Great location - quite close to Cardrona ski area and in the scenic valley. The room was very warm and pretty comfortable for three of us. It also was cleaned every day which is quite uncommon for NZ service. The kitchenette provided extra opportunities for heating/cooking some simple meals. Great bar/restaurant in the hotel (best Beef Wellington I ever tried). Proper wifi.

Well hard to find some significant downsides just some minor ones really…. There isn’t much to do apart from dining at the bar/restaurant. Hence probably it would have been great to have a telly with more channels (i understood the current one is to be replaced for the next season). Though unarguably the double tap system adds authenticity but it is not convenient.. I hope it at least helps save some water…. Other than that all was perfect!

Everything about this hotel is amazing. The staff are helpful and happy. Our room was perfect. We really enjoyed dinner. The soft shell crab, venison and goddess salad were superb. The garden is pretty and it was a treat to have a drink sitting in the garden at night when everyone had left. The final perfect ending to our stay was a superb breakfast. We saw the staff deal with people who frankly were rude and not very polite and the staff were kind and nice to them even when it was obvious the people needed to be told off. A wonderful place to stay and a piece of NZ history

We loved everything about it

The Cardrona hotel exceeded all my expectations. I had a.ways wanted to stay there and this year, I did! We are a senior couple but even so, the hotel was superb. I loved the vibes of it, the atmosphere and above all, the wonderful caring staff. the chef even made me a special meal one night when I had been travel sick. The room servicing each day was so efficient and above all very clean. Sparkling bathroom facilities in what was a very old part of the hotel. And excellent heating. We were very snug and warm. I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough.. if you want a quirky, comfortable stay in historical South Island, this is it!

nothing to dislike!

We were surprised - we expected a small old-fashioned place, and we found a large, modernized, elegant amalgam of the original hotel with several additional buildings. (Probably we didn't read the reviews carefully.) Behind the buildings was a courtyard with lots of outdoor seating for the restaurant - including an outdoor fireplace, which we enjoyed. Very pretty. Loved the hot tub! Grateful for the laundry.

It wasn't easy to find where to check in, as there were counters and a bar in different rooms and alcoves. Some of the rooms (including ours) backed onto the courtyard, with a glass door and big window; no privacy curtains, so you had to either close the blackout curtains or be fully on show outside.

Restaurant/bar- We Loved how nice and cozy the restaurant was. Charming, lots of wonderful décor to enjoy. The fireplaces were warm and inviting! We loved how there was a candy station and marshmallows with skewers to roast on the fire, we purchased them instead of dessert, a fun activity and great way to end a wonderful meal. In the room-We appreciated the small details such as flowers on the bedside table, and a hot water bottle. Outside- Beautiful gardens at springtime. We were surprised and happy to find a hot tub it was lovely. Which was a perfect romantic relaxing addition for us as we were on our honeymoon.

Salad on the dinner menu-but otherwise no complaints!

This was a really great find. We weren't expecting much in terms of service, given it's remote location, but we were pleasantly surprised. The property was lovely and the food was excellent. Our room backed onto the outside of the bar, and I was worried about noise, as they had music playing outside, but this went of at 9pm on the dot. There were also signs to say they didn't tolerate noise after 9pm, which we were really grateful for. The only thing I would mention was we were encouraged to book for dinner before we got there, but this wasn't really necessary as you can order at the bar. Actually, there were more choices of food at the bar, including basics like nachos, which were cheaper than the restaurant. Dinner was excellent tho, and the portions were big.

The family room was very comfortable, clean and well-equipped with a small kitchenette. We appreciated the hot tub (shared) after a day up the mountain. Dinner and ambience in the pub for dinner was excellent as usual. The mulled wine and seafood chowder are a must!

The service was a little slow, and the restaurant staff was nonplussed, which was different from the friendly service we'd had on previous visits. Coffee / takeaway breakfast items were available but started too late in the mornings for us as we wanted to get up the mountain for the top carpark.

The hotel is instagrammable overall with every nook and cranny beautifully decorated with touches of a past era. The room smells good, the bed and mattress are comfortable (my daughter didn't want to get up!), the towels are thick & clean, the garden is beautiful and filled with flowers, and even the room window has flowers planted outside so it was a pretty sight even from inside the room. The dinner at the garden surrounded with these colorful blooms was a delight. The bar & restaurant staff are polite, friendly and attentive. I like that there is a self-service laundry room available for guests to use for a minimum fee. Parking is also available.

Being an old property that was renovated, the bathroom design is quite outdated (no barrier between the shower area and toilet area so water goes to the toilet area when bathing). Also, the access to the rooms is through a gravel/stony path from the parking area so it was quite difficult to drag a suitcase. Lastly, one shouldn't expect to do any activity within walking distance from the hotel (except maybe during winter as I understand that this is a skiing area). I already knew this when I booked and just really wanted to relax and experience staying in this historic hotel.

Heritage rooms were lovely - very nicely appointed with nice décor and were well heated. Can recommend eating at the restaurant which catered well for adults and hungry teens alike. I recommend booking your evening meal in advance if you want the choice of restaurant and bar menus, otherwise you can still order bar meals in the bar area as well. We elected to have breakfast the next day which was also nice, if a limited range of options. Overall an great experience.

The shower seemed to change temperature. Our teens' room had other rooms above them, and they reported that the footfall from the guests above was very noisy from before 6AM.

Great location very well maintained. Friendly staff and beautiful gardens!! Food was great too.

Need portable fans. It was really hot on our first day and hard to stay in the room. Also our room faced the garden-dining areas so while we wanted to look out of our room we couldn’t coz people were sitting right outside and had to draw the curtains. Sheer curtains would be great in those rooms so we occupants can enjoy the beautiful view but have privacy too. They are minors though- we really loved the stay.