Otematata's Best Dam Pub — Hotel in South Island

We stayed in a room situated directly outside the pub, even though we booked in October, and the noise was overwhelming until about midnight. Opening the windows wasn’t an option due to the excessive noise and strong smell of cigarette smoke, which left the room uncomfortably hot during that period. The walls were extremely thin, and we were kept awake until 3 a.m. by noisy neighbors in the adjoining room. To make matters worse, snoring from a few rooms away was so loud that we felt compelled to investigate its source.

The accommodations were outdated and did not justify the $132 per room per night price tag. In one room, the shower was falling apart, with haphazard silicone repairs on the floor, the sink was cracked, and the shelves holding the fridge were poorly assembled and barely functional. I was embarrassed to host an American friend who had traveled all the way from Texas in such inadequate conditions.

The rooms smelled musty and stale, and the lack of heating made the space uncomfortably cold until I discovered extra blankets in a random cupboard the next morning. The sliding door to the toilet was not only noisy but also disruptive when sharing the space. The coffee mugs were disgustingly dirty and ended up washing them in the boiling water out of the jug. Still didn’t get them clean.

While I did book in October, I would strongly recommend exploring more suitable and modern options in the area, if you can or outside of the area. For the price, the experience was highly disappointing, and I will not...

After the trip back to Dunedin. We stop there for quick bite. We thought it would be just small pub meal. No expectations. But omg the food were FABULOUS! Generous amount, taste AMAZING, presentation were Great. I didnt expect that from country pub.

Service was grear, lady was so friendly, fast service, price is great too for amount of food.

Fish and chip were so CRISPY, best Fish and chip we ever had. Look at the pictures. $28 for 3 pieces of fish, chip, great size of salad. So fresh and homemade tartar sauce. Omg I couldnt stop steal the fish from my family. I had chicken curry - it was great test. They use thai red curry paste and I'm Thai. That curry was spot on even though they put tomato in it but it was great combination as I'm happy they are didn't call it Thai curry. They call chicken curry - only chicken is abit dry but no bad though. I would recommend to use chicken thighs instead of breast. I wish I had more tummy to fit in more food. I would order roast lamb. I saw next table had it. And look amazing.

They have outdoor setting as well. Restaurant is well set up. Very original decor of of country pub. Gave such a good homely vive. If it wasn't too far away drom dunedin. I would go there a lot. There are music stage, games room, an arcade game in barrel so cool. Also, Dart and pool table.

We did speak to one customer and she drove from Timaru just to have lunch. She said food was amazing.

We didn't stay in the...

Didn’t stay the night- rather we participated in the Karaoke entertainment, last Sat 28th May. All would have been fabulous- except the stage within the Pub was an a total Health n Safety issue!!

1. the stage is waaay too large - we all had to step up & walk across it to go to the loos?!
2. there was limited distance btwn the tables & the elevated stage. So many punters had to “approach & walk on top of the stage” to get across the room to either the bar/DJ or bathrooms.
3. I do not recall any “tape” along the edge of the stage to indicate a change in height
4. excited by a flash of brilliance for a kareoke song that suited my group, I came out of the loo with eyes on the DJ. Unfortunately I misjudged the first step (ie the huge stage) cos I was concentrating on the next step up to the DJ.
5. within seconds I felt immense pain/shame & embarrassment as I crashed on the stage... landing on my knee/hand & shoulder.
6. luckily I only sprained my wrist, but I did endure large bruising/pain on both my knee & shoulder.
7. even 5days later (Wed), the pain in my knee/shoulder restricts any movement.

Seriously- the owner here, needs to review the stage in his pub! It is a H&S issue waiting to happen!!! I could have broken bones/needed ambulance etc - luckily I was Ok. Future punters may not...