Wanaka Homestead

Had booked this for an exclusive hire and found the host was around a lot more then expected, was quite rude, invasive of privacy by looking into guests bedrooms at 8am in the morning, no change of towels for a 3 day stay, no commercial rubbish bins provided and asked to take away our own rubbish as he didn’t want to pay for it. Overall very disappointed.

Probably the worst experience I’ve ever had with a hotel. Because of an emergency that happened a few days before the trip, we had to postpone our trip by a few weeks.

I called and messaged the hotel immediately, but only after 1.5 WEEKS of trying to call them and message them every day I heard back and they told us there is nothing they can do (moving dates, partial refund). I'm not as much upset by their response but more how they dealt with the situation. They just couldn't care less about what had happened to us, so little that it was even too much effort to respond to an email or phone call (after reaching out to them repeatedly for 1.5 weeks). They showed zero empathy. I would not recommend anyone to stay with them.

Feel totally ripped off for our exclusive hire. Not able to access the kitchen, had the owners in and round the lodges multiple times a day making all guests uncomfortable, coming around late at night and looking in bedroom windows. Bullied into paying more on checkout! Wouldn’t recommend this place to stay

Stayed 3 nights in the ruby cottage, with family of 4.
Overall exceptional. Very clean and
comfortable.
The host alan was contactable throughout the stay and informative with the local tourist and places to eat/drink.

Unfortunately Wanaka homestead didn’t live up to expectations. We had relatives rave about the place (mind you, this was some time ago for them) and we gave it our best shot. Little did we know, it was like staying in a fossil.

Great location and great aesthetic from the exterior - it had far less to offer on the inside. A run down, in dire need of maintenance; establishment.

The disappointment began prior to arriving - being told only days before arriving that the ‘BNB’ portion of our accomodation would not be included due to short staffing and other matters. This is highly disappointing when you’re staying in a BNB. With minimal kitchen facilities, this definitely was off to a rocky start.

Checked in, greeted by a woman who seems to work full time on site, but not an owner. She was polite and well mannered - showed me around. Then left me to it.

The room was dated and needed some extreme renovation work. The interior in whole, of the entire homestead, was in need. Dim, dark and no warmth to say the least. It was cold and no vibrancy.

After this a sequence of events incurred - a towel rail falling off the wall, our laundry being picked up off the floor of the shower (after being told to leave it on the floor to be replaced) and re hung (wet and dirty) by the cleaners. The shower head was spraying in all sorts of areas and the fridge couldn’t keep a pot of yoghurt or water cold to save its life. The heat pump downstairs also made a continuous noise of churning like it was about to fall off the wall (so much so it was turned off after a few minutes).

Disappointed to say the least, never met the owners once or saw them onsite. The place is on the market for sale - has been for some time. Can clearly see why.

Will not be returning unless something drastic is changed. A major overhaul is needed. For $1200 - something dollars, definitely feeling ripped off.

A big ‘stay away’ from us. We’d love our money back.