Kimkim Trip Reviews for New Zealand

Acacia lodge was fantastic. It only had 6 rooms and we enjoyed our private deck with great view of Lake Taupo. The cooked breakfast and nightly appetizers were a nice bonus. Our room and the entire lodge was comfortable and beautiful. Loved the host. They gave us everything we needed but they also respected our privacy

We could literally walk to the airport. It was steps away. So convenient

This was an unexpected surprise. The scenery was stunning. Only way to see this area is on a tour.

Staff so helpful and accommodating. Views amazing. We were upgraded to a higher floor where the views were even more spectacular.

Great location. Helpful staff. Beautiful views.

Loved the one bedroom suite with washer/dryer. Having a simple and leisurely breakfast in our room was very enjoyable. Appreciated the complimentary cable car tickets and the walk through the botanical garden.

Comfortable and walking distance to botanical gardens

Comfortable and walking distance to main part of town

Great suite with wonderful view

Wonderful. View of ocean and walking distance to restaurants

Wonderful!

Close to our cruise departure

Fun experience. Great food. Highly recommend

Seeing glowworms was fun but we especially enjoyed the underground scenery and waterfalls.

Very happy with this small group cruise. Milford Sound is amazing.

Fun experience

Beautiful area

Beautiful scenery

Fun experience

Good management of large groups of people touring this site. Smaller groups led around with assigned times

The simplest of all my accommodations and yet so rich in warmth and friendliness. My B & B hosts took an active interest in my itinerary, offered suggestions and significant improvements and provided a delicious made to order breakfast every morning.

This truly is an amazing place. We were surprised by the spaciousnesss and luxury of our suite -- and we didn't reserve a tree house. First class service in all areas. We had several meals there (it is some distance to drive otherwise) and the food was very good, although the menu was limited (which made sense for them). We used this place as our base for going to Kaikoura, so we din't take advantage of all the amenities offered. We would have liked a longer stay here.

First class in all respects. We especially appreciated the courteous service by every member of staff.

This was indeed a "retreat". Its location is in Nelson, but one would think it was in the countryside once arrived. Lovely spacious suite with all the amenities. We appreciated the graciousness of our host and the special kindness she showed one evening when I was too exhausted from a hike to go out for dinner. She brought to our room a very generously-sized cold plate for dinner. We wish we'd had even more nights there.

This was a unique experience. To be clear, it is down the road from the Larnach Castle and that's a good thing -- much quieter and more upscale. In a word, this place is elegant. Lots of stone floors, wide staircase to the second floor suites, big drawing room, etc. Very comfortable room with all the amenities. We had the special dinner at the castle one night and were disappointed. It was expensive and the experience dragged on for 4 hours. The next night we cancelled a repeat dinner. Staff at the Estate responded by serving us a special cold plate, heaped with more cheese, cold meats, bread, etc. than we could eat. And a staff member had to drive to the castle kitchen to get it for us. That's the kind of place this Estate is. Very impressed.

This was not up to the 5-star experience we had enjoyed previously on our trip, so it suffered by comparison. It was certainly OK. This is a small homestead to be sure: up to 6 guests at a time. It was clean and our hosts were gracious. The bedroom was small and limited in amenities. The facilities like pool and hot tub very dated. The on-site dinner very tasty, but expensive. We did enjoy an intimate conversation at dinner with the other guests. A good place to go to "get away in the countryside".

We were put here by our travel agent who believed we'd enjoy being in this neighbourhood of Auckland. Turned out we were in the wrong location. The hotel itself is unusual: an older building converted to several small suites. We had been in a huge suite in an upscale lodge the nights before, so we were under-whelmed when we arrived here. We went out to at dinnertime to explore the neighbourhood on foot and found we didn't resonate with the younger, funkier crowd. We really wanted to be in the harbour area, so we asked to cancel our second night. Our host was most gracious, allowing us to move without penalty. And, we left behind an item in the room. Our host contacted us in the new hotel and drove the time to us. That generous act greatly impressed us. We conclude we'd have been fine there except for the location.

We had high expectations for this unusual place. It was challenging to get there -- both driving and hiking -- and it was tucked high on a hillside. Not a good idea if you are unable to walk up hills. The all-around glass building is quite something to experience day and night (we had one clear night for star-gazing). The place was clearly upscale in all respects. Very comfortable. The food provided was fantastic. We felt remote but still safe -- that was the idea and they delivered.

This was an overnight on a boat, part of a two day adventure on Doubtful Sound. The boat accommodated 12 guests plus two crew members. Our cabins were small, but quite adequate for an overnight. The crew made the trip especially memorable with their friendliness and knowledge. The food was fantastic, including lobster and fish that our fellow passengers caught during the day. This trip was a highlight of our month's adventure.

We really liked this first-class place. From the moment we drove to the door to when we left, we were treated with great respect and courtesy. As an example, this was the only place on our month long journey where they parked our car for us! Big place with everything one might want in a lodge. Our room had all the amenities we wanted. We used this as a base for a trip to Milford Sound, so we din't get to take advantage of all the services and features. Food was excellent.

We booked one of the two rooms there. It was modern, clean, well-appointed and looked out on a vineyard, overlooking Christchurch itself. It would be a great location for those who intended to hike the steep trails (which we didn't). The room was near the dining room which served until 5 PM. In other words, this is a lunch spot. Dinner items can be had, but that means an early dinner. We did so one night, and the food was excellent. It took about 20 minutes to get into the heart of Christchurch, but the traffic wasn't bad. Breakfast was brought to our room, but one of our days, the kitchen was closed that morning, which was disappointing. A highlight was the twin hot tubs on our very private deck -- very relaxing!

The Vicarage is, as expected, an older property that has been restored. Located in the heart of Geraldine, it was well-suited for us because we wanted to walk to our meals as this was a one-night stop for us. We walked to the local restaurant/pub and enjoyed being with the local folks at a sheep shearing contest outside. The room was small compared to the other hotels we stayed at on this trip. The bed was comfortable and the room clean. We never saw any staff.

For a small B&B, it was fine. Dinner was especially delicious and we enjoyed our conversations with our hosts. Lots of local knowledge. The room was dated but adequate.

Very pleasant staff. Very comfortable room (there were only 4). Beautiful view and a lovely deck where we had dinner one night. Close to Hokitika and the Gorge, but a car is essential. The breakfast was excellent.

While a little dated, this is a big property with lots of guests (some of whom, a tour group, were a little rowdy). The staff were gracious and knowledgeable. The glow worms walk and the eels walk were especially memorable. The food was satisfactory, but we had the sense they were cooking too many plates at the same time -- just didn't feel like an upscale restaurant. It rained all day one of our days, so we did not get to use their kayaks and go on their special guided tours.

We had difficulty finding the starting place for this trip. The boat was late. The sea was rough and our particular hike plan was aborted. We dropped off a t a beach and were told to do another hike to reach our boat pickup place. We had no signal on our cell phones. The 6 km trail was steep in places, narrow and with very limited places to rest. To our knowledge there was no one monitoring the trail and we saw very few hikers on the trail. Part way, I (78 years old) got into trouble walking and fell 3 times. There was no option but to carry on. It took us 4 hours and we got to the beach just in time to catch the boat. This was one of the most traumatic experiences I've had for a long time. It could have been much worse if I hadn't struggled on.

Well done! We enjoyed the ride, even though it was quite brief. Landing on the glacier made it special. The fog rolle din minutes after we landed -- we were lucky to have our flight.

Loved everything about the cruise ship. Crew bent over backwards to meet everyone’s needs but were not intrusive in any way. Food was so much more than expected!

Absolutely loved the ambience. One of the outstanding parts of our trip!!

Fun day with a great guide, Innis. He was the perfect mix of knowledge and humble guide. Never hurried us and let us set the pace. It was really nice to have a private tour with scheduled tastings as the wineries were quite busy, especially after lunch and when to tour busses arrived, but we never had to wait and got individual attention from the servers. Bikes are a great way to do this.

The views were outstanding and we had a very peaceful and enjoyable experience with a calm and fun guide.

Lovely, quaint good location.

One room you could not fully open the bathroom door.

The guide was great and the home amazing.

Challenging hike.

Guide was over the top. We paid for a pass for mud baths which we said we did not want.

Very convenient, friendly staff, great food.

Close to the lake (with the accompanying sulfur smell), a little bit of a long walk to town.

Not much choice for this location. Room was small, bathroom was smaller! Dinner was wonderful

Comfortable hotel. Was a bit swamped with tour groups. No on-site parking, valet only (@NZ$45/ night). Short walk to the waterfront and cable car.

Great location on Lake Te Anau. Comfortable large room (we were in the villas), good amenities. Very close to the Main Street (restaurants and shopping), wonderful view out onto the lake.

Can I give this six stars? Location is just OK, needed shuttle or car to get to town, but the view over Lake Wakatipu was gorgeous. Restaurant is extremely small, breakfast was hit-and-miss to get a table. Staff were wonderful, room was incredibly comfortable.

Convenient, clean and comfortable.

Good mix of Māori culture and history.

An in-depth look at current Māori life and culture. Patrick was our guide to his family/tribe, including a visit to his marae. Sometimes was a bit tough to hear about the darker side of Māori history.

Good overview of the Museum, allowed for long follow-up once the tour was over.

Unique glow worm life

We were extremely lucky with the weather, calm waters even out into the Tasman Sea. Opportunity for kayaking and swimming. Managed to see the fur seals, wrong time of year for penguins, and no sign of dolphins.

Good small group. Paul (guide) was a wealth of knowledge about the wine business in NZ. Good selection of wineries. Would have liked to see more of the wine making process.

Great - a little far to walk to town.

Nice but a little dated.

It was fine a bit of a walk to town, not a lot of character, regular sized hotel room.

I'm a big supporter of dark sky initiatives, unfortunately due to the 1:30am booking we were booked on the previous (incorrect) night and had some issues rebooking it, although with Monika's help we ultimately did. Very late time, so not sure I would do it again unless an earlier time was available; made it harder to enjoy and tired the next day. Alternative is to find a dark sky in the area yourself.

Very nice mini-trip and hike.

Hike and tour itself and guide were great, however we waiting over 2 hours until our flight was ready, which we were not expecting.

Very interesting. There was a child crying which wasn't great, not sure why they allow young kids. Guide very knowledgable.

Guide was great, it's a long day. Recommend if you can not driving a long way to your next destination. We booked this late so had to drive to Queenstown at the end of the day, due to no availability in town (Te Anau).

Water was to low so this was cancelled.

This was a lot of fun. Outfitter great. Recommend doing most of the biking first!

Nice if you want to soak in a hottub outside of town, nice view, but not something I would do again.

I would have given this 5 stars, one of the best days of the trip, loved the scenery and the rafting. However while the guides were really good, the Jetboat operator was driving dangerously close to large objects (rock walls, bridge stantions, etc.) that if we had hit one people could have been badly hurt or killed. I have been operating power boats for a long time and was shocked that he was putting our lives in danger for a few "thrills." Not okay. He also got my daughter very wet on a very cold and windy day without warning. Not great. The picnic was A+.

Lighting in room was OK in comparison to other hotels. Bathroom set up was one of the best. Clean and quiet hotel and our room view was decent too. Overall the breakfast offered had a good variety (very long line at the coffee machine though!).

Nice, clean, quiet hotel. If you are on the top floor (7th) be prepared for stairs - the elevator only goes to the 6th floor - not an issue for us but for some guests it might be. Definitely in the top 2 for breakfasts of the 4 hotels we stayed at. The location was very convenient for all of the activities we did!

Nice, clean, good location. Room lighting was horrible. We would have skipped the breakfast inclusion.

Great location on Cuba St. Having front and back entrances led to some confusion for pick ups for drivers but in the end it worked out. Interesting interior design... some quite dizzying (especially elevator and carpeting). Decent breakfast offerings. Very nice morning staff. The lighting in the room wasn't very good, and too many on/off switches. The bathroom was squeezed into a very tiny room (shower, sink & toilet all in behind a door) and there was no shower curtain so water escaped easily and only one person at a time could access the bathroom.

Just as magical as I imagined! We had beautiful weather to enjoy Hobbiton. The tour does start with a tour bus ride with a little bit of a cheesy video but it's such a small part of the tour. Amazing how they've set it all up again and are preserving the hobbit holes. Loved every minute and didn't want to leave! The lunch was very satisfying.

This was a fun tour. Neat to see where some of the movie scenes were shot. The tour of the Weta Cave was neat too though couldn't take pictures during most of it. Enjoyed learning about the artists and seeing their work in action.

We LOVED this! The tour was fun and the high tea was so good. We'd definitely consider coming back for the horseback riding or the eco tour.

This was more fun than we expected. It was amazing to see the views. It will be even better once they finish construction on the larger observation deck.

This was a nice tour though it was raining the day we were there. I'm sure it would be incredible if we had better weather but nonetheless we made the best of it and really enjoyed learning from our guides. We saw the geyser on the livestream just before the tour started - it ended up too steamy to see anything once we were out there! It was very cool to see the bubbling mud as well as the kiwi birds at their kiwi conservation station.

This was a great afternoon activity. Friendly, informative guides. At the end at the beach, the guides set up a table with some treats (cookies, juice, tea, manuka honey).

One of the biggest highlights of our trip!! We saw a variety of species (and heard even more) and were very lucky that we got to see THREE kiwi just waking up and starting their night. Truly incredible conservation work being done at Zealandia.

Great cultural experience. We happened to be there when there was a competition going on so the usual performers were away and the performers we saw were younger (late teenage years / early 20s). We wouldn't have known if the hostess hadn't revealed that info as they were phenomenal!

avoid

small rooms. Parking is additional. Good breakfast

advance tram map would have been helpful

Spent half a day with the son of one of the Maori tribes chief. He shared many aspects of his culture, including historical information as well as current information. This included taking us to one of his tribe's Wharenui and then teaching us what this for. We had many questions, and he took time to answer each. Near the end of our time together, he made a "tea time" for us at a small tea house he had built on his family's land - it was on top of a hill, and the view was beautiful. When I explained to Paula what type of cultural experience we wanted, she suggested this, and it was perfect.