Paparoa Park Motel — Hotel in South Island

We booked (via Booking.com for one night) a cosy cottage featuring one twin room, one queen room, and an extra single bed in the foyer. It also includes one bathroom, a kitchen with a dining area (seats five), and a comfy double leather couch in the living space. Only strange thing is the couch is below the tv so it’s not possible to watch the tv from the couch- maybe the furnishing has to be rearranged around to make the space work better.

The kitchen is fully stocked with everything you’d need: cutlery, pots and pans, crockery (plates, bowls, mugs, wine glasses), portable electric stoves, a mini microwave, mini fridge, and electric kettle. They even provide a range of tea sachets, a coffee decanter, tea towels, and salt and pepper- such thoughtful touches.

The bedrooms are fitted with warm, cosy bedding, side tables with lamps, bath towels, and electric blankets on all beds. Electric heating is also provided, and mosquito netting is fitted on the windows- perfect for keeping bugs out while letting in the fresh air.

The bathroom includes eco-friendly shower gel and shampoo, along with a hand towel and bath mat. The hot shower was good, strong and consistent. I absolutely loved the retro hot and cold water turning dial design- such a nostalgic detail that added character to the space.

The dining and living area comfortably seats five and is a great place to relax. TV channels are all your usual local channels, e.g. TNVZ. Wi-Fi is strong and reliable, which was a nice bonus. Everything was clean, tidy, and well-organised- it really feels like every detail has been thoughtfully considered, which was so appreciated after days of hiking and hut stays.

The location is easy to find via Google Maps, and parking is straightforward and close to the cottage.

Check-in operates on an honour system- self-check-in, which was simple and hassle-free. The cottage is tucked into a green landscape, with the occasional curious...

PROS: Fantastic view of the beach| Kitchenette with Hot Plate for cooking| Lots of windows for views and spacious feeling| Local Weka walk up to the windows and look at you | |CONS:| NO SCREENS on any of the windows (Sandflies will eat you alive)| No Closet Storage. Shelves available, but if you need to hang something, no dice.| No spatula for fry pan| The bed CREAKS with the slightest movement||This place is nicer than the reviews would lead you to believe. The Views are fantastic. When we arrived the interior was too warn. No Fan was available, so we opened all the windows. Which worked great until we were over run with sandflies. Then we had to close all the windows to save ourselves from using deet before bed. The bedroom was too warm to sleep with the windows closed so I opened the outside deck door and slept on the couch — to hell with the bugs. Later in the early morning it seemed safe to open the windows to cool the interior down for sleeping. ||The windows are such that screens can not be added, but it is a real shame with the heat and the bugs. You need the windows open to be comfortable, but the bugs will come in to join you. Having the unit air conditioned or at least providing a fan would go a long way to...

The Paparoa Park Motel is well situated on a hillside about 1k from the Pancake Rocks. There is very little in Punakaiki - just a cafe, clothes / gift shop and visitor centre both set up for tourists who stop to do the 20min cliff walk around the rocks (which by the way are well worth a trip, especially at high tide). |We booked Blowhole Cottage for two nights. The Cottage has lovely views over the distant beach and a small terrace. However it is really tired inside, patch of damp, broken mirror, poorly equipped kitchen, no air con, no mosquito screens on bedroom window etc etc. To make matters worse, when it rained heavily during the night we had to move the bed as water was dripping through the roof onto us as we slept! So far, so bad.|We made the management team aware of this the following morning. They responded really well and quickly and moved us next door to Seaside Cottage which was fantastic. Beautiful views, modern, well equipped, air con and really comfortable with a huge attention to detail. Everything that Blowhole is sadly not. |So - a story of two very different nights - one bad, one very good! I can only imagine that Blowhole is due...