Name: Takapuna Motor Lodge
Address: 28 Taharoto Road, Auckland

Pleasant

Liked: The accommodation was very affordable.I was really impressed by the size of the accommodation/room that i booked. It was the size of an average 2brm home, and it was very clean.There was a stove with an oven and a full sized fridge freezer in the kitchen. The small gated outside area at the entrance of the unit was great. It made me feel quite safe and secure while staying there.
Disliked: There is only 1 small t.v in the dining/lounge area, and you could only get access to basic channels.The wifi didn't extend to our room, and we were directly opposite the office.The "playground" (if that's what you could call it) is literally 2 swings on a small patch of grass, and they looked rather unsafe.The pool and spa area was "out of order."The laundry area is not accessable overnight.The complimentary tea and coffee came with a couple of very small (roughly 5ml) pods of already mixed powdered milk.There were not enough towels available for 2 adults and 2 children to have their own.The lack of cooking utensils was a bit of a bummer. The staff were unorganised and were only focused on getting the payment for the room processed.You definitely did not feel like you were a valued guest at this place.

Poor

Liked: Good
Disliked: Shower leakedNo rubbish bins

Poor

Very poor

Exceptional

DO NOT STAY HERE. CHECK...

Liked: DO NOT STAY HERE: The only good thing was when we left the property
Disliked: You have little chance of getting your money back from this place as the accommodation provider charges your credit card before you arrive. There is no check-in procedure and no 'reception' services, so after our self-check-in we found that the photos of the property do not show the real state of the rooms, which are unsafe and unhealthy. The rooms are unable to be secured as locks are broken and window latches are missing.The one Indian lad onsite pretends he can't speak English and refers you to the phone number on the door outside 'reception'. The Indian voice hides behind this phone number, never showing themselves or coming to discuss issues. The rooms are dirty, mouldy, and in a state of disrepair. There are exposed wires on the electric blankets, the windows don't close properly, and the gaps around the floors and holes in walls also let a breeze through so the units are freezing cold. We had 3 fan heaters running for the night we were there (we slept in our clothes and left early) and the unit was impossible to get warm.The property is being used as transitional housing and in a poor state. The people living there are being taken advantage of, paying $1300 per week through WINZ for rooms that are awful, and no services. The property markets free wifi (it is unsecured) and satellite channels (if the TV works you might get TV1 & TV3).The photos attached to this review are of the 'upgraded' room we got after we complained, but still don't quite capture the extent of the issues. You will be safer, warmer and more comfortable sleeping in your vehicle. Save yourself a world of trouble and stay at accommodation just down the road.We left early from our booking of a 2-night stay and even after ringing the phone number to discuss us not using the 2nd night of accommodation due to the above reasons and the fact they had misrepresented their property on the booking.

Basic but handy location

Liked: It was cheap so you get what you pay for.
Disliked: Room servicing was weird. On day two my towel went missing. Was never replaced event though the bins were emptied. No top up of coffee or tea etc.

Would probably stay again.

Liked: The staff were great, 4/5 of the beds were comfortable, the kitchen was good, check in was relatively easy and straight forward. The location was great.
Disliked: The 5th bed was a fold out sofa, which would have been fine except that there was no linen for it except a pillow and a throw type blanket. When we rang, we got given a single bedsheet.