I stayed here with my partner and her mum for one night last November. The place was great. There is lots of space, a spa bath, tv, wifi etc. It was very clean and tidy and the staff were really helpful. It is quite central but not right in the city, which is a 5 min drive away. The internet is rediculously expensive, so bring your own laptop or go into town.
We got a deal to stay there so Im not sure what the price is like compared to other places.
Overall it is a good place to stay and I would recommend it.

we spent one night in Rotorua in December and stayed at the Rydges Hotel. we were a party of 6 (2 families with 1 grown up child each) sharing 2 rooms.The lady at the check-in desk was less than friendly, but not enough to dampen our mood. The hotel itself was adequate; the lobby was nice, the corridors upstairs looked a little worse for wear, but the rooms were huge with 2 double beds, a small balcony, good size bathroom with a huge bath. A view of the racecourse rounded things off nicely. We didn't spend too much time in the hotel the 1st day and left after breakfast the next morning, which was fine. Since you don't visit Rotorua just to hang out in your room, it was not a bad place to spend the night.....

I am pleased to say my parents, two children and I had a very pleasant stay at Rydges Rotorua on 16 and 17 January 2012. I chose the hotel because there are rooms that accommodate 3 adults and 2 children, and there was a luge/gondola package available. We were fortunate enough to be upgraded from a standard room to a deluxe room on arrival, so the kids were excited to see the spa bath and the adults enjoyed the deck overlooking the racecourse. We found our room really clean. I am quite picky and couldn't fault it at all, so our thanks to the housekeeping staff.

We enjoyed breakfast in the Atrium restaurant, although I must say that they seemed a little understaffed. There was always someone around to help you, but things like the state of the floors and food running out were not addressed as quickly as they could have been. I thought the food was quite good - there was not a huge selection but everything tasted good and the bacon, eggs and mushrooms were delicious. Dinner was very nice and our young waiter on the Tuesday night very attentive and great with the children.

There were a couple of things that went wrong - we ordered a newspaper which we had to remind staff about when it was not there in the morning, and an advertisement for a dinner special that we saw in more than one place had actually expired almost a month earlier when we asked about having it, and the floor got really bad after a few spills one day at breakfast. If these sorts of little issues were addressed I think it would make a big difference.

I was a bit worried when I read some of these reviews after making my booking, but if I had the same standard of room again and the same friendly service, I wouldn't hesitate to revisit.

Visited last year (2011) and it seemed "tired". Although all the basics are here it needs a refurb. Staff pleasant enough, food dull but edible.