Victoria Lodge

We booked a 2 bdr suite which was in a special package including breakfast and a late checkout. ||||In all of our dealings with the staff, during the reservation process and while staying, we were given respect and excellent service. ||||Our room was well equipped and very clean. Beds were comfy. We were near the private and shared hot pools. Some hooks in the bathroom and bedrooms wouldn't go amiss. Some of the furnishings are looking a little bit shabby.||||We paid a small amount on a meter to park near our room rather than drag our luggage from the more distant but free space. Wifi was free, good and strong.||||I'd like to see a system for private pool bookings that don't require users to traipse to reception and back twice for the one key in their robes (which were provided). ||||The heat pump generates a bit of noise outside the bedroom if you leave it on (which we didn't mean to as there was a heater in each room). And there is a bit of light in the courtyard so bring an eye mask if night light bothers you. ||||We Uber-ate but there are heaps of dining options in walking distance. We felt the hotel restaurant was a bit restrictive in its offerings for dinner. Breakfast was perfectly adequate though, with a range of hot and cold options and bread types. They could consider smaller jam and honey containers as there were large dollops of toppings being dropped around the tables.

I wanted a good comfy place to stay just for one night and wasn't going to be spending much time in the room. This place seemed good from the website but it wasn't satisfactory. The shower didn't work properly as every time I turned it on the head fell to the floor if I didn't attempt to catch it first. Every single time someone in the building flushed the toilet there was this huge whoosh sound coming from the bathroom that kept me up all night. The glasses in the bathroom weren't very clean. Bed was comfy and I liked that they had an outdoor "pool" area outside the bathroom. Even tho there was no water in mine so I couldn't actually enjoy it. All this for over $100? No thank you. One thing I will give this place is the kind people who work there. That's why I gave 2 stars.

This wasn't a clean or comfortable room and I was not impressed. Very hot and stuffy. Small windows. Little airflow or natural light in the room. Door had to be open to breathe in the hot weather. No air con. Manager told us we couldn't park our little car in front of our unit, because it will block other traffic getting past. We were forced to park some distance away. My mum was with me and has bad knees and a mobility parking sticker. Walking for her can be a struggle, but she doesn't like to make a fuss. He then tells the people who book in next door (an hour later) to park their massive SUV parallel to our room, right in front of our door (literally 3 ft from our door) so we now have no view out, no breeze and no light. When we said that we had been told to park elsewhere to not block traffic the reply was "man at desk say we park here. So we park here." We then had no privacy as they were out in their vehicle every few minutes, or sitting at their patio table RIGHT THERE talking loudly and a child of about 7 who was yelling and screaming. It was annoying as hell, but if we shut the door it was STIFLING hot. After 2 hours, I was ready to leave. I would have gone to the manager or forfeited the money and gone elsewhere, but the old girl was tired and didn't want to move once she'd dragged her case down to the room and unpacked. Her knees were swollen and it was late by then, so all we could do was bear it. We were up and gone by 8am. Note: "Hot tub in room" is inaccessible to anyone with mobility issues or wider than the window you have to climb through to access it. It's kinda icky too. Filled it up and pubes, lint and scum floating on the surface of the water. Clearly not washed out after each guest. Found chocolate wrapper rubbish in the drawer, old food container in the microwave and pubes on blankets. Dresser knob fell off. Shower tiles cracked and no water pressure. May have been more tolerable had we been able to park closer and the cleanliness was better but would not stay here again. 2 stars only for location and quick check in. Other than that, *nerp*

They gave us the free upgrade from queen studio to twin studio. However it was the worse room ever. Room was very small. Shower was unusable as there was hardly any space to stand. Spa was unusable too as it was concrete steps plus you have to climb the window from bathroom. Saw a cockroach too. Only beds were comfortable. Went on a long weekend with a big geoup of friends. Didn't bother to cancel or change as there were not many options. Will not recommend as for the same price you can get some good options. It doesn't look anything like pictures on website.

We loved this place! 2 bedroom unit with quaint downstairs was exactly what we needed for our little family! The manager was a lovely woman who went the extra mile for us with helping with our laundry and fixing the lights when they weren’t working. The car park was a little tight for our large car- but there was plenty of nearby on free parking. Really close to shops and ammenities. Would recommend!

Well situated, with all the expected amenities for a comfortable stay. The (very hot) spring water spa bath in our rooms were an enjoyable bonus. Great service but irritated with reception for suggesting a Maori Village experience option as cheaper than the other (NZ$93/95) only to be charged NS$119 when we arrived at the venue.

Friendly staff, comfy beds and very warm. Great location to city shopping area. Although we received a discount as we booked 3 rooms - I feel we were mislead by false advertising on the internet. Pictures of the Lodge were not what appeared on arrival. •Very dirty exterior •All rooms were in need of upgrading. •Facilities were very old and again in need of upgrading. •You have to climb through a window to access the Plunge pool. My parents (70+) were unable to use the plunge pool - very disappointing. •The water pressure was very slow - the spa bath took a long time to fill so we ended up flagging it. •Overhead pipes were leaking on the pathways •Outside area was untidy, (Rubbish, lawns and gardens) •Other residents were disruptive, drinking and loud •Owners did not come to the door when we went to advise. •Very tight parking space.

Wow!!! Where do I even start with our experience at this motel, firstly we ended up leaving after a bit of an argument and after being accused of “using” the room and trying to get it for free (happy to say we booked into a really nice place down the road and happily paid for the night).||When we first arrived we instantly felt like we had been ripped off as the photos we saw compared to what we were looking at was rather a big downgrade, it was so outdated and everything was so close together. My bedroom at home is bigger and nicer I would have rather just have driven home the 2.5 hours to my king size bed if I just wanted to “use” it. ||Upon further inspection the room wasn’t exactly clean with some dust and obvious mould, there was also a bunch of smoke butts on the stairs of the miniature hot pool which with Covid 19 being still active in New Zealand was beyond disgusting and made us wonder if the room was even checked or cleaned.||My partner went and spoke to Leon at reception and he came to have a look, we told him we didn’t realise the “spa pool” was gonna be more of a miniature outdoor thermal pool and we asked for a refund but he said no only half the price so we asked if he could contact his manager who was apparently in Auckland at the time. Before this he cleaned up the smoke butts and swirled water around the pool with a dish washing brush to clean it for 10-15 minutes (he reckons 5) and then said he would let us know. While he was doing this btw we sat on the bed waiting.||Just a quick note we arrived and paid for our room at 2.30pm (on the receipt) and he finished the “cleaning” around 3pm (this will matter later on in my review).||Leon left to go contact his manager who was in Auckland and we waited a little while and then decided if we are going to have to stay there we were running out of time so decided to have a quick try of the thermal water hot pool. It is a little pool outside your bathroom which you climb through a sliding window to get into and it had two stairs and was all pebbles on the bottom. We waited for it to fill which took awhile and then sat there talking about the situation and what we should consider when Leon got back. We sat for about 15-20minutes before having our showers and started to get ready for our evening ahead. Finally Leon shows back up as we are getting ready and my partner said he didn’t care about the full refund we will just take the half that he had offered as we had a try Of the hot pool and a shower while we were waiting for him and Leon said that was fine and went again, he then came back and asked to look at the room. Leon came in the room and said no because he can’t use that room tonight now because the beds. Ok this is where I lost my cool and told him we only sat there while waiting for him to clean the damn pool which he saw us sitting there and said nothing at the time, Leon then made a comment we had been there 3 hours which was also BS because we paid for the room at 2.30pm, he finished cleaning at 3pm and we booked into our new motel after about 30-45 minutes of this at 4.55pm (wow not even 3 hours and I have the receipts for both places). Oh and another kicker after I sadly lost my cool which I don’t do often Leon stormed off because I demanded he ring his manager and my partner followed him to find that the manager just got back from Auckland all of a sudden? Liar pants on fire isn’t good for business Leon! ||After back and fourth my partner got them to agree to refund half the money which we do actually appreciate and we left leaving the room as we found it except for the wet towels we had to use to wipe the floor from the shower. ||Sorry my review is so negative but I really felt certain things were highly unacceptable and what an inappropriate and disgusting accusation to say we just used the room in that manner! Absolutely disappointing in every form of the process. We also had a side table light that wasn’t working, wardrobe handle coming off, skirting above shower lose and coming off, power point in bathroom not working, dust, mould and then the smoke butts and not one apology for any of it. | |Simple words can help a situation, sorry isn’t a hard work to use and a bit of understanding in a world that we are in at the moment is also easy. You say you were fully booked so what was wrong with just accepting the half and understanding our situation.