We stayed here on our honeymoon from 30 December 2011 to 2 January 2012 and were so disappointed on arrival that we spent ages fruitlessly searching for alternative accommodation in booked-up Paihia.

We booked through the hotel's website, which is adorned with beautiful pictures and the following comments, among others:

"great value resort-style accommodation"

"Your new hosts, Sarah and Hamish Browne, have brought the hotel up to date with new guest facilities."

"Open Air Swimming Pool

From the pool enjoy spectacular views over the Bay of Islands with all day sun and service to your deck chair."

We had pictured a big beautiful pool where we could relax on sun loungers enjoying a cocktail or a beer and looking out over the sea, and this was really what sold it to us. You can see the picture of the pool in the photos section of this reviews page.

Imagine our disappointment when we drove in to find a run down hotel in need of a paint job, and continued into the car park to find that the pool was actually in the car park! It was very small indeed and surrounded by bare concrete with a couple of plastic chairs. Nothing like the pictures at all - the photographer deserves some kind of award for creative enterprise.

We then headed off to try to find somewhere else to stay. It being New Year, we failed, so returned to check out the rest of the hotel.

Our room was quite big but bare, with a sagging mattress and not enough wardrobe space. In fairness it was clean.

We checked out the bar and restaurant to find more big bare rooms with cheap furniture - certainly nowhere you would want to spend a pleasant evening.

The hotel is fifteen minutes out of town so hardly convenient, and the much vaunted beach disappears entirely at high tide and is rather isolated - not really a good place for sunbathing.

The staff are pleasant and reasonably helpful.

This hotel is not cheap by NZ standards and is creating a misleading impression with its website. The facilities are poor and the hotel run down. I would not return.

We were a little put off by the outside, it all looked slighty worn and the rubbish bins are the first thing you see at the top of the drive.
Once in the room we were converted, room was spotless and very well furnished. large bed was very comfortable. We had no problems with room service in fact no problems at all.
We had breakfast one morning, again very good friendly service and the food was excellent.
The walk down to the beaches is easy there is a lovely quiet beach just 5mins to the left. There are kayaks for guests to use and we spent a happy hour paddling around the bay.
It's true to say the hotel is a walk from the main hub, but at low tide it's only a 10min flat walk along the beach which for us added to the charm.
We really enjoyed are 2 night stay and were made to feel very welcome. We will be back.

Stayed here for two nights last week in a superior room with king sized bed. A little disappointing...rooms need further refurbishment as still look quite dated so not sure where the 'sumptuous decor' was! The room was however clean with great sea views and we received a very warm welcome on arrival. Overall I would say it is more suited to families rather than couples and more of a cheap and cheerful place to stay. Easy walk to the town and back (about 10 minutes).

The website is a bit misleading if you are going to book at Atawhai Beachcomber. The pictures of the place are gorgeous and make it look like a lovely place to stay, however the facilities themselves are tired late 80s versions of what you see in the pictures.

We stayed in a Superior King room, I think for the money you could stay somewhere nicer.

The good:
Reception staff are really lovely and helpful.
The views from the windows are fantastic.
Situated a little removed from town for peace and privacy.
Air conditioning! I love air conditioning.

The bad:
Room is tired and outdated.
When servicing our room the milk and tea/coffee wasn't replaced.
No extractor fan in the bathroom means you nearly need an oxygen mask when taking a shower in the middle of a hot summer!
The restaurant worked on a weird, 'book and if enough people book we will open' kind of basis, to compensate for lack of customers. Fair enough but a bit dodgy if you are trying to make plans.
Bad soundproofing - the people next to us were door-slammy and shouty kind of people with a kid whose favourite passtime was scraping the ashtray along the tiles of their deck next to ours. The hotel can't control what their guests do but it was all heard clearly through the wall.

The ugly:
When servicing our teaspoons were replaced with dirty teaspoons, kinda yuck.