Kaitiaki adventures is a must when visiting Rotorua! The team is incredible! We not only felt…read morecompletely safe but had an amazing time! Highly recommend.

So worth the money. I'd been white water rafting before but was apprehensive to venture down the…read moreworld's tallest (21ft) waterfall. The crew provided all the gear, instruction and motivation necessary to keep us safe. My daughter and I had a blast. Well worth the money. Don't miss this adventure.

This hotel is beautiful! Their staff is very attentive and friendly. Star is wonderful! She…read morealways proactively checked on us and helped us when needed. I highly recommend this hotel not only for its beauty and comfort but for exceptional service from Star.

A stylish & hip luxury lodge located next to the lake just a short distance from Rotorua. We…read morestayed there for 3 nights while touring around a warm and sunny New Zealand. The first thing I noticed was the A/C-even though we have been staying in expensive places, this is the first with in-room A/C-hallelujah! They are located at the bottom of a steep and narrow driveway in the middle of lush gardens and jaw-dropping scenery. Another thing you can't help but notice is their affinity for the color black-it is called the black Swan after all-the building itself is painted black, even the walls inside the pool are black making for a most unusual experience, and of course their are numerous real black swans in the lake nearby to feed (desk provides some bread). We were situated in room 5 (the have 8 in total) with a killer view of the lake. The room is very high style with deep black carpet, white king bed and sleek modern bath. There's even a little black and white checked teddy bear that gets tucked into the bed with the turn-down service. The shower has both a big rain shower head as well as the hand-held wand and plenty of water pressure. There is a small restaurant upstairs that serves breakfast (you select from a menu, same choices daily) as well as evening although we only sampled the breakfast which was freshly prepared and good. The pool was solar heated so quite warm and they also have two whirlpool spas in a separate small building above the pool. In short this place is a quiet luxury oasis. Quite expensive but a nice treat. Highly recommended.

Way back when in 2015 on our bucket list trip to NZ and Australia our tour took us to this movie…read moreset. Great weather and better yet no crowds. Interesting to see the grand scale of the place and how little made it onto the screen. Best to come with no crowds or you will wind you stuck behind slower moving groups. Crowds of us are own worse part of being a tourist.

Loved my tour of Hobbiton! It's a tour (2-1/2 hours) of The Hobbit movie set! Very cool to see the…read moreset and you even get to go inside a Hobbit home. After the tour, go to the Green Dragon Inn and you receive a complementary beer.

Way back when in 2015 we came to NZ as one of first bucket list trips. This location is must to…read moreappreciate the nature of NZ. One gets a guided tour and see nature coming up out of the ground. Bonus points if you can pronounce the name place. And appreciate the Maori culture and lifestyle.

We went on a day tour to this village from Auckland and the experience was worth the long drive. It…read morewas freezing on the day we went but our village tour guide was still informative and entertaining. We learned a lot about the Maori culture and how some still live day to say in their old school customs. We saw and learned about the geyser and boiling pools used for cooking and bathing. We saw active geysers from a distance. We saw a native performance that was upbeat and cool to see. You were able to take pictures with the performers at the end. There are a few local vendors selling native products. The best part of my experience was the local food that was delicious. We were able to taste the local dish, hangi pe that was very tasty and hearty. Definitely a place to check out!

This is a hard to review becasue I had both the best and the worst of times here. Checked in late…read moreinto room ONE, which had been getting the PM sun all day the shades were fully up. It was like 95 degrees when I got to the room. I turned on the AC closed the blinds went to dinner came back and it was maybe 85. Too hot to sleep they brought a fan with a cooling unit. DID NOT SLEEP. Tried the internet since too hot to sleep and ZERO. They called the company reset it and it barely worked and hardly did the entire time except in the common areas. The good news was the weather changed and I loved my second day, enjoyed the pool and had the best dinner of the trip with the degustaiton menu in their little restaurant. I walked up the street to use the internet at the Craft Bar. It wasn't cheap and I owe a lot of the problems to my room, on the sunny side and with the AC in the adjoing room.

Location: This town is pretty small so location wasn't an issue. It's within walking distance to a…read morelot of restaurants. Grocery store a bit further if you don't have car. It was about a 15 minute walk. Tours do pick up from the front entrance. Rooms: Ours was on the 2nd floor but luckily they brought our luggage up for us as the rooms weren't ready when we arrived. The two bedroom we had was okay, nothing special. There was a strange smell in the bathroom- like sulphur, which reminded me of Iceland. It was unpleasant. There is a small "kitchen" area but the counter and sink were pretty high. Service: I am giving this hotel 5 stars mainly because of the service, which is something I rarely do. Everyone at the front was extremely helpful and nice. They were also very hard-working as they seemed to cover the front checkin checkout, luggage service, as well as the restaurant. We called down with questions and by the time we came downstairs, they had printed out a map for us. I accidentally left my laptop in the room and after I emailed them, they shipped it out to my next destination. The hotel I was going to didn't even respond to me until days later.

Visiting Hobbiton was easily one of the highlights of our trip to the north island. The experience…read morebegan with a scenic bus ride across a working sheep farm, during which we learned about how the location was discovered and transformed into the iconic film set that it is today. Once we arrived, we were taken on a guided walking tour through the beautifully preserved set. Along the way, we saw some of the most memorable spots from the films, including the famous hillside where Frodo sets off on his adventure. One of my favorite parts came toward the end of the tour, when we were able to step inside a hobbit hole. The interiors were meticulously decorated, making it easy to imagine what life in the Shire might actually feel like! At the end of the tour, we stopped by Green Dragon Inn, where we enjoyed a complimentary drink (there's both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options available). Overall, this was such a magical experience! Be sure to book ahead, as the popular tour times tend to get booked out pretty far in advance during peak season.

Hobbiton is exactly what you think it will be. If you're a fan of the movies and most importantly a…read morefan of Hobbiton, you are stepping into a real life fantasy. I was there for a wedding and we received our own private tour, so I can't say whether it was like the standard tour. You start off from essentially their home base. You get on a bus and drive across to an active live sheep and cattle farm. The sets are built on the farm. The hobbit homes are all exterior and gorgeous. The details are immaculate. They even have real smoke coming from chimneys! There is a built out interior for tourists to traverse and the details are amazing. I found an accordion in one and it worked! There are alcoholic beverages at the Pony, but alcohol content is low. Probably to keep us from acting out scenes from the movies. The tour guides were also awesome, funny, and knowledgeable. Magical place. 10/10

This was the best day ever. Our tour was arranged by one of our CC members. We had two vans of…read morefive couples in each van. Terry drove one van and Carolyn drove the other. Terry and Carolyn greeted us as we disembarked the cruise ship just as they said, with our names on a white board. The itinerary was fantastic. We saw as much as we could in one day without feeling rushed. This is the beauty of a small group tour. We first went to Te Puia where we had a Maori welcome and attended an action packed concert where many of us (my husband) participated. We walked along the boardwalk and witnessed the geysers, and boiling mud pools. This is also where we had a nice lunch on their patio overlooking the geothermal activity. After lunch we had free time to venture off to visit the museum where they do carving and weaving. It's not some small carving shop. It's huge!!! The gift shop was also wonderful. Plenty of beautiful things to choose from, and prices quite fair. After Te Puia we were off to the Redwood Forest (wow!) where Terry taught us the distinction of the silver fern (one of their national symbols). Being from California it was interesting to compare their Redwoods to ours. We found many similarities in their trees and flowers to ours. We took some fabulous photographs. The bathrooms were quite unique in that they were individual cylinder shapes out of decorated metal. Making our way back we stopped at a beautiful Kiwi Orchard, where we did some tastings of kiwis and jams. The Golden Kiwi.....Yum! Kiwi ice cream....yes, we indulged! We had a little extra time on our journey so we were able to make a very quick stop at Okere Falls to watch a rafting boat and some kayakers (really quick stop). All along the way the sights were absolutely beautiful. Terry would keep us entertained with stories along with narrating as to where we were and what we were seeing along the way, happy to answer any question we would toss at him. We thoroughly enjoyed this tour, and highly recommend Custom Day Tours. Terry & Carolyn - You are such the great team!! Thank you for a great day!! Cheers! MandL

There are very friendly and helpful staff here. They have brochures on local attractions and…read moreattractions for all around New Zealand. You can book some of your adventures here. There is a nice gift shop here for you to buy some souvenirs. They have restrooms available if you need a potty break from walking around town. It was a nice area to dodge the rain for a bit.

Bus Stop for Rotorua! This bus station/tourist info place…read moreis a good place to start your adventure of Rotorua. They have a place where you can grab as many tourist brochures as you wanna get, and they have some people standing around to answer any questions you might have. There were only two people when I went, and they were quite busy with the influx of tourists asking questions. There's also a gift shop, which had higher quality souvenirs, but higher prices than the places around here. I skipped that stuff. It's a good place if you need to stop in and enjoy the climate control, and charge your phone. They have lots of plugs along the bar seating that looks out the windows. The clock tower will keep you informed of the time. The buses from out of town seem to stop on one side, and the local buses stop on the other side of this building, over by the playground.