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Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands has a sub-tropical resort ambiance, with island-influenced architecture, beautifully landscaped grounds and light airy rooms. Situated at the entrance to the seaside town of Paihia, it’s a pleasant stroll into town to access the main wharf, visitor activities, fine dining and shopping. Whether you are here for business or pleasure, the relaxed atmosphere of Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands will melt away your stresses in moments. The entire property has been extensively refurbished and expanded, and the attention to detail will impress you. As our guest you will enjoy: A choice of accommodation styles including standard, superior and deluxe rooms. Beautifully presented guest rooms, with earthy tones, splashes of colour, and quality room amenities. Excellent hotel facilities, including swimming pool, ample parking, wireless Internet and comprehensive conference facilities. Quality, relaxed dining and socialising in our licensed restaurant, and lounge bar. Easy walking access to Paihia’s main wharf, shops and local attractions. Our lush sub-tropical gardens, with water features and feature lighting, are attractive and relaxing by day and night.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Qualmark.
HOTEL STYLE
Quiet
Business
Languages Spoken
English, Filipino
Location
58 Seaview Rd, Paihia 0200 New Zealand
Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands
4.2 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands comes highly recommended for its impeccable cleanliness and the luxury of its well-kept rooms, which guests find spacious and comfortable. While the hotel's service generally earns praise for being attentive and friendly, a few hiccups in maintenance and occasional service lapses are noted.
The serene atmosphere is enhanced by lush tropical gardens, and the location is celebrated for its proximity to the beach and local attractions. Opinions on value vary, with some guests suggesting the hotel could offer more for the price.
Location
Convenient
Atmosphere
Comfortable
Rooms
Comfortable
Value
Reasonable
Cleanliness
Spotless
Service
Friendly
Amenities
Well-appointed
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The hotel is located just one block from the seafront and doesn’t suffer from any road noise.
Our ground floor room was situated in a well maintained tropical planted area well away from reception, but within easy walking distance nonetheless.
The room was spacious & clean, and serviced daily.
The hotel team were very friendly and gave good advice for visits/eating out etc..
We ate in for the three nights we were there, the menu is not extensive but the food was cooked to a good standard. Breakfast was of a buffet style with hot & cold options.
The only disappointment that we found was that you are unable to get a drink before the bar opens at about 5pm.
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Date of stay: January 2025Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Plenty of free parking availability.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Debbie Patten, General Manager at Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands
Responded 8 Feb 2025
Thank you for your feedback. We are pleased to hear you enjoyed your stay. The Hotel bar is advertised as open at 5pm however we open when anyone is ready. Our hours are printed as winter hours and must be amended so thank you for reminding me.
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Phuket in Paihia We had the deluxe room at rear of complex 815 with tropical trees and plants front and rear, we would honestly rate this experience as a solid 9/10 and possible the best complex we stayed at in our 3 weeks NZ holiday. The owners have attention to detail and are spending money back into the complex not just parking the dollars in the bank. Well done ✅
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Date of stay: December 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Short walk to town is only issue , obviously you can drive and park and pay which is fairly cheap.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Debbie Patten, General Manager at Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands
Responded 10 Jan 2025
Phuket in Paihia you have made my day. I love this review. I always love that your enjoyed your time with us. You certaily summed it up, we are putting it all back in. This is a magical destination and magical hotel with great bones. We have more exciting things happening around the hotel. Hope you will be back to us some time soon. Travel safe.
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This is quite a large resort built in separate blocks. We were on the second level in the 700 block. The room was really nice, the bed very comfy and we didn't hear any noise at all. It was lovely to have a balcony to sit out on, but it was beginning to get a bit cool when we were there. Both breakfast and dinner were very good and the staff were exceptional. There was the added bonus of a guest laundry with complimentary washing powder. It was only a 5-10 minute walk to reach the sea front so the hotel was very well positioned.
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Date of stay: March 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Debbie Patten, General Manager at Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands
Responded 22 Apr 2024
What a lovely review. Thank you for taking the time. Glad we ticked all the boxes for you and we look forward to you returning one day soon.
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Great check in. Rooms nice & big. One of the beds was huge but had a weird slope in it so we used both beds. Bathroom was an odd configuration, if you were coming out of the shower & somebody was coming in from bedroom, all doors collided.
Well stocked with towels, cups etc etc
Breakfast only served til 9.30 during week, it was ok but bread was pretty cheap & nasty .
Happy Hour daily 5 - 6 but only certain drinks and for New Zealand the wine left a nasty taste
Easy walking to bars & restaurants & parking although not perfect was good
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Date of stay: March 2023Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Room had musty smell mainly in bathroom and seemed to need a good vacuum of the dated carpet. There was a large cobweb right above the bed on the high ceiling. Bed was hard and any movement from partner was felt. It was somewhat difficult carrying luggage on the stairs to the second level. The balcony was relaxing overlooking the lawn area however the outside furniture was old. Shower had very good water pressure, car parking was ample, and it was a short walk to the main town.
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Date of stay: November 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Debbie Patten, General Manager at Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands
Responded 16 Dec 2024
I am sorry to hear that your room had a musty smell. The hotel as of the 16th December 24 has brand new beds throughout. Pleased the water pressure was good. Parking is amble which is a plus and yes we are just a quick stroll to town. Travel safe which in NZ.
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The room when we checked in was a bit musty smelling but that cleared quickly with AC on. The rooms are spacious and comfortable and well maintained. A nice touch is they give you a bag to take the unfinished toiletries with you. The free WIFI is quite good and we had no issues with the signal strength. While the bathroom is a good size the shower felt a bit cramped and there is not a lot of counter space around the sink. They do have a guest laundry available $4 per load to wash and $4 per load to dry. There is a pool and breakfast is available however we didn’t use either. We found the rooms a bit dark and a little better lighting would have been helpful. All in all a great place to stay, they are well located with a short walk to the beach and to the pier and downtown.
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Date of stay: November 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Disappointed it did not have any view. Clean comfortable room very quiet other than the in room ac/heat which made small but irritating noise constantly. Had to sleep with pillow over my head. Not worth the price. Not likely to stay again. Likely better value elsewhere in town closer to shops and restaurants. This was too far away to walk
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Date of stay: November 2024Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Debbie Patten, General Manager at Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands
Responded 20 Nov 2024
Thank you for taking the time to write your review. We don't advertise that we have sea views. We do offer garden view rooms however. Glad you found the hotel clean. Not sure if you were aware the reception is manned 24/7 so we could have address your heat pump issue if you had contacted us.
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We stayed here for one night with our family. We have stayed here a few times before as well. This is one of the best hotels in Paihia. The Reception and Housekeeping teams are incredibly friendly and always greet you with a smile. Special thanks to Bria at Reception who was exceptionally helpful. Our room was clean and comfortable with a good selection of teas, and we especially appreciated the hot chocolate. We enjoyed our stay very much and look forward to staying again on our next visit.
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Date of stay: November 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Safe parking. Walking distance to beach and ferry terminal and town.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Debbie Patten, General Manager at Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands
Responded 28 Dec 2024
This is so nice and we love that you keep coming back to us. We look forward to seeing you again soon. Travel Safe.
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I stayed for 2 nights. My room was on the ground floor, on a wing of the hotel along the hotel boundary that backed on to a forest. The second door opened onto the garden with a single latch to open it and two restricted opening windows so a level of security, but I do wish hotels would think more about single females travelling by themselves, and perhaps locate them within the main hotel complex or ensure there are extra security features like an extra lock on the door to reassure single female travellers. In future I'll probably ask a hotel prior to my arrival, but not being familiar to the place I didn't know the layout of the hotel.
The bed was large and comfortable. The room tidy on arrival. Bathroom had a very noisy extractor fan which came on seconds after you turned the bathroom light on, so I tried to minimise my use of it by using the hall light instead of the bathroom light to minimise the noise from the extractor fan. The first night I had dinner at the hotel restaurant. Lovely service and good bar for a weary worker alongside a small but clean and sufficient pool.
Fish and chips for dinner with way too much batter and a plate full of chips with a basic rocket salad on the side said to me there's not a lot of love shown in that meal so I decided I wouldn't eat there again and I probably needed a lower calorie meal after the hotel one. I also saw another hotel visitor come in with a takeaway bag so clearly he'd got the message to not eat at the hotel restaurant either (in fact not many folks eating at the restaurant. Most would have a drink only). So the next night I got takeaways from Green's Thai in Paihia which had great service and good curry so would recommend that rather than the hotel restaurant (I didn't have breakfast so can't comment on what that was like).
Overall it had what I needed because I don't need much - clean, tidy room, with basic tea and coffee facilities, tv, desk and wifi.
My issue was the slightly musty smell in my room (made more obvious because I felt compelled as a sole female traveller to close my windows at night), and when I asked them to make up my room, they tidied my bed nicely, they replaced my dirty teapot and cups that I'd used with clean ones, as I'd expect. I didn't need my towels replaced but I had made tea stains on the kitchenette bench and this wasn't wiped (nor was there a dish cloth for me to do it), nor did they vacuum or mop my bathroom floor or wipe the bathroom sink and while the mess was mine, I would have liked those things cleaned for when I returned back to my room again that evening.
Overall it made me feel I could stay at a motel and get the same amenities which I'll be doing in future.
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Date of stay: March 2021
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled on business
Room Tip:if you're a sole travelling female concerned about safety check if you're room is within...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My room was large & well appointed, the bathroom very small. The layout of the hotel is in small blocks through the grounds. There are no lifts to the upstairs rooms, so you need a porter if you have hezavy cases. The layout is confusing to find your way around, the signage too small, and the site map difficult to figure. The DR/ breakfast room was a little small for the size of hotel, and it was not possible to get a meal in-house in the restaurant on the night of our arrival, because they were already full - totally unacceptable in my book. The reception staff were not vey helpful & couldn't crack a smile. However the DR staff were lovely. The food in the restaurant on the third night was extremely good. Free WiFi everywhere across the site. Hotel is a 10-minute walk into town where the pubs & restaurants are located.
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Date of stay: April 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bedford, United Kingdom1,393 contribution308 helpful votes
Sorry I go not know however the hotel is very traditional so I would expect so.
If not the hotel is very near the centre of Paihia where there are a number of restaurants where I would expect one would provide a roast option
Enjoy this beautiful part of NZ
There are more places to choose from in the Paihia area.
PRICE RANGE
$154 - $292 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
scenic hotel paihia
LOCATION
New ZealandNorth IslandNorthland RegionBay of IslandsPaihia
NUMBER OF ROOMS
114
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect total costs of the stay, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
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