Waiheke Unlimited — Local services in Waiheke

Beware of dealing with this rental agency; we had a very unsatisfactory experience last summer - a brief summary of which follows. What was supposed to be a special holiday for two families over New Year ended up being way below expectation. We found the listing for "Drop Anchor" on Waiheke Unlimited - it had a great writeup, superb photos and in a great location. We were really looking forward to the holiday, and hosting our friends as well. We paid significant rental money in advance, and our expectations were high but not unreasonable (as it's a "retro kiwi bach" which has been "completely updated"). The reality was that the property was a complete let down, and nowhere near the standard as advertised, with numerous defects. Over the first few days, we discovered a long list of things which didn't work, were not up to scratch or were filthy. This included blood-stained duvets, broken mosquito screens, broken taps, threadbare curtains, an absolutely rank/filthy utensil pot and more. Much of this couldn't have been fixed easily during our stay or over New Year, but we let Waiheke Unlimited know that we were not happy. We met with the "Concierge" at the end of the stay and did a walk through, pointing out 26 items, and she was horrified, including with how filthy the house was (thick dust under the beds and in the bathroom), and she promised Waiheke Unlimited would get back to us within two days. They didn't. When we chased, we got a rude response from Ed Coutts, director, on the phone and a promise that we'd hear back next day. We didn't, so we chased again. Eventually we got a very defensive email addressing only some of our concerns, and pointing to the 92 year old owner who "does not worry" about some of the things we raised, plus some very patronising comments about Waiheke Unlimited's wealthy clientele enjoying the property much more than we had. Ed made an offer of just over one night's fee as compensation. Feeling fobbed off, we wrote a very detailed email outlining our concerns point by point (everything we'd been through with the Concierge, as Ed had ignored most of those points) and asking for significant money back. After two more email exchanges, which included criticism of our detailed email and communication style, Waiheke Unlimited made a "final" offer of a 25% refund, which we felt we had no option but to accept. A wholly unsatisfactory experience and even after significant effort, a refund which still leaves us feeling ripped off. We will be going elsewhere on our next visit, and have already found Stay Waiheke which has very good reviews, compared to Waiheke Unlimited's fairly bad reviews they seem to have attracted. Perhaps if they treated customers with respect and dealt with their concerns, they'd have a better reputation online.

PS We have not posted photos, but if Waiheke Unlimited disputes the claims we've made here, we will happily post the...

Just disappointed unfortunately as the view and where the resort apartment was really was beautiful - We had just flown in from Australia, with 2 young kids, the room was meant to have been ready by 2 pm as advised to us, and after only arriving after 2:30 pm, the room was disgusting and had not been cleaned. The beds weren't made, we had no porter cot for our baby as promised, the toilets had pee still in them and some on the floor, with rubbish and rubbish bags simply lying on the floor. The manager or room owner blamed the cleaners, which just showed a lack of responsibility and professionalism, as they weren't advised of a late booking prior to ours unfortunately.

Due to this, we had to leave the room and go to a alternative resort where we had family staying so that we could clean up and get our baby to have a nap, just a real unfortunate convenience after a long trip getting there.

Communication was poor between management and cleaners and eventually with us as well, no complete understanding of what a guest could do to do the basics like throwing rubbish away or cleaning/washing towels and doing laundry. Being more aware of the resort’s surroundings, as a small family, simply being informed that using a pram isn't easy and that there are a number of stairs to navigate would help decide whether or not the resort was best...

We lived in Auckland, so we caught the ferry to Waikehe Island to have a beach holiday. We booked a modest, two bedroom bach in Onetangi. We were literally a two minute walk from the sea. We had taken the car across, so we were able to visit several vineyards/wineries. There is an underground WII war battlement that had been erected . It is on a hill, overlooking a vantage point for ship entry into the harbour. There were a myriad of tunnels, at intervals, there are skinny ladders enabling an exit to outside. Amazing ingenuity, and it must've been difficult to build, as they would've had the machinery of today. It was a bit of a walk from the village. We got groceries from their only supermarket and went to a local market day where the locals were selling their crafts. There were families living among one another who were diverse in wealth and reason for living in Waikehe Island.

We stayed a long weekend, swam in the sea, and as mentkoned, enjoyed the sites.

Go, if you are in New Zealand. It was money we'll spent for...