1BR Retreat Self-Contained & Private - Waitaki

The location is excellent. If you're lucky enough to get a room facing Lake Tekapo, you can literally lie in bed and see the Church of the Good Shepherd. It rained the first night, but we saw an amazing star-filled sky the second night.

The environment is absolutely stunning! The lobby is especially beautiful, and the rooms are spacious too! It's just a bit of a distance from the lake.

Frankly, the house was very beautiful, but its beauty was probably its only selling point. The biggest problem was the overwhelming sewer stench. Even with the windows open, the smell wouldn't dissipate, and it didn't seem to be coming from the toilet, but rather from the sink. After one night, I felt like I'd been pickled… Secondly, there was the issue of the deposit. The guesthouse didn't mention a deposit anywhere on the platform, yet three or four days before check-in, they emailed demanding a NZ$350 deposit or a NZ$35 buyout damage compensation fee, otherwise check-in was impossible. Hotel deposits are usually only NZ$100, so this amount was outrageous. If this requirement had been mentioned before booking, it would have been acceptable. But to receive this email so close to check-in, and with no other rooms available in town, it felt like malicious price gouging.

Very close to Lake Tekapo Environment: Quiet