Hotel di Kawarau Falls

I stayed at the La Quinta Wyndham for 2 weeks in March of 2023. I didn't rent a car. The friendly staff went out of their way to teach me how to be able to travel around Queenstown New Zealand via the public transportation system. House keeping was excellent. They even put my dirty dishes in the dishwasher at times for me.

We were on the ground floor with a beautiful view of the mountains. Once the patio door was shut, couldn’t hear the helicopters nor planes. Given the airport is minutes away the lack of noise was great. Kitchen has a bar fridge, dishwasher, plates etc (however some was 2 of, 3 of or 4 of. Would have been better if all was 4 of so you didn’t have to wash every day), pots/pans, toaster, kettle and some tea/ coffee. Also a clothes washer with the right setting, is a dryer. Dining table room for 2 and 1 single lounge chair. Huge bed and good room for clothes. Bed was huge and comfortable. Floor width glass door/ window to balcony overlooking the mountains. Across the road the land is currently vacant so private and no car traffic. Bathroom is comfortable and great shower but no heated towel rail. It’s about a 5 minute walk to shops including a large supermarket and some food venues. There is a public bus service to Arrowtown or Queenstown but it’s very sporadic sadly and services are cancelled. But it took 18 minutes to get to Queenstown and cost $2/adult instead of a taxi at about $40! Room cleaning was sometimes very late in the day but it didn’t bother us as we actually didn’t need it. Parking is available out front but first in gets it. So during peak season I’d imagine it’s a problem. Overall: pros are comfortable with everything you would want, close to airport, quiet location, near supermarket. Cons: it’s a 15+ minute drive to Queenstown, no heated towel rack in bathroom and parking could be a problem.

Our experience from check in was a bit disappointing. The assistant took ages to find our booking then rattled off a lot of information re parking etc. If there is a lot to be relayed please put it on paper and give it out at check in. Our plans the next day were shattered when we went into Queenstown and found that a running event-marathon etc was on. No parking, centre in gridlock. It would have been great if the check in assistant had given us that information (or a note could have been put into our room) to save us lots of stress the next day. Our room was clean but very small. Bed only in the room- no space for anything else, no table or chairs. There are shops and eateries within a short walk and it is close to the airport.

It's a quaint area. Very close to the airport. I'd advise to take note of the hotel name and location since there are a few Holiday Inn in Queenstown. We got confused and made it to the wrong hotel branch; were told that we weren't the first one to get them mixed up. There is no free parking sadly for anyone wondering.

Absolutely loved the room we were in. Had everything we needed. Nice clean and modern. Beautiful lobby. Stunning views. Washer and dryer in bathroom. Close to airport. Friendly staff. Excellent price. Wish we stayed there our whole trip but will do next time.

Our Lakeview room had a series of defects. The phone did not work, neither did the TV, the sink would not drain water, the shower curtain was torn off the railing, the room looked like it had not been vacuumed nor dusted and the balcony had empty beer bottle awaiting collection. Having complained to the duty manager he switched our room to an alternate cheaper room. However, this room too was dirty and needed dusting and vacuuming. We thought we deserved a glass of wine to get over this but found that the wine glasses provided were filthy and needed cleaning prior to use. ( so much for Covid safety) Having returned from Queenstown we then found that we were locked out and had to get our entry cards reprogrammed . However, the icing on the cake was that we found that the king size bed had no mattress protector, we called reception and housekeeping and got no reply. Additionally, both rooms had a trip hazard into the bathrooms which could do serious injury for those using the bathroom at night The hotel prides itself cleanliness in its advertising, but this stay was just woeful and housekeeping should be given lessons on how to present rooms properly. The duty manager advised that the hotel was about to be refurbished but this is no excuse to drop standards. Having left the hotel I was given a survey form to respond to and I listed all of the above but to date have not had any response but do I really expect any follow up ? DO NOT STAY HERE, even if the hotel is refurbished because the staff will still be the same without proper training .

The front desk staff is outstanding .Very helpful and friendly . The rooms are lovely .. the in room fireplace is a great touch ! The spa is great - very professional! The food and beverage needs to be improved .Stacks is ok.. but when I went , 1 hour before closing they were more interested in closing than they were in getting my order correct . The bar snacks at the Pinot pit need more variety and healthy less expensive options.

Booked a 6 bdrm apartment, in one room we found a pair of disgusting slippers under the bed, a pair of socks left inside the wardrobe, and a bath towel hanging behind the door. Window latches gone off 2 windows and tv in second lounge didn't work. To their credit they did fix one window and taped the other shut - note, sellotape does not keep a window shut for long... There are also no plugs to any of the bathroom sinks - it's pretty disgusting brushing your teeth and looking down the sinkhole at previous guests hair :( We went for the 6 bdrm apartment so we could all be together (& also booked a 2 bdrm for extra family), I certainly paid a premium for this as we could have got a couple of 3 bdrm places for a lot less. I did expect it would be overall cleaner and nicer than what it actually was so was pretty disappointed. The bathroom items provided are basic and no facecloths provided. Only 2 dishwash cleans could be done with what was provided in kitchen. No coffee sachets except decaf, and while there was a hot choc tin, it was almost empty and I’m not using something that many others have stuck their hands in. The dining chairs fabric is disintegrating and bits of the white material end up all over the floor (we would have like to have vacuumed halfway thru our stay because of this but there was no vacuum cleaner or broom). Nowhere on their website (that I found) did it say the apartment was over 3 levels – something my 75 year old mother did struggle with a bit, again this would have been a flag for us. So overall, it was handy being together but the apartment seemed old and tired and really not worth the price we paid. I did email the place to relay all my concerns, they have chosen not to reply to me. I also see on their website they only have reviews that they have sourced from elsewhere (I can't leave this there direct) so they choose the good ones...

“Sudima Queenstown Five Mile” -is in Queenstown, right? The name seems pretty clear. It’s shown as being in “Queenstown Central” which is in central Queenstown, right? The name seems pretty clear on that point too. Close to the lake perhaps, looking towards the mountains, near the Queenstown bars and restaurants? WRONG. WRONG. “Queenstown Central” is not in central Queenstown. It’s the name of a shopping centre outside of Frankton, next door to the airport, surrounded by massive carparks, supermarkets, K Mart etc and about 50m off the main State Highway 6A. Hence the “Sudima Queenstown Five Mile”, despite the name, is 7.6 km from Queenstown according to Google maps (or a $50+ taxi ride away, as I can tell you from frequent experience) and about as far away from the experience or the convenience of staying in central Queenstown as you can get. Close to the lake perhaps, looking towards the mountains, near the Queenstown bars and restaurants – in your DREAMS. Having booked in a hurry and taking at face value the name(s) described the reality, we were stuck at this hotel for three nights. On arriving we were given an “underground carpark pass”, meaning that as an elderly couple we had to park 5-10 minutes’ walk away from the hotel in an isolated underground location, walking through deserted carparks late at night or early in the morning. (As we were checking out, we discovered that the receptionist could have simply noted our car registration number and for the duration of our stay we could have parked in the massive carpark immediately outside the hotel door.) We were given Room 223 for our stay, which I found overlooked the massive nearby roundabout on the main State Highway 6A (meaning trucks would be audibly braking at all hours), with a view to K Mart, I went back to the desk and asked for a room away from the Highway. We were moved to Room 214. On entering Room 214, I discovered a woman lying on the bed, semi-undressed, on the telephone. I quickly backed out of the room and went straight down to reception, where I was told, “that’s odd, someone mustn’t have updated the system”. I went back to Room 214, knocked on the door and apologised to the occupants, explaining what had happened. All attempts to find another hotel to stay in were unsuccessful; there were no vacancies at such short notice. We stayed in Room 223, but tried to be out of the hotel as much as humanly possible. I had booked restaurants in Queenstown – full degustation menus with matching wines, for every night we stayed - meaning I couldn’t drive, and we consequently were paying an extra $100-130+ per night to go to dinner and return to the ‘carpark-hotel’. Had the room we stayed in been in a hotel located in central Queenstown then it would have been a pleasant experience, but what we experienced was simply awful. Might the name of both the hotel and the shopping centre mislead people who are booking a stay in Queenstown? I will leave it to you to decide.