Front of property
Check availability

Reviews of River Valley Lodge

3 out of 5
River Valley Lodge
266 Mangahoata Road RD2, Pukeokahu

Reviews

9.0

Wonderful

Rating 10 - Excellent. 12 out of 20 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 7 out of 20 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 0 out of 20 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 0 out of 20 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 20 reviews" "

8.8/10

Cleanliness

8.8/10

Staff & service

9.6/10

Amenities

8.4/10

Property conditions & facilities

10/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Glenn

Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023
Response from Dani on 19 Feb 2023
Kia Ora Glenn,Thanks for leaving us a review and we hope to see you again :)

10/10 Excellent

Helen

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Fantastic stay, beautiful surrounds & great staff. The food was phenominal
Stayed 2 nights in May 2022
Response from Dani on 15 May 2022
Thanks Helen! Hope you can visit again.

10/10 Excellent

David

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2022
Response from Dani on 5 Feb 2022
Kia Ora David, Thanks for staying with us and leaving us a positive review. We hope to see you again in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Bo

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
A piece of paradise - very good for the soul. The food is absolutely amazing, the scenery is out of this world and all the staff is very welcoming and accommodating. Highly recommended.
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2021

8/10 Good

CorrieandZettie, Marton, New Zealand

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great location. Wonderful staff. No tv in bedroom which was FANTASTIC!! Stone throw away from river. Had a noisy, but friendly stag party. Thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Met nice people.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2021
Response from Dani on 23 Feb 2021
Kia Ora, Thanks for leaving us a review, we hope you can visit us again sometime :) Kind regards, Dani

10/10 Excellent

Fiona

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Wonderful
This was a lovely place to stay, lovely staff, nestled in nature, with the bush and river. Well off the beaten track! The food was great, the service was excellent.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2020
Response from Dani on 27 Oct 2020
Kia Ora Fiona, Thanks for staying with us, and leaving us a great review. We hope you can visit again in the future. Kind regards, Dani

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2019
Response from Dani on 13 May 2019
Kia Ora, Thanks very much for leaving us a review. Glad you enjoyed your stay.

10/10 Excellent

KS, Vancouver, Canada

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
A bit of a trek but a great location! I would come back.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2019
Response from Dani on 22 Mar 2019
Kia Ora, Thanks for leaving us a review. We hope you can visit us again sometime. Kind regards, Dani

8/10 Good

Chadwick

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2019
Response from Dani on 8 Mar 2019
Hi Chadwick, Thanks for leaving us a review. Glad you enjoyed your stay with us

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

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

10/10 Excellent

Thabani

Amazing location
Amazing location: in beautiful lush forest, next to a river!
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2018
Response from Morgan on 21 Sept 2018
Thanks, we love the small slice of paradise! Enjoy your travels.

8/10 Good

Lisa, Auckalnd

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely spot on the river
We booked the family room for a night. It was good value for a room which easily fit our whole family and had a private bathroom. There was a bus load of backpackers in at the same time and we enjoyed the lively atmosphere that they created in the shared areas while we played board games and cards. The food was awesome, Roast for dinner with chocolate brownies for desert and a cooked breakfast.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2018
Response from Morgan on 3 Aug 2018
Kiaora Lisa Thank you for your feedback. Great to see you had a lovely evening with us and enjoyed your meals. Nga Mihi

8/10 Good

James

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Perfect stay for wonderful white water rafting
My wife and I booked white water rafting trip starting at 8:15. We stayed overnight as there aren't many other hotels in the area. First, the road to get there is winding and goes around lots of hills. We trekked it during nighttime and I would try to avoid that if possible - it was a bit scary and rabbits popped up multiple times to try and run to their death. The final stretch of road to get to the hotel is a one lane gravel road. We arrived fairly late, the front desk was closed so we checked in at the bar area - great room to have some beers and talk to fellow travelers. The guy walked us to our room and the check in process was nice and easy. The room was excellent - river views, bit on the small side but the bathroom floors are heated and the bed was comfortable. We did white water rafting the next morning and it was awesome. Highly recommend it. The rapids were intense and the guide was phenomenal. All in all it was a great experience!
Response from Morgan on 10 May 2018
Kiaora James Thanks for taking the time to write a review. Great to hear you enjoyed your overall adventure with us. Hope the rest of your adventures went well. Regards, Morgan

8/10 Good

Vivienne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Good base for rafting
This is a base for river rafting which is excellent, rooms are small but clean, WiFi doesn’t work and not TV so bring your own entertainment. It’s a good 40-45mins to the nearest restaurant so make sure you book ahead for meals at the hotel as in advance booking is required. Area is really only the hotels site itself so if you don’t have activity’s booked with the hotel don’t stay here, the restaurant area serves alcohol and if there is a good group staying it can be lively
Response from Morgan on 10 May 2018
Kiaora Vivienne Thank you for taking the time to write a review. We are very remote and do encourage people to book meals in advance. TV isn't something we like to encourage, hence they haven't been installed into the rooms. We hope you enjoyed your stay with us and join us again. Thanks, Morgan

10/10 Excellent

Karen, Wellington, NZ

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great location
We needed a 1 night stopover between Napier and Wellington and found River Valley Lodge which looked lovely. However we didn't realise that this accommodation is more of a backpackers hostel and not a hotel as we initially thought. (Probably should have read the description properly). The location is amazing. We booked the deluxe chalet which was small but quaint and comfortable and had a river view. It was lovely listening to the sound of the river so close by. The bed was super comfy and had a great shower. No fridge though, storage for clothing or hairdryer. The main building (lodge) has dormitories on the first floor above the communal dining room and there seems to be a separate backpackers area with a kitchen. We pre-ordered dinner- it was beef night - so there are no other meal options but it was well cooked and lots of it. The staff were lovely and very attentive. There is a sauna and spa on site.(extra charge to use the spa) We enjoyed a moonlit spa under the trees. We really enjoyed our stay, and we plan on going back to do the 8 hour rafting trip (level 2) sometime.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2018
Response from Morgan on 14 Apr 2018
Kiaora Karen Thank you for your feedback. We look forward to having you both back from some rafting adventures. Thanks, Morgan

10/10 Excellent

James

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Piece of paradise (if you know what to expect)
The lodge is a little oasis by the river. Given it’s location, you have to expect it to be a little isolated and for it to have a woodsy vibe (bugs included). If you know what you’re getting into, it’s awesome. The food is homey, locally sourced, and super yummy. The food is is great if you’re traveling for a good while and miss home cooked meals. Prices are super reasonable too. Beds are comfy, and the spa tub looking over the river was a special treat. The lodge does cater to a younger backpacking crowd (good to know, in case that’s not a fit for you), but we stayed in a private room so it didn’t bother us. Tad were super awesome and you can tell that they care about the guests and their bussiness. Wish we could have stayed longer!
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2018
Response from Morgan on 15 Mar 2018
Kiaora James Thank you for taking the time to write your review. Great to hear you enjoyed your stay with us. We are very isolated here and that is one of things we enjoy about our piece of paradise. Thank you for the great comments about our food, we are very proud of what we provide for our customers and staff. Winter is a great time of year to stay with us, less of the 'younger backpackers' and a more cozy setting. Thank you again for your review. Regards, Morgan

8/10 Good

Wilhelm

Liked: Room comfort
Young & Energetic
Good if you are young and energetic. It is the place of youth with energy which remind me the good time durign my mid 20's. If you purpose is purely for Grade 5 water rafting, staying is not a requirement.
Response from Morgan on 14 Mar 2018
Kiaora Wilhelm Thank you for taking your time to write a review. Winter is a good time to come and stay with us. WE don't have so many younger people around. It's quieter, cosy, and lots of water for the rafting! Regards, Morgan

2/10 Terrible

Ella

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Abusive staff ruined stay
Whilst our private double room was adequate, our stay was ruined by the rafting staff who repeatedly swore at us and threw drink over us. Despite being called c**ts, the complaint was barely dealt with by managerials and I hope this behaviour never happens again to future guests.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2017
Response from Management on 29 Jan 2018
It is not often that River Valley Lodge gets a 1 star rating - as you can easily see from the likes of Trip Advisor where most ratings are 4 - 5 star. With this in mind I would like to respond to this review. First of all we accept that some of our staff used inappropriate language that should never have been used in any circumstances. For this management apologised on their behalf and offered the guests a free of charge stay. This appears not to have been good enough, so I would like to put the actual incident in context. These guests had climbed over walls into a locked area where they had no right to be. The staff who found them there could definitely have used more appropriate language, but the bottom line is these guests had committed an unlawful act of entering a locked area. Would this 1 star review writing guest have preferred we got the Police instead? At no stage did these particular guests seem to think they had done anything wrong, and certainly never apologised for their actions. As far as I am concerned, we went beyond what could be reasonably expected in dealing with this complaint.

10/10 Excellent

Håkan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Åk hit! Familj, kompisar, par, åk hit!!
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
舒適雙人床
空間大、乾淨、但不夠暖氣
Stayed 1 night in May 2018
Response from Janey on 15 Jun 2018
Thank you for your feedback. We hope you enjoyed your time at River Valley. Kind Regards Janey