Southpacific Motel

We stayed at a lot of lovely places throughout our NZ trip and had some really nice hosts but Carly and KB were just beyond comparison. They recently took over the motel and turned it into this wonderful oasis! The rooms are well equipped and very clean, the outside areas are nicely decorated and we could use the BBQ as well as the spa both of which were great! The best part though were our great hosts! They are the kindest people, so caring and always take time for a chat with their guests. Upon our arrival they had put some Christmas biscuits in the room and we even received a little gift from them. It was just the sweetest thing! You can really feel their passion for what they do and we highly recommend everyone who is in the area to stay with them!

There’s nothing that we didn’t like!

Spacious rooms and the motel has been beautifully maintained. It's a little hidden oasis in the courtyard. The new owners were lovely and incredibly helpful. They did an amazing job at what is probably their busiest time of the year!

If you are not used to traffic noise, take your ear plugs. It is very noisy on the street side. It is located right by a roundabout on a busy road and the noise mainly came from boy racers or trucks accelerating out of the roundabout. We were there for new years though so traffic numbers were probably tripled.

The owner was instantly likeable and his advice on different places to visit during our stay. The French doors for our room were great and allowed us to easily cool the room. The proximity to the beach is also a HUGE bonus.

Sadly no air conditioning (but grateful for being able to open the French doors) and the bathroom was a bit of a tight space and it felt as though the bathroom needed to be about a foot bigger in each direction. The only other gripe was not really having easily accessible charging locations

Everything! It s a little gem. The owners were so welcoming and justifiably proud of what they have done in a short period of time. Each studio has a lovely little garden area which is great for relaxing/ eating. Very well equipped and amazing bed! Managed to get in the spa pool which was in a really lovely private garden area. Extra towels provided. The town and beach a 10 to 15 minute easy walk away. Really enjoyed our stay.

Nothing!

Whangamata was a bit of a random choice - we booked very late - but the Southpacific Motel was a real treat. Rather than being a classic motel with all the rooms facing onto parked cars, the rooms open into a really nice courtyard garden (with a hot tub tucked away in a private corner). We really liked the room - well-equipped kitchen - and it was very easy to find our way to the beach and the shops. Nice and quiet. And the owner was a star - he was friendly and welcoming and gave us some essential advice about timing our drive back to Auckland.

Staff were very friendly and helpful, especially with advice about hiring kayaks. The room was large with good shower and small kitchenette.

Unfortunately the bed was too soft, sinking in parts and my partner was unable to sleep as a result of the lack of spring support. I was disappointed to learn that the spa was unable to be used on the one night of our stay even though it was meant to be open (understanding that it was to be cleaned for the next day, it did not help us given we were only there for the 1 night)

'KB', mein host, was most welcoming, on my arrival. Due to low midweek occupancy, my room was upgraded and the views from both windows were great. There was a large table under one window, so i requested to stay a further night, so i could have a writing/office day in such a wonderful room (Suite 23). There were several ranks of shops down the road and KB was very helpful in advising where to go - including which beach for a swim!

Nice location. The room was lovely and it was nice and quiet. Easy to sleep at night as no noise at all. The facilities were excellent and the room was large. The sheets and towels were gorgeous - very comfortable to sleep and shower with. Teas and coffee and shampoo and body wash etc were plentiful. Fresh Milk was supplied for hot drinks. overall a lovely stay. And the staff were excellent and very friendly. My daughter lost a necklace there and the staff kindly rang us when it was found. All round excellent service.

nothing

Very friendly helpful hosts. Great location. Really enjoyed the little seating area under the umbrellas. Lovely gardens to look out at.

We would have really loved to have air conditioning. It was very hot weather when we were there and as much as we were thankful to have a fan, we really struggled with the heat at night. That is why we have not rated excellent on everything.

everything was as or better than expected

perhaps some form of discount for not staying the 3rd night as the way it turned out we could have gone home after 2nd night. Did'nt expect full refund for 3rd night as i know we wanted to leave about 3pm and there was some inconvenience but travelling on the Sunday was a lot more appealing than the Monday. Not a biggie and would definately stay again.