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Reviews of Falls Chateau

4 out of 5
Falls Chateau
12 Chateau Crescent, Taupo

Reviews

8.6

Excellent

Rating 10 - Excellent. 98 out of 177 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 51 out of 177 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 9 out of 177 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 9 out of 177 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 10 out of 177 reviews" "

9.0/10

Cleanliness

7.6/10

Staff & service

8.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

4/10 Poor

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Spacious, comfortable, and spotless
Drove past the property the first time as the entrance is actually at the back of the photo depicted online and only has a small size with the name. I gather that it is a private house rented out as accommodation. I did not like coming to this when this was not my understanding of what it is. There was no clear information at the front door, not even a doorbell. We were greeted with a partially opened door and given the key. I did not like not being warmly welcomed nor having no reception area to come into. We booked a room with a view - this was clearly stated on the booking page with lastminute.com, where the room below stated no view. When we arrived we were given a room downstairs at the back of the house - with no view. When I questioned this, I was told the room with a view cost more and that the website put rooms together. This needs to be made much clearer as I did not get what I booked. I also really disliked having to walk around the side of the house, on the grass, in the rain to get to the room we were in. This was not a welcoming way to get in. I did appreciate getting help promptly with the heat pump, but this was something that perhaps could have been checked and sorted before our arrival as the issue was blamed on the previous people staying.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2018

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Short overnight stay,reasonable rates. We drove around the block twice before finding location- not well signposted
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2018

10/10 Excellent

Helen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in May 2018

10/10 Excellent

N, te anau

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great comfortable room
We were arriving bit late, but check-in was smooth because of the great communication they made before arrival. Room was wide and comfy that was worth more than we paid.
Stayed 1 night in May 2018

10/10 Excellent

Libby, Auckland, NZ

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful with an "Exclusive Lodge" style feel...
I stayed here back in 2010 and loved it, and staying nearly 8 years later again, I do believe it is in even better condition and style than then with the same hosts. Spacious and so much room, beyond words in style and comfort, cleanliness and warm and welcoming owners. Definitely in line with exclusive self contained accomodation which I would happily pay double the rate for. The top room has a wonderful balcony looking over Taupo from the hillside about 2kms from town. Totally recommend this...
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2018

8/10 Good

Barb, Northland, New Zealand

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely outlook from the windows
It appears to be a big, purpose built house with 6 separate apartments - we drove right past it the first time! Parked right outside our door. Our upstairs apartment was nice and spacious, sparsely furnished perhaps, but everything available for two people. The lounge windows pull back fully, so we moved the little table there and 2 chairs and drank wine with nibbles looking out at the lovely view, across the lake down to the snowy mountains in the distance. The bedroom gets the afternoon sun. Probably a 4 minute easy drive to town, not far at all. Very affordable price for Taupo, would stay again.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2017

10/10 Excellent

Alfredo

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Chilled out in taupo
Great accommodation clean spacious and the views were awesome
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2017

10/10 Excellent

Karyn

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Comfortable and clean great l ocation. Some of the lights did not work . Bulbs need replacing ?
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2017

8/10 Good

Don, whangarei

Liked: Room comfort
Hotel nice. No footpath to room. Builders next door quite early.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2017

10/10 Excellent

Tanya, Auckland

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Discreet address
This hotel blends into the surrounding expensive houses and does not have hotel signs outside it. Inside is very elegant and spacious, lovely furniture and fixtures, very clean bathroom with separate shower. There are stairs up to the bedroom (s). It has a very nice outlook over Taupo with a glimpse of the lake. There are trees surrounding the hotel.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2017

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Business Trip
Business Trip - very quiet and nice surroundings As I had stayed previously it would have been a nice touch to have put me into the room with the view
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2017

10/10 Excellent

Sheryl, Auckland

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great place to stay
Great place to stay to catch up with my daughter. Clean, tidy, warm, luxurious.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2017

8/10 Good

Ted

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice place - in residential space
Room was upgraded free of charge. Large bedroom and large lounge. Heating in room and lounge, very warm. Good place for price.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2017

6/10 Okay

Adam, Wellington

Liked: Room comfort
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service
No staff onsite, very hard to find (no lights on)
I can only assume that this was once a VERY nice place to stay, the building is a "large house" in a newer Taupo subdivison. Our room was only accessible via a grass path around the side of the building. The room was full of passive aggressive notes, for example, on the air con remote "UNIT WILL NOT WORK OVER 23 DEGREES" (yeah right); and others stuck on doors and tables. The shower head is ruined and the towels are well overdue to be thrown out (like sandpapered cardboard!). The dust was at extreme levels (take a look at your bedside cabinets and candle holders on the dresser). All that aside, the bed was nice, room was cheap and air con worked fine at 24 degrees.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2017

8/10 Good

Gillian

Liked: Staff & service
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2017

2/10 Terrible

Got cheated, New Zealand

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stay out of it!!
Horrible place to stay! Please avoid this place at any cost. My folly that I did not check google reviews on this property before booking, which stands at 2.3 out of 10!! It is neither a chateau of 5 star as they fraudulently advertise! Owner or the manager guy is a modern day Shylock! I stayed in the mid winter just few days ago and suddenly awoke around 3am to see that the central heating is switched off. And the thermometer recorded 13c temp inside a so called 5 star 'Chateau' in the mid winter!! You cannot switch on the heating again and I spent the rest of the night shivering! Cooking is not allowed even no microwave to heat a pie. All you get is a 50ml tiny milk packet inside the fridge. And he had charged extra $10 from my credit card after I checked out and upon query he said that I had taken the body wash away with me! It was a tiny 5ml plastic vial, even not enough for one shower! He wouldn't answer the phone or texts so I had real hard time getting the money back!! My humble advice is, sleep on a bench near the lake if you cannot find any place in Taupo rather than staying in this den!
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2017

10/10 Excellent

Helen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2017

10/10 Excellent

Jonathan

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
A Lil bit different
Good value for money, large quarters, clean and modern and just a few minutes from the township by car. Their is no reception as such and when you arrive your left wondering what to do next eventually a guy comes out with a clip board to sort you out. Don't bother trying to contact by phone because no one answers. (Drive into the driveway upon arrival apparently it trips a sensor and tells him your there) Towels are starting to show their age a bit.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2017

10/10 Excellent

Helen

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2017

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveler

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
No staff to meet us on arrival
There were no staff to check us in. We had to phone from an international mobile to ask about check-in. They had mixed up our booking and told us they were fully booked. Then they realised they had the name wrong and we were booked in. Told us there was a key in the letter box to use to open up. This phone call was very lengthy and cost a fortune. The place was freezing when we got in and took a long time to heat up. Overall check-in and check-out were terrible. Very disappointed couple on our honeymoon.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2017

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
nice hotel and staff. clean and quiet room.
nice hotel and staff. clean and quiet room. good location to downtown.

10/10 Excellent

Mary

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
High standard in quiet location
4th stay at this property. Always of a high standard. Quiet home away from home. Quality bed linen and furnishings.

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveler

Disliked: Staff & service
Don't Stay Here, more like "Fawlty Chateau"
Made the booking on the understanding that the payment would be on the day of the stay and cancellation prior to the stay was no problem. It was all downhill from there. We needed to add another adult to the booking and that we would be arriving late which was difficult due to not being able to contact them on any phone and the promise of returning calls within 3 minutes was a joke. Email seems to be the only way they communicate and even this is always slow. We finally got the extra person sorted on a fold out bed. On arrival the "Taupo Luxury Lodge" aka Falls Chateau is a large house subdivided into separate areas and the fold out bed was a foam folding couch. The lounge couch was the only other option offered. We put it down to experience. On checking our credit card statements some time later we noticed that they had charged us on the day the booking was made and also charged us again for the new total including the extra charge for the extra person. Again contacting them is a nightmare and maybe they believe that if you delay long enough we may just give up. We are not going away and warn anyone wanting to stay in Taupo, try somewhere else.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice views and lovely room
Great location and comfortable room. Lovely views from the room and a great amount of space.

10/10 Excellent

Rebecca

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Peaceful and local
Such a nice place to stay and very close to town and local view points.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Clean,tidy and well presented ................just adding for review

10/10 Excellent

Lucy, New Zealand

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Mountain/lake view lovely
I had the one bedroom flat that allowed for some cooking with microwave, beautiful view of the mountains and Lake Taupo. It was very quiet overnight as located just north of Taupo township on the road heading towards Haka Falls. Furnishing good, bed while firm comfortable. There are steep stairs to get to the unit, so some people might find access hard. Free high speed wifi, good shower and roomy living dining area.

8/10 Good

Rebecca, Adelaide

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
Luxurious apartment out of town.
Odd place - very luxurious and lovely but in a strange location and when we arrived a man just materialised to give us the key. No formal check in. In a newish housing estate out of town a bit. Definitely wouldn't stay there without a car but was fine for us with rental car.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Disliked: Room comfort
The room unfortunately had a very damp smell, like the building has a leaky problem.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
Poor greeting upon arrival which made us feel awkward upon checking in. Accommodation was average. Messages received via text message were rather passive aggressive which impacted negatively on the overnight stay.

8/10 Good

Dan, Napier

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice and comfy place
We were checking in a bit late... So not sure what the normal experience would be. Plus my partner booked and so I didn't read all the information so there may have been information I missed. But our arrival was a little bizarre. We knocked on the door, another tenant opened up, instructed us where the key was and told us to walk around the back to open up the door. But other than that, the room was nice and comfy. The bathroom was nice, and there was a spacious wardrobe. Would have loved to stay an additional day and spent more time there. The heat pump pumped nice warm air in which was nice given the rain and cold outside.

4/10 Poor

Cin, Melbourne

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
Nice place but charged for Internet we did not use
The location is a bit odd, in a residential area but advised its all 'accommodation type of house'. The heater/aircon can only be put up to 22 degrees which is not enough when it's cold. The room is nice and big though. One thing, they advertise 'free internet' but when the guy gave us the code it's free for 500mb then $10 per Gb so we decided not to use it at all. Looked at my credit card statement and saw that I got charged $10 anyway (they take your CC details)!! That's very dodgy!

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Comfortable and clean
Comfortable and clan but the living space needs re arrangement to fit the TV

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Disliked: Staff & service
No one met us to check in, the key was just left in the mail box for us to find. No one called or messaged in advance with instructions. Contact phone was not answered. No wifi password was provided.

6/10 Okay

Tina, Wellington

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Lovely location, lots of street noise though.
No ambiance, decoe etc disappointing ,was not as expected when advertised as Chateau although maybe to be expected for price. Its just a motel really. No services as expected of hotel. Greeting was 'chilly' and very abrupt. It was nice to stay outside of 'town' and the surrounding were very pretty.

6/10 Okay

jim, wellington

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
unusual
A bad start as our cellphone battery was flat so we could not raise the manager and had not realised that nobody lived on site. So we went to the Taupo information centre to find somewhere else but they very kindly got hold of the outfit and we had an enormous space both up and down stairs for the two of us. Very impersonal, modern and any friend would be made aware of the peculiar setup. Cheap enough.

6/10 Okay

Bridget, Croydon Victoria

Unmet Expectations
I was under the impression that I'd booked the apartment with 2 bedrooms only to arrive & be told that I'd have to pay an extra fee as there was only 2 people. I have a medical condition that requires me to sometimes need a separate bed & the QS bed wasn't very comfortable at all. There wasn't clear signage outside, we were met by a man who didn't introduce himself, the next guest just walked in seeking attention as we'd done. The lounge was very uncomfortable & the TV remote was c**p. Wouldn't go back there.

8/10 Good

Brad, Honolulu

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice condo like room conveniently close to town.
Key and note left in mailbox; nobody there to greet you. But that's fine. Nice facility and parking right in front of the doorway. Great place to have a glass of wine and enjoy the view of Lake Taupo in the distance.

10/10 Excellent

Mike, Dunedin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
great hotel
Only complaint - other guests upstairs very noisy into the early hours of the morning.

2/10 Terrible

Alice, Auckland

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very Disappointed!
We arrived on Christmas day in the afternoon to a locked house in a suburb with no reception area. A man carrying a clipboard approached us and asked us if we had a booking. He did not identify himself and said that it was not possible to check in on Christmas day and we had to prebook on Christmas eve. We indicated that there was no such policy on the website. He disagreed and said it has "been like that since 2008". He then looked through his paperwork and found our booking, but he said that visitors were strictly disallowed from even driving up the private road. A couple tried to check in an hour later and they faced same issue as us. We were also informed that the property had no laundry facility (as was advertised). Instead a paid laundry service was offered. Also the advert said kitchen facility, however we found that there was no microwave or toaster. The fridge was dirty and milk was only supplied for 3 days when we stayed 5 nights. We noticed that our belongings were moved around after every daily cleaning service. Face cleanser moved to on top of the shower daily out of reach. Bikes moved off the lawn and stacked in the wrong way ( luckily one of our expensive bike was not damaged). Phone charger removed from socket daily. Overall, it was a terrible place to stay and we don't recommend it. removed from socket daily. Overall, it was a terrible place to stay and we don't recommend it.

10/10 Excellent

Stacy, Wellington

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely, luxurious & great location.
Stayed in the 2-bedroom apartment with upstairs deck looking out to Lake Taupo. Great location on Huka Falls road and walking distance to the falls. Close to town with modern, luxurious furnishings.

8/10 Good

Nikkola, Auckland

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Accomodation
Very large room and nice and clean and comfortable. What would make it better is if there was a microwave.

8/10 Good

Deb, Victoria, BC

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
More like an apartment.
Large comfortable rooms on the edge of town. It will be a lot better once the construction next door is completed.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Awkward Check-In Process But Nice Property
The room size was good. It was in a quiet neighborhood, a little ways away from the town so if you don't have a car this might not be the most convenient place to stay. The check-in process was a little awkward as you need to call a number to meet someone for your room key. We did not have a phone while in NZ but luckily the person was walking near the property. Otherwise it would have been an issue for us to check-in. Overall it was a nice property and we enjoyed our stay.

8/10 Good

ken, new zealand

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Off the main highway which is a plus
Away from the other motels/hotels. Nice set up with generous sized kitchen/relaxing area, two couches. We had the upstairs room with a great view

8/10 Good

Mike, Auckland

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good location
Good location and clean and tidy apartment. Had everything I needed and was quite spacious for a one bedroom apartment. My only gripe would be the fact it was an adjoining room and you could hear people next door quite easily. However this would not stop me booking this location again as I had a very pleasant stay.

10/10 Excellent

Kathryn, Claremont

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Like you're in your own bed.
Nice quiet room in residential neighborhood. Well appointed. As there is no staff it would be tricky if you needed service. But we didn't.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
The vendor was quick to meet us when we arrived and gave us all the info needed. I liked that we could just drop the key in the box when we left and go. The room was tidy and comfortable, the bed was really hard and I had a stiff back but still nice and warm. Would stay again

8/10 Good

DAVID R.

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Lovely overnight stopoff
This is a very modern apartment in a recently developed area. We stayed in the upstairs apartment above what seemed to be a utility area. There was a motor or the likes, maybe a heater boiler, which caused the whole house to vibrate just under our room but it only ran a couple of time and then for just a few minutes. Otherwise this is a really good apartment and beautifully appointed. We would highly recommend it.