Waterfront Apartments

We headed up to Bay of Islands and pitched our tents at The Waterfront Suites for a few nights. Access instructions were well set out by email but luckily the friendly manager John was on hand and everything ran smoothly. They had an interesting evening the night before with the cyclone skirting the bay. Our apartment was on ground level with easy access to the main drag and across from the wharf and ferry terminal. The provision of a washer and dryer was a great bonus. Only downside on ground level is the pedestrian access outside the bedroom which reduced privacy and the basement carpark is quite tight. Very handy to various restaurants and cafes of varying quality. Recommend 'third wheel cafe' just around the corner and The Waves - restaurant. Good location for exploring the area.

Things started poorly with no-one at reception when we arrived. It took a phone-call to track down the operator, who seemed to be sole charge. Eventually we had our room. On arrival in our suite, we discovered that the advertised air conditioning was not in fact there. We had to complain and after some time a portable air-con unit was provided. It worked, but was very noisy and held in place by tape. Not a great start As time continued, we found more and more things that either didn't work or were falling apart. The provided drier didn't work and a number of fittings wiggled when touched. I really think that if a unit isn't in fit condition to be rented out, it either shouldn't be rented out or provided at a discount with a warning

We enjoyed 2 nights at the suites. We were in unit 108 which was handicap accessible, so the bathroom was weird. No space for your toiletries. But the shower worked well. We enjoyed the kitchenette and the living space. We especially appreciated the washer/dryer, which were much faster on cycles than others we have seen in NZ. The location is good - right in the middle of the Paihai shopping/ restaurant area and across the street from the waterfront.