Mataki Motels Ltd. — Hotel in South Island

We stayed there for one night in a family unit - 2 couples and one toddler.||Rooms have been clean and tidy, though family unit (2 bedrooms and couch) felt for our party a bit crowded.||Staff at reception (or was it the manager?) was disappointing. The elderly gent clearly didn't like to deal with customer requests. The first time we asked for linen for the spare bed (which we booked and the hotel confirmed in writing) he told us we should have told them. Well, we did at booking time and the hotel confirmed this request. He then complained about the cleaning staff (for forgetting this request) and walked away (to bring us some time later the bedding). An hour later we asked for a plunger (which should be standard equipment in these rooms). His first reaction was: "This is already your second request". Well, we didn't dare to come with any other requests (e.g. the advertised spa was there but did not work). He later brought a plunger and explained they removed them from the rooms because "they get legs".||A wedding party in an adjacent room was pretty noisy during the night - bad timing.||But - overall - room is clean and mainly ok (unless you expect the advertised spa to work and want a plunger for your coffee), Supplies (sugar, tea), are the absolut minimum the motel can get away with. Reception experience was substandard. We don't like to be made uncomfortable for justified requests.||Will try to find next time a motel with...

The room was all I needed as all I wanted was an overnight stop on a long journey. The room was great value for what it was. It was small, clean and very basic. The motel was in a side street well off the main road (in small town NZ lots of motels are on the main road, these can have trucks thundering along all night) and I did not hear any traffic (that is a major bonus +++ from me). In the room there was a kettle, microwave, crockery and cutlery and a table with two chairs. The bed was comfortable. Pillows are a very personal thing. If they are an issue with you carry your own. The fridge was a small bar fridge. The kettle worked, I had planned, and did eat out for tea and breakfast. The room was old fashioned. To fill the kettle you had to use a tap in the bathroom. The owner had put an oil column heater on (was a very cold night) and the room was very hot. I could have stripped down to shorts and a t-shirt. I did turn the...

The unit we had for one night in August this year was satisfactory for my wife and myself. I think we were the only guests there, albeit in the middle of winter. Our unfortunate experience happened at 10:10 am on the morning of our departure. The male / husband / owner, whatever, arrived at our door, loudly banging it and continued to abuse my wife in a very raised and obnoxiously voice, stating that check out time was 10am.

I agree that notified checkout time is 10 am. If there was a problem with next days guests arriving soon and they were having a busy day, they might come and ask us politely if we would departing soon.

Abusing the guests is not the way to improve goodwill. We will never stay there again and I would strongly encourage anybody looking for a motel in Murchison, not to stay at Mataki...