The location and view are absolutely unsurpassed. Balcony opened right onto the beach, fully…read moreequipped everything in the suite, really a fully equipped apartment with 2bd/2ba, full kitchen and laundry, etc. Because we stayed for NYE (mister's birthday) and into early January, we got the last 'room,' but my god....location. Unreal. Just freaking unreal. Gorgeous weather all the time, gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous, and perfect location to walk throughout Paihia and to the Treaty Grounds in Waitangi. It was spendy, but an experience we'll never forget. Completely gorgeous. Only 2 reasons I can't give this a fifth star, because everything else was dreamy: 1. Second worst bed I've ever had the misfortune to sleep on. The same thing is all over tripadvisor for this place, and they are not wrong. As cozy and restful as a tatami on a slab of hot concrete. For the love of all the world's bursitis, stop upgrading the towel heaters and GET PROPER MATTRESSES. 2. Front desk attendant was a bit lackadaisical with the instructions on getting into the underground parking. "Waving the fob in front of the white plate" is a touch vague. No white plate, and fob just laughed at us as I waved it frantically in front of everything on the wall. Panic set in as a handful of little zippy cars pulled in behind me on the downward slope. Into a locked grate. That wouldn't open. Few things I dislike more than inconveniencing strangers, and thankfully a staffer hopped out of his truck and punched a code into the tiny keypad, but not until I tried to back up a bit and scraped the fender of my tiny absolutely brand new rental against the barrier not 3" from the driver's door. Ugh. Other front desk attendant apologized later as the panel/fob things were not always working right, unlike the lady working when it happened, who offered a cheerful 'Sorry!' Thankfully the whole trip made up for that unfortunate first day scrape, and the view and calm of the place led us to wave off the fender after a few days. Kayaking around the islands, swimming and being lazy, sauntering into town, a terrific tex-Mexico cafe around done corner.... No trade off for the location of this place. Seriously, this was an incredible spot for a vacation and Paihia is completely gorgeous.

Brilliant Place to stop!…read more Perfect place to stop just a few hours form Auckland. Close to the "big tree" Lovely spacious sites for motor homes, caravans and camping, next to the river, beautiful views over the river with walks along side, even have their own glow worms in the rocks! We took the night walk the camp site recommended, through the forest on the night of the cyclone with their infra red lamp! The managers of the site were awesome and told us what to look for and how to use the light for maximum effect. Creepy, dark wet but great fun. Saw possums, Conch snails, glow worms, silver ferns and 1000yr old trees. Although we met another couple that saw the Kiwi Birds unfortunately they hid from us! Would recommend this camp site everytime. The shower blocks were quite amazing the cleanest and nicest I have ever seen when camping 10*!