The Rutland Arms is a charming property located just off the main shopping street, Victoria Avenue.

The property is historic and has lovely colonial rooms, all with a different theme. The bathrooms are spotlessly clean and spacious. The beds are comfortable and they have lovely linen.

The pub downstairs is reminiscent of an English pub with a great range of beers and wines and a roaring fire that makes it so welcoming in the winter.

The food is very good and there is lots of it.

The Hotel has plenty of off-street parking and is very well located. It is walking distance to many of Wanganui's attractions like the gallery and museum.

Wanganui is a wonderful base to explore the Rangatikei and Manawatu regions. Whenever I travel to the region on business, I stay at the Rutland Arms in preference to the larger centre of Palmerston North. Wanganui is a hidden gem and well worth a visit.

Thought we would choose the Rutland for our Wedding night since we had always had great servcie in the restaurant. The room was lovely unfortunately the service we received wasn't, not a great start to the honeymoon.

The greeting I received in the morning was terse and bordered on rude. Instead of "good morning" or "how was your stay" all I got was "anything from the mini-bar".

We were never offered the "complimentary" continental breakfast.

And finally when I sent an email to bring these things to the attention of the owners they didn't even bother to reply.

We stayed there for 4 nights as a base to get up to the National Parks to the North and East. The Rutland Arms is a charming place, so much better value than the local motels, with excellent food served in the Pub downstairs or in the courtyard garden. A varied menu, complemented by wine and beers from around the world, served by a very friendly and helpful team of people. Only small downside was lack of aircon, compensated for by an effective ceiling fan and open windows allowing us to share the fun of some Friday night revellers in the street outside!

My wife and I stayed at the very charming Rutland Arms Inn for about ten days and had the most wonderful time. We stayed in the Rutland Suite, which was basically a room, but very comfortable.
The staff are incredibly friendly, especially the wait and bar staff in the pub downstairs (which has a great ambience and a roaring log fire every night). They're a happy bunch, know their menu well and aren't afraid to offer opinions and spirited recommendations about the fare on offer, which is so refreshing.
We also thought the food was almost perfect - the portions were worryingly large, and they do love their fries, but the lamb shank is truly spectacular.
I loved the way we were fussed over, especially by the people serving us breakfast - their attention to detail was touching, they knew exactly what our preferences were, down to what sort of coffee each of us preferred, and when!
Wanganui is a lovely little town with possibly the friendliest people on the planet, (it has a great newspaper as well!) and the Rutland is one of its best features.
We're definitely going back.