New Zealand Hotels and Motels

Hotels and Motels in NEW ZEALAND

The most popular of all accommodation types, hotels and motels are establishments that provide rooms for travellers on a paid basis.  A hotel or motel room includes a furnished, all purpose living and sleeping area and a private bathroom; these types of establishment don’t often have communal bathrooms.  Upgraded rooms may have separate living and sleeping areas, a kitchen or a balcony.

As a general rule, hotel rooms are more luxurious than motel rooms.  Motel rooms are usually rented on a per night basis (for example, by road trippers who need a rest), while hotel rooms are rented on a longer basis, thus providing a need for a better quality of accommodation.  The other obvious difference between a hotel and motel room is the cost.

Motel rooms tend to be basic; a television is usually the only added extra.  Hotels, on the other hand, attempt to provide a home away from home for their customers; and with facilities in hotels including restaurants, swimming pools, gyms and valet parking, sometimes they are better than your home!

Hotels and motels come in all shapes and sizes in New Zealand.  Franchises such as Flag Inns and Scenic Circle Hotels provide quality budget accommodation; on the flip side, New Zealand also has a range of luxury hotel chains, like Hyatt and Ridges.  You will also find a charming selection of character and boutique hotels.  Some are refurbished heritage buildings, while others have been custom built to suit the regional location.  You will probably find that the staff at these hotels are more knowledgeable about the local area.

New Zealand’s eco tourism industry is thriving and the range of eco-friendly hotels in the country is massive.  Qualmark has an environmental ratings system for such establishments, which considers the hotel’s policies and procedures as well as their impact on the surrounding environment.

If you’d like to rent a hotel room but don’t want to be stuck in a boring, boxlike room, consider some of New Zealand’s more unique establishments.  Ever wanted to live in a shoe?  You can at the Boot Bed and Breakfast in Nelson.  The hotel is shaped like, you guessed it, a shoe.  Hapuku Lodge, beautifully located between the Kaikoura Mountain Ranges and Mangamaunu Bay in the South Island, has tree house style rooms with gorgeous views all around.  And then there’s Woodlyn Park, in Waitomo.  Here, you can sleep in a 1950’s British freighter plane, a rail carriage or underground in a Hobbit-like hillside cave.