Legacy Te Waonui Hotel Franz Josef — Restaurant in South Island

I took my fantastic French girlfriend here for our 4 month anniversary. Though our mood was a little down as she was leaving me to go back to France, the hotel staff really lifted our spirits.

We were greeted with a lovely refreshing glass of ice cold kiwi juice and a hot towel. I gladly accepted this offer as I was bloody knackered from driving 5 hours all the way from Queenstown.

You are probably wondering why I drove the full 5 hours and me and my partner did not share the load. This was because of 2 main reasons. One her being French, the other her being a French woman.

After we enjoyed are delicious kiwi Juice we made our way to the room, escorted by an extremely friendly and charming security guard. He made the 3 minute walk to the room an absolute pleasure.

Once we arrived at our room we were both very happy with what we laid our eyes on. A huge bed, a lovely little balcony, a clean modern bathroom and lots of room for activities.

The restaurant was unfortunately closed when we arrived so we ventured into town for a bite to eat. I can’t remember the name of the place we went but it was rather sh!t. This again brought our mood down so we escaped back to the room. When back at the room, after an hour of not talking we decided to put on the TV.

We proceeded to spend the next three hours watching how hippopotamuses navigate under water. Hippos can’t actually swim as they are too fat.(insert girlfriend joke here). But they actually run and walk along the river/lake floors, briefly popping to the surface of the water for air. It was quite fascinating!

The next day we woke up and my beautiful bipolar girlfriend came up with the ingenious idea to rent the bikes that the hotel had to offer. It was her first good idea in the 4 months we had been together.

The bikes were electric which made the experience far more enjoyable as my girlfriend doesn’t particularly like exercise. We cycled around to various lakes and viewpoints around town avoiding on coming trucks and lorries while stopping every time we saw horses. (She likes horses).

The rest of the day we relaxed in our room, this time watching and learning about sharks. How they hunt so effectively, and different shark species behaviors.

On our final day just like the previous, we did absolutely nothing. Until our 5 course meal in the evening which we were very much looking forward to as we had starved ourselves since breakfast.

Breakfast, I forgot to mention breakfast. The breakfast at this hotel was nothing short of heavenly. It was all inclusive and the food was spectacular. I ordered 3 breakfasts, every morning. I had eggs Benedict which I must add was cooked to perfection. Avacado on toast and finally Belgian waffle with syrup. It was all absolutely superb.

Anyway, the 5 course meal. I’ve never had a 5 course meal before. The closest I’ve come is ordering 5 things on the McDonald’s saver menu so I didn’t quite know what to expect.

However, it was a pleasant surprise. The portions were a little small for my liking but very delicious. All 5 courses tasted great and were to my liking, also the wine was delightful.

It was a tremendous evening and wrapped up our stay at the hotel in the perfect way. We finished the night by heading over to the bar where they had a grand piano. My gergous (I know it’s spelt wrong but as I’ve previously mentioned my girlfriend is French and her pronunciation of some words is a little off so just go with it)girlfriend is quite the talented pianist. She played some great tunes which the hotel staff thoroughly enjoyed. That was until I tried playing for the first time. My girlfriend may be a great piano player, But she is definitely not a great teacher. The next hour she proceeded to shout, hit and scream at me while I tried playing a very simple melody which the staff greatly enjoyed at my expense. However, I was happy to put on a bit of Tuesday night entertainment.

We checked out the next morning after eating a further 3 breakfasts and we were very satisfied with our stay. Would...

We stayed for two nights at Te Waonui on our honeymoon. We were very much looking forward to our stay but we felt that there were some details that missed the mark. This hotel is rated 5-stars but it is lacking a lot of the amenities and details that normally characterize a 5-star property. As newlyweds, we just wanted to feel that we were getting value for our money. We did not feel this at Te Waonui. There were many other places with 3 and 4 stars in New Zealand that provided better service, amenities, and dining than this hotel.

First, some things we liked: the rooms are comfortable and clean. The beds are comfortable and the bathrooms very well equipped! The welcome drink was also a nice touch.

Some things that we did not: the glasses from our welcome drinks remained sitting in our hotel room until we checked out two days later, having never been cleared out by room service staff. Dirty dishes in our room were also left overlooked which was disappointing to come back to after a day of activities.

The rooms provide a beautiful forest view but there are no screens on the doors so you can’t actually enjoy the fresh air and birdsong without worrying about bugs. Our room felt stuffy as a result.

There is no pool or hot tub or sauna at this resort. Franz Josef has very unpredictable weather, so it would have been nice to have somewhere to go when our activities were cancelled or delayed. Keep this in mind when booking your hotel in the town.

And finally, we were very disappointed by the 5-course meal that we prepaid for. The dishes were very underwhelming and did not match the menu descriptions. My salmon was supposed to have a fennel and dill salad, but was served with regular lettuce and cherry tomatoes - which was exactly what I had just had as a starter. Don’t be tricked by fancy plating - the taste and quality are about 20 years behind the times. Save your money and eat elsewhere in town.

Overall, I understand that Franz Josef is isolated and remote so accommodation options are limited. I suggest you save your money and book somewhere where your expectations will be met, rather than somewhere that promises luxury and delivers...

We had a lovely stay at this hotel. The service was great and the rooms comfortable and large. I loved the balcony overlooking the rainforest. The decor is all a little 90s though and benefit from a refresh, although not down to lack of maintenance - it's just a lack of style. The chap on the front desk was super helpful, particular the day we left helping us with travel advice.

Given the bad weather we had decided to arrive early and treat ourselves to a spa treatment. There is no spa, just a couple of converted hotel rooms. Spas indicate relaxation - not completing your forms in the middle of the hotel lobby as a large tour group arrives around you. The treatments were very good and reasonably priced but don't be fooled into thinking there are spa facilities here.

Breakfast and dinner were included in our rate. The breakfast buffet was extensive, but it was disappointing that they didn't provide any gluten free options other than weetabix and nothing was labelled with allergens. Dinner had been the opposite on the labelling with loads of GF options so that seemed strange. Dinner was pleasant enough - my salmon and risotto particularly stood out. The staff in the restaurant were very helpful.

It's just very expensive for a 'luxury' hotel given my previous experiences of truly luxurious accommodation. No spa, no gym, no pool and dated style. But lots of potential should they really...