Six of us stayed for three nights over Christmas
There was no extra charges for the Christmas period which was good
We loved the place - it's the quirky alternative approach that was refreshing and relaxing.
It's open, communal, inclusive, relaxed and has a great feel about it.
We liked the lack of instructions and signage which have dominated some places we have stayed in - instead this place wants you to just use the place as home. It's great that you can use the brilliantly equipped kitchen and fridge. The set evening meal is of the highest quality and well recommended - nice that you can take your own wine too!
The communal (but separate) shower, wash basins, and compost toilets are a brilliant and impressive innovation that make sense in all sorts of ways.

We stayed in Sans Souci for 2 nights in Dec-11.

The rooms are situated around a central courtyard, which has a Mediterranean feel. The room was spacious and had a very comfortable bed. The room was tastefully decorated, light and airy.

The toilet and bathroom facilities are shared and a short, covered walk from the room. There were 3 toilets, 3 showers, 1 bath and 4 basins for the 7 rooms. The composting toilets were drafty but did not smell at all. The showers were not very powerful and not particularly clean (some dirt on the floor, hairs on the tiles).

There is a shared kitchen, eating area and lounge. The owners prepare the meals for the restaurant in the same kitchen so it can feel a little awkward using the facilities at times.

An improvement would be to have at a basin in the rooms, as it was a bit of a nuisance having to go to the kitchen every time you needed some water.

The location is good - just a 2 min walk to the beach and the motel is easy to find.

Overall, an adequate motel for a short stay but would not be rushing back.

On a Monday night we sent a booking enquiry by mail. We called the next morning to confirm our intended stay. The host didn´t have the books at that moment, but sent us a confirmation shortly after that the room is available in that period of time we wanted to stay there. We confirmed by mail that we take the offered room. A few hours later we got a notice saying: "Unfortunately someone else has booked the room in the meantime."
We asked how this is possible as we rightfully made a reservation for this room. But instead of solving the problem, we just got the answer, that somebody was "faster".
In fact they just cancelled our reservation because they double booked.
Really bad and unfriendly!
No points at all for beeing that unorganized and careless towards customers.

We were planning a few days around Golden Bay and hadn't booked a hotel in advance. Two hotels that we had brochures for, were fully booked. We were told about San Souci, so we went there with very low expectations. Imagine our surprise when we drove into this beautiful little oasis of tranquility. It was created by a Swiss couple as a place for travellers to come together and mingle. There are a number of rooms, two per adobe building, in our unit. There is a large kitchen, dining area and sitting room, with a large fireplace. The building are set around a central grassy area, complete with hammocks. The ablutions block has 3 shower stalls, a bath tub, a central wash basin area (complete with tropical flowers) and 3 composting toilets. Brilliant idea to have all of the plumbing in one area, rather than en-suites for every room. The toilets are fantastic - nothing like a Port-a-Potty that you would get on a trail. No smell, no offence! The dining room offers breakfast and a set dinner menu that must be ordered by 4pm. The Inn is located just 3 mins from the beach, but on a side road and is noticeable from the street. It has a huge vegetable garden and a field in the back with patios for each room on that side. The people were delightful and friendly and we loved it so much we stayed an extra day. The rooms are large and comfortable and very quiet. If you plan to visit the north shore of New Zealand's South Island, you owe it to yourself to stay at San Souci.