Clearest spring water in the world? And second clearest water in the world after a sea in…read moreAntarctica? Yep, definitely worth the 10 minute drive from Takaka to check it out. Don't expect to spend all day here, this is a quick "tick it off the list" type of stop. They've built a very nice walking platform that gets you up close and personal to the two clearest spots, and a small outdoor visitors center that explains exactly how the water is so clear (something to do with the insane amount of water* that flows through each second). Look, it's not something I would put on my "must see in New Zealand" list, but if you're in the area, absolutely make the 30 minute detour. Considering how many amazing things there are to see on the south Island, it says a lot that this doesn't come close to the top. Because it's absolutely stunning. *When I say "insane amount of water," even giving you the number of liters or gallons won't help, so to put it in perspective, it's enough water to fill 40 bathtubs every second. Insane.

After a long day of travel, we arrived at the hotel around 8pm to check in, planning to just drop…read moreoff the bags in the room, and head into town for dinner & drinks- upon arrival, we discovered the hotel had an error when registering our hotel reservation with our travel agency- an internal error, being managed by a very friendly new employee in training- we found ourselves stuck at the front desk for far too long, while they managed internal billing items. After standing around awhile, the manager even realized, 'oops- you really don't need to be here for this'- we didn't get to the room until about 35-40mins later. When checking in, we were initially told, 'wow you got updated, wait until you see your room.' But after all the errors, when we arrived in the room I hope the assumed upgrade was just part of the error, and not that our tiny dinky room really was their top tier stay. Overall, we knew we paid for a check hotel studio room, and that's what we got, so not that it failed (hence the lower ratings) it's just ya get what you pay for. If you pay for 1-2stars, the experience and room will be 1-2 stars. Saved money, was what it was.

From the owner: We offer 78 well appointed accommodation rooms, Flames on Forty Restaurant Bar and three conference…read morerooms. Outdoor heated swimming pool and BBQ area, off street carparking.

My strong recommendation:…read more If you are traveling for leisure/pleasure and/or to visit Nelson, do not book here. Book somewhere else in Nelson proper. This is a motel in the harbor marina. It is isolated and desolate. The only thing with people nearby at night is the Anchor Bar & Grill, which is infrequently and not particularly favorably reviewed on Yelp. It is a mile from town and the area is dark and - again - desolate. My experience: I drove up from Christchurch to Nelson on a Sunday. With a few stops along the way, that is an 8 hours drive, so I arrived at 6:30 pm. My estimated arrival time (entered along with my reservation) was 6:00. The drive in to Nelson from Blenheim is, if not perilous, certainly stressful, especially in the dark. When I arrived, the reception was empty, so I rang the bell for service, which clearly led to a phone, and the answer was, "Yes, I've already left for dinner, so I left the key inside your door and I will catch up with you in the morning." For my money, that is not acceptable! I expected to find a human being when I arrived. I went into town (not a pleasant walk at all!) and found a pub and looked for recommendations for something else immediately. Thankfully, it is winter, so this was achievable: with high tourism, I might have been shit outta luck. I'll review the new location separately. I went back this morning, to acknowledge that I hadn't stayed the first night of my booking and that I would not stay the second night of my booking. I pointed out that I had arrived at 6:30 and that my estimated arrival was 6:00. The response was, "yes, that's why I left the key in your room for you". Totally matter of fact, no signs of an apology. I was flabbergasted, but I just asked what I could do about a refund and she refunded me the second night. I'll take the hit on the first night in exchange for the self respect of not staying in that place. After she handed me the refund slip, I asked if she needed anything else from me, and she said no, so I said goodbye and left. There was, in my opinion, no hint of any aspect of actual hospitality. If you are overnighting in the marina and need a break and a proper shower and a full bed, perhaps this might work, but for any other reason, I would say stay away. I was my own travel agent on this, so part of the blame is on me for incomplete research, but I offer this up to help anyone else who may be considering this place in the future.

From the owner: We offer a friendly welcome, first class service and an extremely quiet and comfortable stay, in…read morenon-smoking studios, 10 of which boast wonderful Nelson Marina views. Start your day in our sunny breakfast room with a FREE Continental breakfast buffet or a cooked breakfast at an affordable cost. All our rooms have Sky guest select (50 plus channels) , Unlimited free hi speed WiFi and direct-dial phones. Our motel accommodation is just a fifteen minute walk to the Nelson CBD and 10-15 minutes drive from Nelson Airport.

More like Trek Delay…read more We had a booking for 7 people from Wainui (end of the Abel Tasman track) back to Nelson at 1.30pm. The shuttle turned up at 2.10pm and only left at around 2.30pm. Even though we had the 7 of us, it would have been enough for a chartered service, but instead we were provided with a bus shuttle combining to a total of about 30 passengers, many were going to different places (Nelson was the last stop). Our journey that should have been only 2.5 hours took 4 hours long (excluding waiting time). It is also important to note that we were not allowed to eat and drink on the bus, and with the long travel time, it did not make any food stops or toilet stops, not a pleasant experience after a 5 day hike! Trek Express also offers a free luggage storage service, which we saw as a plus when we decided to go with them. However to our horror, our clean bags were returned to us dirty (like people had stepped all over it) and wet. We were not warned about the "free service" and that this should be "expected". My husband's clean clothes were wet as a result. The owner, Rory offered his apologies but was not happy to provide any compensation and simply told us we can choose to go with other shuttle service in the future. His business model seem to run well with one-off foreign customers and so was not worried about customer loyalty. Nelson Lake Shuttle is also run by the same company. I would not recommend Trek Express and Nelson Lake Shuttle.

We are a group of 7 and booked a shuttle with Trekexpress for our Able Tasman hiking track from…read moreNelson to Marahua (start of our track) and return from Wainui to Nelson. Trekexpress also offered a free luggage storage service which we gladly took as some members in our group were travelling elsewhere after the track. The return journey was where the problems started. After 5 days of hiking we were all looking forward to some food and rest. Our shuttle was supposed to pick us up at 1.30pm and by 2.00pm when it still hadn't arrived we were starting to get a bit restless. We called Trekexpress and Rory (the owner) apologised and told us it was a busy day for them and the shuttle should arrive soon. Our transport did arrive about 10 minutes later but to our surprise it was a bus and we could see there was around 20+ other people that were also waiting for the same bus. The whole journey back took over 4 hours with multiple stops (at Marahau, Mapua, Nelson Airport, and once turning back as the driver forgot a passenger). Not only that but when we reached we found that the luggage we left with them which was referred to as a "free luggage storage service" was all dusty and 2 fabric bags with clean clothes got wet along with the clothes inside. In the end a supposedly 2 and a half hour journey took almost 5 hours to complete including the late pick up and along with that, dusty and wet bags we thought would be safely stored for us. Rory was in no mood to compensate us for our time wasted only offering his apologies and saying it was a busy time of the season and if we were not happy to not travel with them again next time. And his explanation for the dusty and wet bags were that it is expected as it was a "free service". The trip back from Trekexpress has left a sour note on what has been an amazing experience for us. I don't know how Rory is able to justify charging $55 a head for the one way trip back for a service that is not chartered and can only be described as worse than any public bus transport. I would advise any other groups that are thinking of travelling with Trekexpress to look elsewhere, you will not be getting a direct service as Rory will try to squeeze as many people in one trip as he can without being transparent as to how many stops there will be and the extra amount of time it will take while still charging a premium price. You will also have to deal with a boss who is not willing to work with his customers to resolve issues brought to his attention and only comes up with silly excuses. He also operates Nelson Lakes Shuttle which for the same price apparently offers a chartered service with the blurb - "You choose where you need to go and when, specific chartered journeys adapted especially for your needs operating to your own schedule, not ours".