Novotel Rotorua Lakeside

You get what you pay for! I had fairly low expectations after reading reviews and I was pleasantly surprised.nnRooms are basic, and yes they need an freshen up but they are clean and comfortable. The location is amazing- awesome playground and reserve across the road. Boardwalk around the lake on your doorstep, Eat Street and Lady Jaynes right there.nnBreakfast was pretty good, kids loved it. You have to look past the state of the bathroom.nnHot pools are original but a novelty. The service is where this place falls down. One poor lady on reception at check in time on a long weekend is really not good enough. She did a wonderful job despite this.nnAll in all, we would stay again.

Nice facilities, but disappointing servicennWe stayed at Novotel Rotorua with our two children. Overall, the hotel has some great facilities, but unfortunately the service really let our experience down.nnThe rooms were nice, clean and comfortable, and we really enjoyed the pool. The kids' corner was also a great touch and something our children really enjoyed. The location is convenient as well.nnUnfortunately, the biggest disappointment was the service, particularly at breakfast. We found the breakfast staff to be quite unfriendly and unwelcoming, with very little warmth or interaction with guests. Even a simple smile or friendly greeting would have made a big difference.nnThe front desk staff were better and were helpful when needed, but even there, the level of friendliness and hospitality wasn't what I would expect from a hotel of this standard.nnIt's a shame because the hotel itself has good facilities and is very family-friendly. However, for us, the lack of warmth from the staff had a significant impact on our stay. We actually decided to move to another hotel for our final night because we wanted to finish our holiday somewhere that felt more welcoming.nnI hope management takes this feedback constructively, because with more friendly, attentive and welcoming service, this could be a really lovely hotel for families.

We stayed here for a weekend family trip to Rotorua with our one-year-old, and overall we had a good experience.nnWe arrived quite late in the evening, but the staff were still incredibly friendly, welcoming, and helpful. Their warm attitude made us feel well looked after from the moment we checked in.nnThe location is excellent. There’s a playground directly across the road, which was perfect for our little one, and it’s also just a short walk to the lake, making it a great place for a relaxing stroll with the family.nnWe also enjoyed the hot pools and public bath. The atmosphere was peaceful and relaxing, although I think the pools could be cleaned a little more thoroughly.nnThe biggest downside was the room itself. While it was comfortable enough, the facilities felt quite dated. On our second night, the hot water kept cutting in and out while I was taking a shower, and I ended up finishing with cold water, which was quite disappointing.nnOverall, the excellent service and fantastic location made our stay enjoyable, especially for families with young children. If the rooms were updated and the hot water issue was resolved, this would easily be an even better place to stay.

We stayed at the Novotel Rotorua over Matariki weekend during the school holidays, and the hotel appeared to be completely full.nnThere is a lot to like about the hotel itself. Our city-view twin room was spacious, warm and comfortable, with very comfortable beds. Even as a family of four, we had plenty of room for everyone and our belongings without constantly tripping over one another.nnThe bathroom was quite tired, however, and could definitely do with an update. I’m also not a fan of shower curtains, particularly in a family hotel. The water temperature fluctuated between lukewarm and scalding, which was concerning with children. The bathroom wall plug and the desk lamp also did not work in our room.nnThe kids loved the pool, spas, movie nights and the children’s play area with toys and games. The location is excellent too. It is an easy walk to the restaurants, cafés and shops in town, with convenient access to the Village Green, playground and lakefront during the day, as well as the night markets and drone show in the evening.nnUnfortunately, the hotel did not seem equipped to cope with being fully booked. Almost everything involved a long wait. Check-in took close to an hour, and our room was still not ready by 4pm. To the manager’s credit, they looked after us by arranging drinks in the bar while we waited.nnThere are only three lifts, and they were incredibly slow, so there were often queues just to get upstairs. The pool area was extremely crowded, towels were frequently unavailable, and the housekeeping team appeared to be struggling to keep up with demand.nnBreakfast was the biggest disappointment. There were long queues extending around the room, food was regularly running out, and some dishes were left sitting and getting cold rather than being refreshed. There was food on the floor, nowhere near enough seating, and guests were eating in the bar and conference room.nnThe layout also made things more chaotic than they needed to be. The hot buffet was crammed into one area, with people queuing for eggs, hash browns and pancakes, then trying to push back through the line after realising they had forgotten the syrup. Moving the pancake and syrup station to the end would help the flow enormously. The coffee machine was positioned right in the middle of the food area, and on Sunday morning the entire tea and coffee station was removed at around 9.20am, even though breakfast continued until 10am.nnOverall, the staffing levels and facilities felt woefully inadequate for a fully booked hotel, and guests really felt the impact. We enjoyed parts of our stay, especially the room, family activities and location, but we would be unlikely to return during school holidays or another peak weekend.nnOne final positive note: the sweet muffins at breakfast were absolutely top tier.

We've just came back to Wellington from a 3 nights stay at the hotel in Rotorua. Like most comments, the stay at the hotel was somewhat disappointing. We came there to celebrate a birthday which was stated in our reservation. Absolutely no effort was made by the staff to make it a bit special with a card or simple treat on arrival. Instead, we were charged for parking on arrival which was never mentioned in the reservation. Room had a nice view over the lake, had comfortable beds and decent tv channels to be used when inside. Bathroom condition was just sad to say the least, bathtub had stains, toilet unit had black stains, dirty shower unit with shower head not spraying properly due to deposits blocking each of the holes. The shower gel, shampoo can be seen they are of low budget, after a wash the hair felt hard and crunchy. Carpets in the room were worn and old looking, probably haven't been replaced since the opening of the hotel. The same for passage carpets. We had a birthday dinner in the restaurant, with virtually no other guests, the food arrived luke warm, you could feel the steaks were not cooked when ordered, felt like they were warmed in a microwave. The food was pricey though, just did not meet our expectations. For this reason we decided to eat at the restaurants nearby which we had some really great meals. I have phoned room service the night on arrival, asked for an extra tea cup for the room, they confirmed it and never brought it. Gym is very small, but I managed to make use of it. Pool seemed okay, we just never used it. They had movie nights with popcorn for the kids in one of their rooms downstairs, which was a good touch. In my opinion, the location is what sells this hotel, beyond that it's nothing special for the price point. Rotorua and the lake is what made the visit special with plenty to explore and do for a shorter stay. For the next visit, we will be looking at other options, not the Novotel hotel unfortunately.

Directions to Novotel Rotorua Lakeside with public transportation

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