Kingsgate Hotel, Rotorua

Advantages: comfortable quiet rooms,hotel situated conveniently for access to the City CBD, and 20 minutes maximum from Auckland International Airport
Disadvantages: poor timing on our part, we arrived at reception early evening just after 2 parties,quite a wait as a result

...We arrived at Auckland International Airport from Fiji in late afternoon.It took a while to clear immigration and customs,and ,more prolonged, to clear the checks of the NZ Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Quarantine service, as we had 2 wood based gift products purchased in Nadi. Hire car,courtesy of EZY,was picked up from the airport information desk and airport car park. The 3 star hotel was reached via an easy drive on good quality dual carriageway roads ( the South Western Motorway and Hugh Watt Drive) in 20 minutes, and through the Royal Oak district. Greenlane is a pleasant leafy residential suburb of Auckland, adjacent to Cornwall park. There is a good bus service into central Auckland, and importantly the hotel is well placed for access to the Southern Motorway which we used to head south to Rotorua... Read review

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Advantages: Centre of Maori history and many other great value tourist attractions
Disadvantages: The smell of sulpher (bad eggs) in town centre

...there is sky diving (real or simulated), scenic flights, white water rafting or tandem kayaking over a 7m waterfall on the Kaituna river, speed boat rides, luging, mountain biking in the red woods, or simply being pushed down a hill in a giant plastic ball!!!! Staff at hotels, motels and backpackers will assist you in booking activities in the usual friendly kiwi manner. Those that are not within easy reach usually offer a pick-up service from your accommodation. Whatever your purpose of visit, centrally located Rotorua has something to offer for everyone at extremely reasonable prices. With its own airport, Rotorua has become one of the most popular tourist towns and for good reason!!!... Read review

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Advantages: Great unique place to see!
Disadvantages: Smella of eggs!!

...Roturua in the North Island of New Zealand is well worth a visit, full of many wonders from thermal lakes, mud pools, geysers and for the adventurous among you white water rafting and Zorbing. Be warned however with all the thermal activity comes a pungent smell of egg! Not the most pleasant thing to wake up to into the morning but you kind of get used to it after a while, not sure if that is a good or bad thing! The only downside to Rotorua I can think of is the fact that it is very spread out, you can take buses to the main activities but this cost $10 a ride, myself and a friend decided to hire a car for the day and this was brilliant as it meant we could see a lot more and at our own pace. Hiring a car cost about $70 for the day between us. Accommodation in Rotorua is plentiful, we stayed in a backpackers hostel as we... Read review

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