The Willows Wanaka Apartment — Hotel in South Island

We stayed at the Willows for a week during the winter school holidays with my wife, 5 yo and 2 yo. We had a 3 bedroom self-contained apartment and had a great time. Unfortunately several small issues prevented me from recommending this place 100%

The good: Good layout with spacious lounge, self-contained master bedroom with separate entrance and on-suite (not specified on the booking website by the way) Clean and tidy and appears to be brand new Plenty of parking on-site Close to the centre with only a short walk to most restaurants and the New World supermarket Space for skis and a separate drier Large spacious main bathroom with 2 sinks Well-equipped kitchen including a dishwasher, washing machine/drier Quick response to communication free internet, reasonable speeds

The not so good: Despite me explaining early that we're travelling with 2 young children, no effort has been made to make the apartment child friendly. I have also requested a portable cot and a high chair, with the property manager confirming everything will be arranged - neither was provided on arrival.

Confusing communication - initially the manager was going to meet us for a tour of the property but at the last minute an email with "self check in" instructions was received.

Still looking for that promised bottle of water in the fridge....

Apartment isn't really suited for toddlers and infants: lots of sharp corners and hazards, fake and real pot plants within a toddler's reach, tall chairs and easily accessible electronic equipment that could be pulled over. Kitchen is open access and no child safety lock on the stove/dishwasher. NO BATH! - if you ever had to wash an overtired toddler in the shower, you understand my pain!

Main bedroom and lounge have air conditioning units and you pretty much have to keep them running as the place gets very cold very quickly, especially during the night. The smaller bedrooms have no heating and with doors closed will cool down to freezing temperature within a few hours. So the choice is to either open doors for some warm air and listen to the grinding of the washing machine... or to freeze!

for a family of 4 staying for 5 nights, 2 small vials of each soap, shampoo and conditioner was provided... really? That works well in a hotel where everything is replenished daily but not in an apartment... Two sachets each of washing machine detergent and dishwasher powder were provided...

BYO netflix.... Haven't turned the TV on so not really relevant but just something I noticed - for a luxury accommodation only free to air channels are a bit of a let down

Small apartment planning issues - the main bedroom door hits the air conditioning unit when opened.... some of the drawers in the kitchen can't be opened because of the washing machine. Door handles too high for a toddler to reach on all doors... Those were minor issues and did not detract from the overall experience.

Overall, it was a nice place to stay, convenient and well-equipped. Some issues with management and communication, some teething (hopefully) issues that should be ironed out soon. There are alternatives in the area that are just as good or better and in the same price range, but Willows is definitely not...

We stayed at the Willows for a week during the winter school holidays with my wife, 5 yo and 2 yo. We had a 3 bedroom self-contained apartment and had a great time. Unfortunately several small issues prevented me from recommending this place 100%||||The good:||Good layout with spacious lounge, self-contained master bedroom with separate entrance and on-suite (not specified on the booking website by the way)||Clean and tidy and appears to be brand new||Plenty of parking on-site||Close to the centre with only a short walk to most restaurants and the New World supermarket||Space for skis and a separate drier||Large spacious main bathroom with 2 sinks||Well-equipped kitchen including a dishwasher, washing machine/drier||Quick response to communication||free internet, reasonable speeds||||The not so good:||Despite me explaining early that we're travelling with 2 young children, no effort has been made to make the apartment child friendly. I have also requested a portable cot and a high chair, with the property manager confirming everything will be arranged - neither was provided on arrival. ||||Confusing communication - initially the manager was going to meet us for a tour of the property but at the last minute an email with "self check in" instructions was received.||||Still looking for that promised bottle of water in the fridge....||||Apartment isn't really suited for toddlers and infants: lots of sharp corners and hazards, fake and real pot plants within a toddler's reach, tall chairs and easily accessible electronic equipment that could be pulled over. Kitchen is open access and no child safety lock on the stove/dishwasher. NO BATH! - if you ever had to wash an overtired toddler in the shower, you understand my pain!||||Main bedroom and lounge have air conditioning units and you pretty much have to keep them running as the place gets very cold very quickly, especially during the night. The smaller bedrooms have no heating and with doors closed will cool down to freezing temperature within a few hours. So the choice is to either open doors for some warm air and listen to the grinding of the washing machine... or to freeze!||||for a family of 4 staying for 5 nights, 2 small vials of each soap, shampoo and conditioner was provided... really? That works well in a hotel where everything is replenished daily but not in an apartment... Two sachets each of washing machine detergent and dishwasher powder were provided...||||BYO netflix.... Haven't turned the TV on so not really relevant but just something I noticed - for a luxury accommodation only free to air channels are a bit of a let down||||Small apartment planning issues - the main bedroom door hits the air conditioning unit when opened.... some of the drawers in the kitchen can't be opened because of the washing machine. Those were minor issues and did not detract from the overall experience.||||Overall, it was a nice place to stay, convenient and well-equipped. Some issues with management and communication, some teething (hopefully) issues that should be ironed out soon. There are alternatives in the area that are just as good or better and in the same price range, but Willows is definitely not...

We stayed at the Willows for a week during the winter school holidays with my wife, 5 yo and 2 yo. We had a 3 bedroom self-contained apartment and had a great time. Unfortunately several small issues prevented me from recommending this place 100%||||The good:||Good layout with spacious lounge, self-contained master bedroom with separate entrance and on-suite (not specified on the booking website by the way)||Clean and tidy and appears to be brand new||Plenty of parking on-site||Close to the centre with only a short walk to most restaurants and the New World supermarket||Space for skis and a separate drier||Large spacious main bathroom with 2 sinks||Well-equipped kitchen including a dishwasher, washing machine/drier||Quick response to communication||free internet, reasonable speeds||||The not so good:||Despite me explaining early that we're travelling with 2 young children, no effort has been made to make the apartment child friendly. I have also requested a portable cot and a high chair, with the property manager confirming everything will be arranged - neither was provided on arrival. ||||Confusing communication - initially the manager was going to meet us for a tour of the property but at the last minute an email with "self check in" instructions was received.||||Still looking for that promised bottle of water in the fridge....||||Apartment isn't really suited for toddlers and infants: lots of sharp corners and hazards, fake and real pot plants within a toddler's reach, tall chairs and easily accessible electronic equipment that could be pulled over. Kitchen is open access and no child safety lock on the stove/dishwasher. NO BATH! - if you ever had to wash an overtired toddler in the shower, you understand my pain!||||Main bedroom and lounge have air conditioning units and you pretty much have to keep them running as the place gets very cold very quickly, especially during the night. The smaller bedrooms have no heating and with doors closed will cool down to freezing temperature within a few hours. So the choice is to either open doors for some warm air and listen to the grinding of the washing machine... or to freeze!||||for a family of 4 staying for 5 nights, 2 small vials of each soap, shampoo and conditioner was provided... really? That works well in a hotel where everything is replenished daily but not in an apartment... Two sachets each of washing machine detergent and dishwasher powder were provided...||||BYO netflix.... Haven't turned the TV on so not really relevant but just something I noticed - for a luxury accommodation only free to air channels are a bit of a let down||||Small apartment planning issues - the main bedroom door hits the air conditioning unit when opened.... some of the drawers in the kitchen can't be opened because of the washing machine. Those were minor issues and did not detract from the overall experience.||||Overall, it was a nice place to stay, convenient and well-equipped. Some issues with management and communication, some teething (hopefully) issues that should be ironed out soon. There are alternatives in the area that are just as good or better and in the same price range, but Willows is definitely not...