Awaroa Lodge

Very disappointed. Amazing location but very enclosing. We looked forward to a massage, and a pizza in the woods but both were closed and we were not forewarned of either. The food was pretty bad, limited, unimaginative and lacked creativity. The staff were lovely. Not going back.

We give this property 4.5 stars yet round up as a nod to its unmatched setting. Stayed overnight in a superior suite. This property is a little bit of luxury in a beautiful National Park setting that can only be reached by boat or foot. We loved everything about our stay. Also, for context, we traveled with two large suitcases for a several-week trip to Australia and New Zealand. This shaped our view of room sizes and bathroom counter space. Things we liked: - Obviously, location, location, location. Being able to access Awaroa Bay for more than a day trip, visiting the beach at low tide, sunset, and sunrise when there are very few people, was special. It’s a 300m walk from the hotel. - We thoroughly enjoyed our sea-kayak adventure with us, a guide, and just one other couple. We visited during shoulder season, so perhaps we got lucky in terms of such a small group. Wonderful 3 hours on the water. - Service was excellent. Front desk was able to get us into the room early. Food service was friendly. You provide your arrival and departure boat information, and the hotel staff meets the boat to handle your luggage (bring it from the boat landing, over the beach, to your room). - The room had plenty of space for large suitcases and the bathroom had plenty of counter space. Other notes: - The restaurant does a fairly large business with hikers, particularly during the lunch and afternoon hours. Dinner reservations are suggested. It is the only place to eat, unless you bring your own food. The room has a mini fridge, but not the kitchenette popular in many motels in New Zealand. - The room was generally clean. A bit of a mold issue in the shower, yet not enough to tarnish an otherwise superb stay. We definitely will return when in New Zealand. Abel Tasman NP is one of our favorite places, and Awaroa is a really nice way to enjoy what we think is the highlight of the park, Awaroa Bay. I don’t think anyone claims or expects this lodge to be the same as big-city luxury hotels, yet it is 5-stars for what it is; which is pretty darn nice accommodations in a remote and unspoiled piece of nature.

What a gorgeous arrival to this lovely paradise in the Abel Tasman national park. We were super excited and on a first time trip to NZ - and happen to be celebrating my husband’s 60th which I had informed Awaroa Lodge when I booked awhile back. Our room which was over $700 NZ was lovely and everything was just perfect. We booked our table for dinner and asked if we could have a drink at the terrace prior to our meal. No problem. After drinks we went to the dining area - and our meal was delicious. The fairly new German server we had was very helpful and so very nice. Took great care of us. But sometime between finishing our meal and looking at ordering dessert - she was no longer there. No one came to check if we wanted dessert or another drink. I tried to get someone’s attention to order dessert and clear our plates. Finally one of the European staff came and we ordered a chocolate soufflé. She came back a few minutes later and we were told it would take 12 minutes but we could take it to our room as the restaurant was closing at 9:30pm. Bit odd so we said fine, we’ll order it and just eat it at the restaurant. We weren’t ordering anything else. Then 5 mins later, another staff member perhaps a senior staff or manager came and reiterated that it was going to take 12 minutes and we could take it to our room. She said there may have been a language misunderstanding between the first staff member. I asked if we could have it in the restaurant and we didn’t need to order anything else. Well the impression we were given was the restaurant closed at 9:30pm and the other table of 6 guests sitting were going to leave soon so it wasn’t worth any of the staff members staying behind 9:30pm to clear our dessert plates. We’re in the hospitality industry and have been for over 30 years, owning a couple of high end hotels and restaurant - this was certainly not what we’d expected especially given the room rate. The second staff member also reminded us she was following the rules and we were out of line challenging her. Well we’d had such a lovely meal - the food was very good but sadly the whole episode left a sour taste in our mouth. My husband decided he’d had enough and retired to our room. Since the soufflé order had never even been put in I decided to just leave it and head back as well. There wasn’t even a suggestion of perhaps they’d bring the dessert to our room so we could enjoy it or any other polite way of solving the issue. Defense was definitely the order of the evening for the second senior staff member. I have to say apart from the lovely German staff member who was originally serving us …. all the other staff at the restaurant/bar were really just functional not particularly warm or engaging with their guests. Disappointing experience after such a great arrival and start.