Arawa Park Hotel, Independent Collection Arawa Park Hotel, Independent Collection by EVT

Hotel

Room was not clean. Has mould and built up scum all through bathroom. Cracks all through tiles and walls. Carpet was lifting and had staples sticking out.
Nothing in the rooms, no menu, no cutlery, no kitchen utensils like stated on website when booking.
Also have over charged us for our stay and charge us the difference that was OWING to us from our bond and room service use. Have tried to resolve this issue for 2 days now and have to ring the hotel myself as they do not get back in contact even when they state they will. Phones also don’t get answered for ages. We also emailed and have not heard back about the issue.
We also had to ask for our dinner tray from room service to be taken from our room as no one had come to collect until late afternoon the next day.
Table out on balcony broken.
Wifi is useless.
Partner got food poisoning from the dinner we received.
Definitely will not be back.

Great stay. Very helpful service lovely and clean and the beds were super comfy.

Absolutely disgusted that you will not refund and rebook the new dates for a room booked for two nights for the Rotorua mental health marathon Tracy and I were not able to attend due to no fault of our own but the lockdown.
Sincerely hope others are are aware of your policy and as to how Tracy (she booked under her name) has been given the run around to get this sorted!
Truly not the kiwi way!

The breakfast buffet the food was cold and the scrambled eggs were not cooked. They’ll never cook without heat. All the dishes are dirty also. The coffee cups all had rings also. It was the worst buffet I have ever been too throughout the world.

Friendly staff. Nice hotel for one night. The shower could do with being tightened you have to hold it. Other than that all good.

Really overpriced for what it is we've stayed at the rydges in other city's this one no where near the standard we've experienced in the past lots more reasonably priced hotels on Fenton st much better.

If you like old run down rooms with no air conditioning, limited Wi-Fi and rude staff then this place is for you!
we left the first night we just couldn't stay and enjoy our holiday.

Nice staff.
Outdated rooms with dirty shower screen.
Useless wi fi. Keeps dropping out. Not worth the money in my view.
They recommend to eat at the in house restaurant, but I would not do it again.
Ordered medium rare, got rare.
Definitely an experience, but not one I could seriously recommend.

Disappointing. Not enough of anything in the rooms and disappointed to find no pool — despite pictures in advertising! Room not well cleansed. Wouldn’t stay here again.

Very friendly, clean place, rooms. Spacious and great gym for a quick. Workout…

Breakfast is the best price in town for locals 20 dollas, beautiful and awesome friendly staff, I recommend to anyone.

Wouldn't recommend the restaurant. The food was subpar and over priced! Ordered the marinated mussels with a side of fries. $16.50 for 8 cold mussels with a couple leaves of salad, a slice of orange and a toasted slice of white sandwich bread! $32.50 for a small lamb tart then had to order a side of vegetables just to make it a substantial meal. We waited 40 minutes for the kids meals and then I got my fries last when everyone had already eaten. Shocking! The staff were nice, rooms were big but probably won't go back.

Very nice & comfortable hotel resort! With very old trees!

It was great. Loving the colours and the settings, staff very helpful.

Barman was a go slow, would rather clean glasses than poor a beer, but other staff were good.

A jug of iced water they asked me $3. I dont mind to pay however they dont follow host responsiblty whr water is free of cost. Excuse was they are busy. I works for hospitality, after hearing this very disappointed. I wont stay again being regular guest to them. Even though curtains were torned off, hair in vanity & room was smelly. Being in hospitality I accepted to have great stay but really disappointed. I will never come back. I will go somewhere else similar star hotel. I am their loyalty program member too!

Great welcoming staff and very clean hotel great location and very large rooms highly recommend.

The rooms are dirty and out dated, feels like a hospital, they told me it included a full buffet breakfast to be told in the morning it didnt, will never stay again and would never recommend!

Would not stay again!
Out of date rooms in serious need of maintenance, upgrading and air conditioning! It was soooo hot in the room our family barely slept. We checked out early and went home. Very disappointing. Also the hotel pool is not available to use.

The rooms are really spacious. Buffet breakfast is filling and the staff is cordial.

Decent place to spend a weekend… Good spacious rooms. But not much in terms of views though one can see the racecourse behind from some of the rooms. But since we spent most of our time outdoors while at Rotorua. It was a good place to relax at the end of the day. Not sure about the food since we did not dine in during this visit.

After a few hiccups from reservations and other complaints that we may of had with these guys from a previous stay, they have come to an agreement and meet us halfway. The stay here is comfortable but tired rooms. Time to start thinking about upgrades as there were a lot of bad reviews on trip advisor.

Spectacular view from our room. We were able to see the sun rise. The restaurant was nice too. However Wi-Fi connection was slow.

Awesome Stay at Rydges Rotorua. Front office staff went above and beyond. As I was relocating and had a car full of personal items, Eric the DM and front office staff were so very helpful in ensuring my gear was safe! There was an issue with my dinner however, rectified quickly. The lady who attended to my room service breakfast was super friendly and even gave me a call to check on my breakfast. Well done team!

Disappointing place to stay. Booked because they had an indoor pool and was told it would be fixed by the time we went to stay only to be told it would be up to a year before they fix it. Had to pay $65 for the Polynesian pools. Food was below average which left us feeling very ill afterwards. Only good thing about this stay was the room was big but the shower leaked water all over the floor. Thought we would have a wine in our room to find only one wine glass for the two guess staying. Went to the mezz bar to have a drink to find the bar men tasting all or the drinks and double dipping his spoon into my glass. Won’t be staying here again.

We had a wonderful stay at Rydges staying in a King Suite room. The Suite was spacious and clean. We had a balcony overlooking the racecourse. The spa bath was heavenly and the bed was honestly the most comfortable bed I have ever experienced in any hotel. We had dinner in the Mezz Bar — I had the fillet steak and my husband had the lamb — both dinners were delicious and cooked to perfection. The buffet breakfast the following morning was really good, they were very busy but the food was good and the service was great! Thanks Rydges and a special thank you to Chinmay too.

Great value stay — we booked a very large room with king size bed for an excellent price. Lovely service from staff at the hotel and on site restaurant. Our new loyalty club membership provided many benefits and discounts here. Room was slightly dated but well maintained and clean with good quality TV and bedding. Balcony provided great views over neighbouring race course though you do get a bit of road noise if windows are left open. Only complaint really was the very slow Wi-Fi performance. Other than that this hotel is a very good choice in Rotorua.

We hired a private room for a birthday function so we haven't actually stayed there. But I can tell you that for a function the facilities are amazing. They put up with all our crazy shenanigans as a family, including delaying the buffet carvery for a wooden spoon and pot dance that's a family tradition. Our dance moves had them smiling and our requests for extra tables for the kids to have their own was no trouble. Dance floor keep pulling apart and nearly caused an issue during a particularly energetic line dance to cotton eyed joe but that was the only issue. Thanks guys!

Looking very very tired. Cleaning of common areas not great. I saw the same piece of rubbish on the stairs for two days in a row and a half sucked lollipop on a table in the mezz bar for same period of time. Won't be staying again. Rydges you need to lift your game big time.

Not great overall. Wi-Fi didn't work in our rooms, shower head wasn't working properly. Bar and restaurant closed early and it needs refurbishing.

Went for a work conference, the rooms were heated a bit too hot and some of the facilities were not working (Gym & pool). The restaurant was good and function room also. After a bit of an upgrade this hotel will be very nice.

Average hotel, gym was far far too small just 4/5 machines in a very small space. Air con in the room didn’t work. Fan on ceiling was very slow. Our room was by the laundry, so the machines were loud. Elevators smelt very bad for both days we were staying. Pool was closed for maintenence, However bed was very very comfy, the room was nice and spacious, and the staff were friendly. I just had higher expectations for this hotel seeing it as a premium hotel but it’s more like a average middle class hotel that definitely needs an upgrade.

Wont stay here again. Have cancelled the conference planned. Treated like a number. This place is set up for processing bus loads of tourists. Not locals, they don't care for repeat business.

A really lovely hotel. Very friendly staff, clean and comfortable, short walk into town centre. Great views from the balconies. The breakfast is excellent too! Definitely stay here.

Had a wonderful time at Rotorua Rydges! Only flaw would be no AC. The decor is antique style in rooms, but else where quite modern. The continental breakfast was amazing! We also enjoyed dinner and rm service. The dinner was phenomenal, kudos to the chefs. Everyone we encountered was so friendly and made you feel like family. Would highly recommend the Maori experience, and Hobbiton tour. Rainbow Springs was delightful, as well as the Te pui visit. The only regret would be the limited amount of time spentat the Black Sand Beach.

Sad to say I won't be staying with Rydges Rotorua ever again. Service at their desk was OK. In short — Expensive, Run down, outdated food, and the list goes on… Better motel rooms available for less. A) There's obviously no communication between reception & booking contact centre for standard expectation of check in (called contact centre spoke to 2 reps who had said Visa Debits were acceptable only to be told on arrival they don't accept that and then another reception staff said they did but not without bond), B) our room had dirty spoons C) bench looked like it hadn't been cleaned properly D) the food in the mini bar had a nice layer of dust on it and in the tray E) the majority of mini bar food had best before dates of 2017 — we stayed 3/03/18 F) the bathroom vanity bench looked like it was going to fall away from the wall G) toilet button appeared to be disconnecting from the wall.

Too bad that during my second stay the pool and spa pools were closed large rooms with spa buffet breakfast hearty.

Nice hotel. Needs to be upgraded. Old and worn out. No air-conditioning in our room so we sweated. Lovely spa bath. Spacious. Lacking quality I'd expect of Rydges.

The dinner is delicious, the steak is beautiful cook, we love it a lot. This one is our regular stay hotel in Rotorua. It’s bit old but it’s really specious room size. Happy stay VH.

Average larger hotel in Rotorua. Large rooms with a sink and mini refrigerator. No air conditioning and Wifi is weak at best. Dated and average bathrooms. A good place to try if other locations are booked.

Very outdated place with no air-conditioning and lack of basic furniture and fixtures. A family room with three beds (we stayed with two kids) had only one bedside table and two cheers. No towel hooks or rails in the bathroom at all. Not a bad breakfast though.

Got a decent room with 2 queen beds in one room with spa… No aircon and woke up to the sulphur smell because I had the window open and the fan on full noise just to stay cool… Should have slept just with the sheet N no doona. My bad, cant be helped. Must must try the special cocktail that won the award so refreshing.

Very good bed and good breakfast. Other than that maintenance within the room needs to be reviewed, the "kitchen" had a loose seals on the fridge, loose taps and no micowave. The blinds in the room were falling of the hinges when closing the curtains and the in-room phone was broken — constantly ringing for no reason or beeping loud noises (we ended up pulling it out of the wall). Avoid getting rooms down near the laundry as its loud. Other motels will offer better service for a better price. Pay to check around before booking here.

Visited the restaurant which was lovely, was a quiet night but the food was delivered quickly and was well presented and delish.

Stayed on our wedding night in Deluxe room — Very nice. Buffet breakfast was awesome too.

Nice hotel next to the racetrack. Wi-Fi is good but sometimes did not have a strong signal. Bar in hotel.

Huge well appointed rooms. Restaurant can be a bit inconsistent. Excellent conference venue.

The hotel is a bit run down, staff are nice, beds are comfortable. We were here in the weekend and the breakfast buffet staff couldn't keep up with the supply of food which was disappointing.

Pool out of action! This was why we booked this Hotel! Our family were looking forward to it; there was not mention of the pool being out of action when booking was made. Rydges — you need to note this! Room was great though. Breakfast & dinner — nice, but the Restaurant was SO busy for breakfast they kept running out of everything.

Accommodation was great. Room was nice. Room service awesome. But the reception ruined it a bit. When we walked in the lady hardly looked up from her computer and didn't smile once. She acted very disinterested. Then the next morning when we checked out, the same thing but this time with an Asian man. I tried to get him to explain the invoice cause I didn't understand it and he kind of just seemed irritated and didn't do a very good job of explaining it. It felt like because we were young and not the classiest, they didn't think we should be there. A bit disappointed really. Especially since we're locals.

This place was good… Maybe 15 years ago. Tired and in a serious need for a renovation. Best spend your money elsewhere!

Pool out of service, room not ready until 4pm, damp sheets on bed, asked for joining rooms, didn't get it. We have stayed in this hotel 5 years in a row, standard and level of service has dropped every year. Disappointing.

Loved the big rooms and comfortable beds. The hotel however is dated and needs a major refurbishment. The room had no safe which I thought was odd being a top tiered hotel in Rotorua. The daily breakfast buffet was good however did not stand out more then other buffet breakfasts. The staff were friendly.

Thank you for a great stay. My sister ran the Tarawera Ultra 102km Marathon (over 19 hours running). Your staff were great to us! Last night we arrived back to the room after the race around 3am, and after waking up late around 11 we called room service for breakfast and the chef made us a custom made to order breakfast even though breakfast was over. Reception let us check out an hour later than planned too. Everyone was kind, accommodating and so helpful. Thank you so much! And compliments to the chef!

Hotel seems to be in disrepair and in need of some TLC. Our hotel rooms spa bath tap didn't produce water hot enough to be able to use the spa bath. The kitchen sink tap was not attached to the bench top properly. Then on our last night, our bathroom ceiling started to cave in and water started dripping into the room. Reception were notified straight away. On checkout, the excuse was given that because we'd prepaid, no discount on our accommodation could be given. Won't be staying here again.

The accommodation part of the Hotel is good and there is good parking. The staff are friendly but we found there are some fundamentals lacking in the sense of up-selling the bar and restaurant upon arrival and the decor of both were very outdated. We did eat at the restaurant and Ashton was excellent in pointing out what was popular even though the restaurant had run out of many food options as it was the long weekend. Could be a top Hotel in Rotorua again with some small upgrades — lack of investment was showing. Thanks, Davidson Family.

Aquaman comment Is true! Bad Wi-Fi, old furniture … Really overpriced room!

Great hotel! Very spacious rooms with a beautiful outlook onto the racecourse.

We left our iPhone charger in our room by mistake. When we got home that same day we phoned them to try to organise postage of it. We were told there was nothing left in the room. Thieving staff.

They told us that there is free Wi-Fi in the hotel but it doesn't work today. There are just two fans in the room and NO AIR CONDITIONING! It's really hot in the room. Horrible!

We were booked in for 3 nights. The first room we were given had a large hole in carpet, stains on the table and TV cabinet, bathroom plugs that didn't work, the floor vibrated, the bathroom door didn't shut and the shower head was tied up with a plastic bag. Found hairs in the bath and in the bed. Once we complained we were offered an up-grade for the second and third nights. This was better but still not the standard of other Rydges hotels we have stayed in. Beds were comfy.

This is NOT a four star hotel. This place is horrible. It is 25-30 degrees in the hallways and the room we booked. It looks like a really old resort hotel that they slapped some paint on and rebranded. The furniture looks like it came from the Salvation Army thrift store or a garage sale. Stains all over the carpets and the bathrooms are grotty. So much for the Rydges brand. This must be the property that no one talks about. Shocking really as we had higher expectations. Waaaay overpriced for the condition the place is in!

Stayed Xmas eve got the double spa room with breakfast as we do each year, the day after leaving I get $209 taken from them out of my debit card leaving my account $198 in negative. I rang and they said they will reverse it and 2 days later my money they stole from my account is still not in my account. Let's home its back before I get paid otherwise I won't be able to buy grocerys to feed my three children! Idiots! Hope your paying my bank fees because of this.

This is really our favorite place to go with the kids. The rooms are nice and the hotel is clean. We love the indoor heated swimming pool because that means we can go any time of year. The buffet breakfast is well worth it and kids eat free.

Nice place and kind staff. Been there a couple times now and really enjoyed it. Liked the breakie too.

Was a great stay at this hotel. Just wanted to work out the spa and made my clothes wet. Good service and quality.

Dated or classic? Either way the location is good and the staff were fantasticly pleasant and helpful. Walking the corricors wz a bit like strolling between hospital rooms at an elderly care but that wz only appearances not function.

Looks are very deceiving perfect entrance very flashy decor. As soon as we hoped off elevator hallway presentation was hospital looking. I parked our van at bak of hotel so I thort id use door on ground floor to get bk to level 3, it was creepy and spooky on ground floor u wud not think it was same place u came into. Very disappointing I wud not recommend this place to any1 it has some hidden secrets that no1 is telling. Did ask history on place and there was none. Our beds and breakfast were the only thing that we liked. May share end.

Awesome family friendly hotel. Our family of 9 adults and 6 children stayed for 3 nights from 09.04.14 to 12.04.14. Spacious clean rooms, great swimming pools for the grandchildren and nummy breakfast every morning. Helpful friendly staff. Thanks to Daniel, Rebekah and the rest of the Rydges team for making our family stay one to remember. We will be back.

Thank you to all the staff that made our experience so positive. My Son particularly enjoyed the beautiful dinner and the endless breakfast. He also enjoyed the Gym and pool area. He also liked the fact that he could fit on the bed. My Husband is disabled and although the bathroom a bit lacking for him we managed to get things sorted as we always do. So an update would be helpful to disabled travellers. The beds were comfortable and sheets crisp. Nothing was too much trouble. We moved on to Taupo and stayed in the HIlton as this was the only accommodation available there. Well it was just awful from check in to check out. You can read my review on their site. So well done to you all and if Hilton is 5 Star your are an easy 10. Kindest Regards Jodee Redmond-Wager.

Looks can be deceiving. Looks a lot nice until you get to the room. Lights not working, floor tiles chipped or moldy, the restaurant has lighting similar to something found in a bad nightclub waiting to start, the rooms walls are paper thin and it's easy to hear the music from the bar two floors down. Thankfully that's where the bad ends. The food is reasonably priced and is quite tasty and the staff are incredibly pleasant. Would consider closer to town next time.

Terrible bad I have been on room 230. No air conditioner. Window locked. Terrible batroom old and horrible. Not recomenfable at all.