Stayed at Dolphin Motel opposite wharf in centre of town the room we stayed in is called the snapper room nicely furnished. The owner is a Bob Hosking look a like so when you vist say Gidday Bob and his Real name is Greg will give you a few Laughs!!!!!

We have to write a review of this wonderful motel after having such a great time at this great motel. We originally planned to stay there 2 nights, but as we had such a great time, we extended our stay to 4 nights. The owner is a great guy who goes out of his way to please customers and we could not fault him, or his hotel, in any way.
Location:- the hotel is located in a quiet street some 100 yards from the sea front, and handy for the 4 Square supermarket and all the shops. You have the handiness of being near to all the amenities without the noise of traffic and pub customers at night. He can book any tours you wish, and is very keen to give you as much information on the area as possible.
Rooms:- The rooms are very good with a small kitchen which is quite adequate for all your needs. Our room was spotless and contained clean towels every morning, and the room was cleaned very well daily.
Value for money:- The New Zealand tourist trade is being hit very hard by the recession and hotel owners are being hit very hard at present and hotel owners are struggling to keep going. We thought this motel was excellent value for money - not the cheapest, as private houses are offering their rooms at reduced prices which is grossly unfair - but the best value we could find and would certainly recommend it to everyone. He increased the size of the room he had of his own free will, but if another paying customer had needed it, we would certainly have moved as after all he has a business to run in these hard times.
As an aside, anyone going to stay in Paihia should try the Fuller Great Sights Overnight Cruises as it is fabulous and wonderful value for money, and you can book it through the motel.

We have never received such bad service! When we called to inquire about rates, we explained that we were travelling with two grandma's and two teenagers ages 13 and 15. We explained that we needed beds for four of us and were willing to bring air matresses for the kids. We asked for the best price that they could offer us for a three night stay. The owner quoted us $100 dollars per night and insisted that we take the two bedroom apartment because he would feel bad if we were squashed into a smaller unit - even though we had previously stated that we were fine in a smaller room if it meant a better price. We were thrilled by this great deal!! We called to confirm our reservation in the two bedroom apartment approx. 15 hours before we arrived, and confirmed that we only needed one air mattress.

When we arrived, we were informed that he had given our room to guests who wished to extend their stay and they were willing to pay a higher rate. He then proceeded to chastise us for asking him to lower his rates when we had called...we asked for his best price...he offered us the larger room at the reduced rate by his own free will. He then called into question the size of our children ---they were awfully old children....we told him their age at the time of booking. He said we were welcome to find another hotel if we weren't satisfied with the one bedroom apartment that he downsized us into. At this point we had six tired, hungry passengers who weren't interested in searching out another hotel... so we stayed. We would have been fine with the size of the apartment if we hadn't originally reserved a larger one! The owner didn't even have the decency to offer us two smaller apartments - the grandma's could have shared one.

There were no towels, and when we asked for some, the owner promtly gave us 4. ..no hand towels, no face clothes, no bath mat. Day two, we recieved 6 towels, 3 faceclothes, two hand towels and a bath mat. Day three, we were back to nothing.

The good news ... the location was great, the beds were comfortable, it was relatively clean - the walls needed a good scrubbing, and it was quiet.

We would never book with this hotel again based on the absolutely shocking service that we received!!

We intended on staying in the Yellow Tail room one night, and ended up staying for 5! Great management, clean rooms, and a perfect location to do all the great things bay of islands has to offer. We highly recommend it to anyone visiting this amazing part of New Zealand