Ribbonwood Retreat Bed & Breakfast Accommodation Franz Josef — Hotel in South Island

This is the place to stay if you are visiting Franz Josef. The location is a short 5 minute ride from the town center. The rooms are clean and very well maintained. The decor goes perfectly with the setting. Wife and I stayed here for 2 nights - one night in the master bedroom and the other night in the cottage. If the cottage is available, you will really love it there. Get a bottle of wine and enjoy it on the porch while watching the sun set. Its just a wonderful feeling.

The best part about this B&B, though, is the warm welcome by the hosts. Jo and Julie are an amazing couple who go lengths to make sure you are comfortable. It starts with a welcome drink. I told Julie I enjoy red wine and she didn't hesitate to open 2 bottles for me to try the local wine. I was carrying 2 of my own so it ended up being a nice wine tasting hour for me. The next day at breakfast Jo made his signature eggs while Julie made amazing crepes. We ended up enjoying the breakfast for an hour while conversing with the hosts and the 2 other couples staying at the place.

Julie and Jo both are very easy to strike a conversation with. They both are very knowledge about the area and their recommendations are on point. They also have a beautiful garden where they grow their own veggies and fruits. On and all I can't recommend this...

Staying with Julie and Jo was wonderful. Being caught in a storm, we got in a little later than we planned, but we were welcomed with a warm greeting and directions to the nearest open restaurant. We stayed in a big one room cottage next to Julie and Jo’s home. The room was so comfortable and clean. It had so much space and even had a small kitchen area and dinette. The bed was very comfortable, and the shower pressure was fantastic. If this road trip stop hadn’t been just one night, we would have liked to stay longer. In the morning we walked next door to Julie and Jo’s kitchen where we were served a delicious breakfast with hot coffee and tea. Definitely recommend Julie’s crepes! After being on a road trip for so long, it was so nice to sit in someone’s home and have a homecooked meal with warm conversation. Julie and Jo even looked at our road trip itinerary and recommended some of the many stops that were definitely worth it and the best places to park for them. Even the views of the mountains on the back porch got us energized and excited for the day. Highly recommend this bed and breakfast and hope to stay there...

My husband and I did not get to stay here during our honeymoon in December due to inclement weather washing out the roads around Franz Josef, leaving us unable to get in and others to get out, but this hotel sure charged us like we stayed! When we called to tell them we would be unable to physically make it (short of a helicopter ride) they said they would still charge us since they are “a small business” and we signed our life away when we booked. We were told to contact travel insurance to reimburse, which we did. When travel insurance reached out to ribbonwood they were told by ribbonwood that they “provided us a service”. Unclear what service they provided, short of them ripping us off. Every other “small business” b&b owner we stayed with on our honeymoon could not believe the nerve of this place to treat us so, and most small bnbs etc have some sort of insurance to cover this. I am not one to leave negative reviews but I truly feel ripped off and would like to prevent others from having a...