I stayed with my wife as part of our honeymoon in New Zealand in April 2007. We stayed 3 nights in a deluxe roomn that had a great view of the surrounding area. The whole place definitely has a lot of character and our room looked like a French Chalet with a lot of wood work. Staying there was very comfortable and we greatly enjoyed dinner and breakfast. We used it as a base to do the Tongariro Crossing Day Hike and the hotel arranged a shuttle that picked us up in the morning and brought us back to the hotel in the evening. The shared whirlpool can be reserved for 30 minute time slots but we found it a bit creepy. It is located in the basement of the building and when it is all empty there it seems like a scene from a horror movie. Other than that it was one of our nicest stays in New Zealand and it was definitely worth the money. Not sure about the winter season rates though.