Love Punakaiki — Hotel in South Island

This place has the potential to be amazing. The beautiful native bush surrounding the treehouse is lovely and you do feel like you are up in the tree tops if you are in the upstairs rooms. That’s about the only great thing about it. We travelled with my sister and her husband who were in the Nikau room and we were in the Rimu room. The couples retreat was in between us with an adjoining door into the Nikau room. The people in the retreat were very noisy and easily heard through the door, keeping my sister awake until late. Our windows ran with condensation although there was no damp smell evident. Our blind wouldn’t stay up so the only way we could see the trees from the large kitchen window was by hooking it up to the window latch. The hot plates in both rooms were very old and rusty but did work. The decor is very tired and the whole place could do with a big refresh- carpet, bedding and paint. The walk in shower that they boast, is unimpressive. There were cobwebs around both rooms. Two bulbs in my sisters room didn’t work. The heating is by very loud fan heaters on the wall and we had to turn the tv up when the heater was on. Our tv was up on the wall at ceiling height which was ridiculous. Although there was sky sport which made hubbies very happy. Needed heat pumps installed. The decking would have been great if it wasn’t raining and cold. The decking of the couples retreat was very clearly seen by us from our kitchen window so is not that secluded. So on the whole a disappointing trip and unfortunately we won’t be back. Spending some money to update the units and installing heat pumps would make all the difference. However it appears from reading past reviews the owners/management are...

Avoid the "Miro" option. This is on the ground floor with the upstairs decks shading it on all sides. There is no natural light, and it is cold. The only heat source is a very noisy rattling wall-mounted fan heater. There is also no ventilation and while there is a dehumidifier, the power is off between guests (we were asked to turn off the master switch on departure). As a result, there is a fairly strong smell of mould. The owner asserts that this is "the smell of the bush", and "not mould", and that all the lodgings in the treehouse smell like that. So nothing to worry about, it seems. This denialism perhaps doesn't bode well for the other issues we pointed out being addressed. Indeed, despite indicating the absence of sufficient plates, cutlery, a tea towel and a bath mat on our first evening, these were not subsequently provided. This is a place that has the potential to be lovely (it IS in the bush, there's a track to the beach, and Punakaiki is a lovely spot), but it's being poorly managed. The people we spoke to were lovely, trusting and easy going, but there's definitely a lack of professional rigour being applied to the provision of accommodation. At $175/night, standards need to be higher. It's worth noting that we were able to charge our EV, got to give extra points...

Booked the Miro unit for the weekend. Pro's: -We were the only ones on the property -Easy Check in, just emailed the key code -Great Shower -Fast Wifi (no Spark / Skinny mobile service) -Large Unit -Well equipped -Has EV Charger, but didn't have my EV -The sound of wildlife (Kiwi and met a friendly Weka.) Cons: A Dehumidifier was on in the unit when we arrived, it smells a bit damp. Leaving clothes on the floor they will get damp, the pillowcases smelt damp. This is probably because the unit gets no sun

The very noisy rattly fan heater is all that heats the room and it's too noisy to sleep with and is so full of dust im suprised it hasn't caused a fire. Why this doesnt have a Heatpump im unsure as that would be far more efficient

The curtain rail is poorly repaired with a 'cable tied' solution but functional.

The main bed isn't great, it's not a split base therefore has roll-together, the matress is also dated,...