Halswell Lodge

Don't stay with these guys. To be fair, I messed up and accidently booked them for the wrong night - but minutes after doing so I immediately contacted trip.com who established contact right away and tried to explain the situation. Trip.com called back a number of times and attempted to negotiate a solution but no cigar. They were pretty keen to take advantage of my mistake and keep the money anyway. Were they within in their rights? Sure. Is it a good faith or reasonable thing to do to a guy who could have been an appreciative life long guest? Nope. Are these the kind of people you want to do business with and what does it say about how they will treat you when you arrive? My advice: stay away.

this was the motel from hell. we arrived about 4pm and the access was via a steep narrow laneway. there was nobody there, the office was difficult to find and locked. we found a cleaner and he contacted and conversed with the "owner" via txt msg. he was able to find out our room and produced a couple of keys. we looked at the room in the back of an old house, access to through and off a communal kitchen. the room was extremely cold and damp, the bedding felt damp, the decor was depressing, there was a small electric heater, a TV that would not work (it was discovered that the Wifi did not work in that room and the owner admitted that it has never worked. the bathroom had been renovated albeit some time ago, and the toilet was situated so that your knees were hard against the vanity. The room had no ventilation at all, there were no smoke alarms, the room was situated such that in an emergency, vacating the room could be a hazard, and in the event of a fire in the kitchen area, no exit access. this brought to our mind a recent tragedy in a similar situation where there were 6 people who perished within 1 kilometer from this venue. we tried to find another venue to stay at as we were not happy with the whole situation, but there was nothing available at that time of day, as we were staying overnight to catch the interisland ferry early in the morning. the "motel" tried to charge us extra for overnight parking on site which was not disclosed in the booking. There was another couple who approached us who were just as disappointed, their TV screen was smashed and were moved to another room. they offered us another room, however it was up a long flight of stairs, impossible for my wife to get up due to mobility issues. The photo's of the venue show it to be a more than acceptable place to stay. TRICK PHOTOGRAPHY it is a dump and would advise anyone interested to rethink. Trip.com should remove this place from their accommodation offerings it is damaging to their reputation.

The room was very nice. Bed was comfortable. Had a great stay. Was situated in a great location. Close to restaurants and supermarket. Would stay here again.

Extremely disappointing. On the plus side the shower was good with hot water. Unlike other reviews there were towels. It looked like a recent paint job in places. Kitchen was appalling. No utensils nothing worked. No kettle. Filthy microwave and dodgy looking toaster. Lack of crockery and cutlery. Leaking fridge in room so damp carpet. Smell of damp. Curtain stuck to window with condensation and mould. Dark and unpleasant. No one yo contact. I moved out but lost money. The back door was permanently open. No security. A very bad experience.

Made a booking and the staff do not care about you at all. You can't get through anytime after 5 and when faced with any concerns they don't care. The manager is unhelpful and has poor judgement. It's not that they're cheap - just generally nasty. If you want somewhere decent at the same price point stay at the Hotel Cambridge instead. Trust the reviews.