The Gables B&B

Had a lovely relaxed stay here . The hosts and staff were great . Lovely breakfast . Great location . Loved picton .

We are travelling throughout New Zealand and have pre-booked accommodation every couple of days. On Thursday 7th March we took the ferry from North Island to South Island and booked into The Gables B&B for 2 nights. Things didn’t get off to a great start when the lady who met us stated we couldn’t park our car on site, only to later retract this and ‘allow’ us to park for one night only. We were shown to our room, a largish room with a double bed covered in 11 pillows and cushions and a single bed also covered in cushions and pillows. Much fuss was made of the offer of a small glass of wine from the Marlborough area. Our bathroom was across the landing, which we were unable to lock. Our room had no water or water glasses, no tea tray, no TV (we understand this is considered a historic B&B) and no bin. However, the whole room and house smelt really strongly of lilies, the smell was overpowering. We were tired so went to bed reasonably early, so were awake at 6.00am the following morning. My husband went to the communal lounge and dining room to get some tea at about 7.00am as we were gasping for a drink and there was nothing in the room! He was promptly told off by the host/proprietor who stated there was no access to this communal facility until 8.00am. He was then accused of waking up other guests. At breakfast the host then accused a Danish couple of breaking a window in a very aggressive manner, however, they had shown us a picture of the window hanging off on one hinge with a gale blowing through. It clearly needed maintenance. We had seen enough and decided to leave immediately, so packed up and left. We did not request a refund for the night we didn’t stay, but our accommodation provider did raise this only to be refused. The host stated we should have told him of the issues we had before leaving. We disagree, the whole experience, coupled with the stench from the lilies, meant we just wanted to get away.

Nice second floor room with very small bathroom with shower. Juliearna was gracious hostess. Served full continental breakfast. Harbor and downtown restaurants within walking distance. Close to ferry. Pema was very helpful and friendly with breakfast.

I stayed here two nights at the beginning and end of my queen charlotte walk. I stayed in the Pictonian room the first time - I came straight off the ferry to drop bags off - after messaging first - and still the lady was quite gruff about not checking in which was fine. The location is great as it is right in town. The room and house was clean and had all i needed. The shower was very old fashioned and small but fine for a night. At the end I had a cottage as I wanted a bath. I had to drag my case along a gravel driveway which is not ideal. The cottage was fine but has no heating or cooling and was quite hot. No screens on windows for bugs either. Very clean and comfortable bed. Breakfast is simple and a bit on the sweet side for me but more than adequate. I hardly saw any staff so no comment on friendliness really,

Good central location but this bnb is just really poor value for money. By contrast we paid $40/night less to stay in a fabulous 5* hotel in Wellington for the previous 2 nights, with every mod con and luxury (,pool, sauna, huge clean room, privacy, proper tv, wifi, great kitchenette etc) By contrast there's little privacy here with the bedroom facing directly onto the mechanic's back yard and next door's bnb cabin quite easy to hear what's going on. It's kind of cute, as in "how many cushions can we pile on the bed to look good?" but the issue is where to put them when you actually want to lie down? Bathroom was weirdly cramped and toilet would probably be unusable for larger guests. Our stay was ok but it's way over-priced and is punching well above its weight.

We loved everything about The Gables and have already recommended it to friends and family.

Quaint little cottage and within a short walk of everything on offer at Picton

Just minutes from the ferry and bus terminals, I was able to disembark from my ferry and walk to the Gables. My hostess upgraded me from a room in the main house to my own cabin out back and it was beautiful. The Andante Cottage was spotless and everything was new and lovingly care for. I would happily stay there again. My hostess brought a breakfast tray to my room, with more food than I could possibly eat in one sitting. Everything was delicious. As if all that weren't enough, my hostess transported my luggage to her workplace, which was across the street from the bus station, so I could spend the morning exploring the town before collecting my things from her and heading on.

Beautiful property. We stayed in the cottage and it had everything we needed. Was also the comfiest bed we have experienced during our stay in NZ. The host Juliearna was lovely and welcomed us. Everything was in walking distance. I would highly recommend a stay here.