Guest User
August 10, 2021
Arrived at 4:30pm on a Saturday. Sign on office window said to check in by phone. This took a few tries but was quickly done. Went to allocated room and had good first impression. Older holiday motel style, very clean, kitchen, studio bedroom lounge dining with view of shops and lake. Went to bathroom (as you do after a trip) but toilet was broken - no water - unusable. Tried reflushing it but nope, water ran continually. Husband wanted a cup of tea (again, as you do after hours of travelling) but first I tried to phone owner then left text messages, asking for a change of room or immediate toilet fix. We wasted our first hour and couldn’t unpack; didn’t know if we should just give up and find another motel. It was a short trip so we went off to the shops for bathroom and our drinks. Got a reply from owner who went in and fixed toilet. Excuses about cost of plumber and lack of income past 18 months. This is credible but not my problem. As a paying guest having a working toilet is non-negotiable. We had to open the toilet lid and press buttons twice during our two night stay to fix the toilet ourself. Easy to do but on a short holiday at Queenstown prices that’s completely unacceptable. We paid in advance, lower price than some motels but comparable to several much nicer places we’ve stayed before. Also there’s no service done during your stay. We were given clean towels when I asked but I then read on last page of old motel compendium that you have to pay for room cleaning (no price was stated). The owner was very nice to talk with when we were leaving so I didn’t bring up the problems again but we wouldn’t go back. A note on the wall could have explained how to fix toilet problem (even an excuse that a plumber was to fix it next week although I now see bad reviews about this from two years ago).