still wet. Before I could even finish my sentence, the receptionist—who I understand also serves as the manager—abruptly cut me off and said, “Why do you always not flip the sign if you want your room to be cleaned?”

I found his tone and approach dismissive and unnecessarily confrontational. At that point, we were simply requesting fresh towels, not a full room cleaning. It was quite disappointing to be treated in this manner.

Also, my friend discovered that the milk they've provided have already expired and she told him about it but he only said that that was the "best before date", but the milk had expired in June and it was already July when we...

This place advertises itself as a hotel on their window at reception which it definitely is not. Was dissapointed as soon as I walked in. I rung them straight away and was told I've already had one day even though I never got there until 5.30pm as I was told I couldn't check in until after 4pm. I told them the room was very cold, one thin blanket. Was told there was more in the cupboard, it was painted shut. Broken light above bed which swung when touched, shelf on door of fridge broken, when light on in bathroom anyone walking down alleyway that backs onto bathroom and kitchen you can see the silhouette of person and see what they're wearing (I got daughter to check). Head board half hanging of side of bed. Because they were going to charge me anyway I had to stay one night. In the morning after showering there was a puddle between shower and toilet obviously shower leaks, the windows were dripping in condensation and there was this white disgusting stuff down the windows which obviously hadn't been cleaned from the last person, carpet looked filthy. Such a shame as I was really looking forward to staying here as the photos on line looked great but certainly didn't show what we walked into. The only good thing was they did credit me back two days that I didn't stay but that was through booking dot com. Certainly wouldnt recommend...