St James Apartments — Hotel in South Island

My first impression of the St James Appartments after arriving was that they looked quite nice with plenty of parking despite what I had read in reviews. After walking into the reception I had to wait a minute for someone to come out.

They took a copy of my credit card which was ok and they were happy for me to split the payment as one of our family members who had $150 of the accommodation money wouldn’t be arriving until the next day.

They explained what key was for what, how to enter the building after hours and how to light the gas fire.

My first impression of our room was a good one. It wasn’t modern by any means but it was comfortable. Took me a couple of minutes to figure the fire out but once I knew what I was doing it was easy. However from time to time the fire would not light after turning it off. The pilot was still going it seemed as the gas wouldn’t start flowing for some reason. After a while it would light fine again. Some dodgy safety switch perhaps??

The kitchen was good and fully equipped. Their was quite a lot of dust on the shelf that had the shot glasses on; could write in it!

The bathroom was very nice although very dusty in places such as the extraction fan. We had a walk in shower which was hot and had good pressure. The spa bath was very welcoming on the cool winter nights though the bottom jets didn’t seem to work and were also missing parts. We didn’t seem to have any problems with running out of hot water which was good as the spa bath holds a lot of it.

In the smaller bedroom at night there was often a loud noise behind the wall. I could liken it to a hot water cylinder filling up which is probably what it was but behind right behind the beds made it very loud when trying to get to sleep. There was plenty of bedding which was nice.

There were no electric blankets which one family member commented about though the appartments was always warm.

The unit was serviced daily with everything being replenished. A nice touch as not all places do this.

Overall the apartment is due for a bit of an update as some of the paint is flaming off the kitchen ceiling and the stairs leading up to the front door, the carpet is worn.

The cleaning on a whole left a lot to be desired for in terms of the higher areas. Dusting and stuff splattered in different surfaces.

When the car parks filled up it was very tight but could have been worse.

I enjoyed my time there and it’s best feature would definitely have to be how close it is to the city centre. Less than a 5 minute walk.

I’d come back but would consider other places too. When leaving and handing the keys back I was never asked how our stay was or anything so maybe they could work on their...

I'll start with the positive- location you can't beat it for being central. ||Negatives |Carparking - no designated disabled (steep driveway), lack of parking, obvious double car parks made into 3 car park slots. Hate to think how many insurance claims due to how narrow.|Sky TV - advertising they have it. Out room apparently didn't have it. Yet still paid full price for 2 bed, 2 bathroom.||Path to town, no warning regarding the lip from Path to Bridge at both ends over the creek. The lights were broken and I tripped and fell and got prepatellar bursitis. This cost me $165 in dr visit and xray. Loss of bookings we had made and the managers didn't care. They said how are we meant to know the lights don't work.||Keypad at gate from town- there is no light. If you are out at night make sure you have your cellphone with a torch as there is no light by it. This is extremely dangerous for safety. ||There is a huge difference in the rooms we stayed in a studio on one night and it had things like a dish washer and spa bath yet our 2 bed 2 bath had no...

I'll start with the positive- location you can't beat it for being central. ||Negatives |Carparking - no designated disabled (steep driveway), lack of parking, obvious double car parks made into 3 car park slots. Hate to think how many insurance claims due to how narrow.|Sky TV - advertising they have it. Out room apparently didn't have it. Yet still paid full price for 2 bed, 2 bathroom.||Path to town, no warning regarding the lip from Path to Bridge at both ends over the creek. The lights were broken and I tripped and fell and got prepatellar bursitis. This cost me $165 in dr visit and xray. Loss of bookings we had made and the managers didn't care. They said how are we meant to know the lights don't work.||Keypad at gate from town- there is no light. If you are out at night make sure you have your cellphone with a torch as there is no light by it. This is extremely dangerous for safety. ||There is a huge difference in the rooms we stayed in a studio on one night and it had things like a dish washer and spa bath yet our 2 bed 2 bath had no...