This is one of the worst places I have ever stayed in. We were asked to pay in full on check-in without seeing our 2 bedroom 'chalet' and i'm not surprised why. All the windows were wide in a vein attempt to hide the damp and dusky smell. They even opened all the windows again on the second day without any regard for the security of our belongings that were in there in a vein attempt to hide the bad odour.
Both the furniture and appliances were dirty and very tired. The electric blankets were needed at night as the place was freezing. Storage was at a premium and there was little enough space for 2 people let alone 4.
If I wasn't outside the cancellation period I would have been there for less than 5 mins and I would advise anyone thinking of staying here to look elsewhere.

$140 for one night is a frightful price for one person (with dog).

On the plus side, the place was clean and the towels nice.

However - the 'studio' motel unit was more like a dormitory with a long bleak hallway. The hall lighting switched off at 9:40pm just as I was moving in, leaving me in darkness. The security light switch didn't work.
I never saw the owners - the office was closed when I arrived at 9:30pm and it didn't reopen until 9am - long after I had left. There was no way to contact management in an emergency.

the bed was two single mattresses pushed together. There was no mattress pad or anything covering both (just one thin sheet) so there was a gap of over an inch down the middle of the bed.

The motel displays a sign boasting the best value in town and the best views. The view might have been good years ago but now the land is classed a flood hazard area. The road behind the motel has recently been raised several metres and the flood banks along the river edge also raised considerably, resulting in the motel now being far lower than the raging river just metres away, the buildings sunk down into a gravel basin surrounded by major earthworks.

Even if it is one of the few places in Franz to accept dogs, I shan't' be returning.

This motel was pretty soul-destroying. Unclean, with dated and tatty appliances, and a few dozen dead flies on the carpet by the windows. It's also a bit of a walk from the township, across a bridge which, at the time we were there, was part-closed for roadworks, meaning the walk home in the dark involved negotiating an unstable plank bridge. Definitely wouldn't recommend this place.

Glacier Gateway is a slightly confusing establishment! It brands itself a motel, but does not have all the features of one (i.e. the ability to self-cater), it is not as good as a hotel and due to the long corridors, has more of a feel of a hostel or dorm. The bathroom fittings were installed in 1985 from the label and that about says it all. The rooms were however pleasantly sized and cleaned and there are pleasant views from the well maintained garden.The point made about returning to the Lodge after dark is a very good one, it is ridiculously dangerous. We needed the combined power of 4 camera flashes to negotiate out way down a steep shingle slope towards the hotel in the pitch black, with a narrow bridge over a fast flowing river for company! Overall,a pretty unfulfilling stop on a long tour of New Zealand, but at least that was reflected in the booking price!