Purple Jo
South Island ▷ Southland ▷ Waikawa ▷
0.5/5
Oh my goodness, where to start?
Overpriced, falsely advertised, disgusting lack of cleanliness...
Location five stars! Rooms zero. Service zero, as there was none.
We paid to stay two nights as the website has it as the Place To Stay... so much to do!! As a result we planned to be here to hang out for a couple of days, like a little stop and rest. However, there was no-one here. The cafe was shut (even though the website ensured us they were open though winter from 8am, and the signs on the road said OPEN OPEN OPEN), there was no pizza starting from 3pm, again, website totally misleading, and the young Indian lady we managed to find after an hour of waiting told us to go back in because "he will be back in a few minutes so you can order pizza", there was DEFINITELY no happy hour starting at 4.30, although we were tempted to start our own. The outdoor tables had mould growing in rings on them. I say HAD because I couldn't cope with it and cleaned them all.
We paid for a powered site, and for that there was a "Guest Lounge." The guest lounge not only a broken pane of glass, but half of it was missing and there was rain soaking the curtains and carpet. So where do visitors hang out? Certainly not at the bar and cafe, that was shut. The waste bin in the kitchen had not been emptied for a very long time, ditto the bathroom.
We definitely didn't stay the two nights. We drove out the next morning to find food and somewhere better to stay. We found some other awesome places in the Catlins, cheaper and with friendly faces to check us in.
I need to add that the one guy we met - the manager - is doing his best in an untennable position. He was sent in to placate us when we complained by phone about there being no one here, no food, no coffee, no service. He is the only person working and the owners are not employing anyone on his days off. (His days off being the two days we had booked, hence no service and nothing open. They are simply not employing enough people.