Waikite Valley Hot Pools — Local services in North Island

Last time I spent a weekend in Rotorua, my partner and I wanted to relax in some hot pool, but we travelled on a budget. The website from the most known one on Rotorua (the Polynesian spa) was absolutely not user friendly, and I couldn't find any information about price. Same for other concurrents, until I stumbled upon the Waikite Valley, where the pricing is easy to find on the website, AND pretty cheap! We gave a phone call to book for the "Spa Plus" option and we didn't regret it at all! The private spa was really quiet and cute, with the water falling in the pool from a little cascade. The private deck opened to a beautiful view on the valley. After the 40min on our private spa, we enjoyed the many outdoor public pools. My favorite was the Gardens one, with the stunning view! Before leaving the place, we walked along the ecotrail (about 10min walk) until the water source, and I'm glad we did because the bubbly steamy water emerging from the ground really gave the the "WOW effect"!

In summary, even if it's a bit of a drive to reach the Waikite Valley from Rotorua, it is totally worthy for the a axing service, the beautiful location, the number of pools, the quality of the private pool, and the cheap price. I highly...

We stayed in the campground connected with the Thermal Pools, and as such, the fee included access to the 6 main pools. We opted for the Private Spa Plus package ($28/pp) and it did not disappoint! A very tranquil setting overlooking private paddocks was a romantic touch. The pools were spacious and well maintained, as was everything else on the premises. My only qualms were that for a camping area that suited at least 15 camper vans and a dozen or more tents, there were only 3 toilets per gender, and 1 shower per gender. The communal kitchen was also on the small side as only a family of 5 could comfortably fit. So if you want make toast or charge your phone, you're in for a nice wait. It was also a bit annoying that the overhead lighting in the campground stayed brightly lit after 11pm. However, the staff were friendly, the prices reasonable, having a cafe available was great, and the grounds were overall in very good shape. The lovely (but short) eco trail was also a nice touch with educational plaques along the way. In addition, I appreciate that they do NOT offer WiFi, as it forces people to communicate...

Nice pools, but questionable, possibly illegal business practises - be careful.

It's totally understandable to offer no refunds for late arrivals for a private hot pool. If all the work has been done to ready the pool and no one arrives, or if people are late, it would be unfair to ask for a refund.

This makes perfect sense.

But to refuse to give the 25 minutes remaining of private hot pool time, because "the hot pool hasn't been readied because you were late" AND to pocket the money is a very backwards practise that I suspect (I am not a Kiwi, so I don't know the law as well as in the UK) is probably illegal.

You can't have it both ways - you can't take the money AND not provide the service when the service can still run even if people are a a few minutes late.

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Addendum in response to the owner's response: vacating a private pool on time at the end of a session is a separate issue - it's illogical to use this to justify not providing a service that's been paid for, rather than simply not running the service at all AND pocketing...