We thought we had entered an already occupied room. The bed hadnt been made properly. Dirty jug, dusty cups & tray, two hairs in fridge, no underfloor heating as advertised, hairs &dust in handbasin, heated towel rail didnt work, broken tap, mildew in shower grouting, mould &dirt on shower door. We had booked a package-had to ask for the pool coupons-yet to see the "Chocolates"! At $160 - way overpriced. Owner didnt want to know-she actually stated that my comments "hurt" !!! Apparently her "Corporate" business partners are in charge of cleaning - an insult to the Corporate world. Fantastic complex going downhill fast. Having spoken to 3 other couples also staying, 2 said they would never stay there again.

After graduating last year in the travel and tourism industry I was disgraced and shocked by the appalling staff and how rude and obnoxious the owner/manager was. I have never received service as bad as this and have travelled a lot. We did not end up staying here. We booked over the internet unseen as the virtual tour was not working so we were relying on what was stated on the site. We booked the Deluxe Spa room (room 1), it was tiny and there was no where to put our bags, the only thing that could fit was the bed. The blinds were broken, tap in bath was dripping non stop, we tried to tighten the taps but they wouldn't go any tighter and there was mildew all through the bathroom. We were told the room had been refurbished 6 months earlier (NO WAY!) Owner then said the painter had a heart attack before xmas and that was why the room wasn't up to scratch. We were refused a refund when we asked, but we are expecting one. All the owner wanted to do was argue with us. These people should NOT be in the hosptality industry and do not deserve anyone's money. We ended up paying $20 more for a luxury 5 star apartment down the road. Drifters Inn is not Qualmark rated nor a member of MANZ.

After checking in to Drifters Inn and then reading the past reviews my husband and I felt the past reviews in no way reflected our experience. After 10 days travelling around the Sth island we found this accommodation was excellent value for money. The room we had (19) was clean, well presented and very comfortable.Also the provision of towels to take to the thermal pools is an added bonus.
Yes the corridors do have a "smokers' odour but the rooms are smoke free and can be easily ventilated.The location is great and very handy to the thermal pools across the road and dining nearby.

This is the first place we stayed in on our travels in NZ that we hadn't cross-checked on Tripadvisor and boy did we regret it.

Apart from the charming gentleman who checked us in, the rest of our experience was average to pretty dire. We were told that the place was smokefree, but be warned it absolutely reeks of cigarette smoke. While the guest rooms may be non-smoking, the proprietors, whose living quarters are behind reception, clearly spend a lot of time smoking to the point they obviously can't smell how bad it is.

The whole place has a very unloved and unkempt feeling. Our rooms were average size but had dubious stains on the sofabed and bedcovers. The bathroom had mildew, which wiped off on my finger, and didn't feel clean. Be warned your room won't be cleaned or made up while you are there - fresh towels were just dumped on our unmade beds each day. We kept out shoes on in the room as the carpets weren't clean.

The worst bit of our stay was the breathtaking rudeness of the older woman who runs the place. My 6 and 7 year old were astounded at how she spoke to me when I was seeking help over their internet booth which wasn't working (by the way, don't use it as it is so unreliable). Her response when I asked for a refund of the money I'd pumped in was to slam a 50% refund in my hand and walk away saying "whatever". Another man sitting at reception at the time couldn't look me in the eye to discuss it, so we just gave up.

Apparently the place is for sale, hopefully someone who's suited to the hospitality industry will buy it and rescue this place. Until then though, don't touch it with a barge pole.