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Located on the Te Anau Lake Front, a short stroll from the Te Anau Town Centre, Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Villas is perfectly situated for you to make the most of this beautiful area. Surrounded by extensive, colourful gardens and overlooking spectacular Lake Te Anau and the Fiordland ranges, this Hotel and Villa accommodation sets the tone for your stay in one of the world’s most breathtaking regions. Designed for your comfort, we offer 115 luxurious rooms, including Hotel rooms with Garden and breathtaking Lake Views, and a range of spacious One and Two Bedroom Garden View Villas. On-site is the renowned MacKinnon Room Restaurant offering the very best of South Island cuisine, and the Explorer Bar and Lakefront Terrace where you can relax and enjoy the uninterrupted views of Lake Te Anau. The hotel offers the largest hotel based conference centre in the area, and its very own lakefront wedding chapel, plus extensive recreational facilities, including a spa, sauna, heated outdoor swimming pool and massage services.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Business
Harbour View
Languages Spoken
English
Location
64 Lakefront Drive, Te Anau, Fiordland National Park 9681 New Zealand
Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Villas
1,068 reviews
Getting there
Good for walkers
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An excellent location by the lake at Te Anau. The staff were excellent-friendly and efficient. Not the case however with the facility or the restaurant. The rooms (in our case 131 and 133) were quite well appointed but tired.Initially the TV did not work in 131 and the choice of channels was only mediocre. The bathrooms are outdated and the veneer on the bathroom door in 131 was peeling off. Used shower curtains are a thing of the past and at $nz 308.70 per night per room one should rightly expect better. The restaurant was overpriced. Two of us selected Butter Chicken as a main at $32.00 per person. Very disappointing-4 cubes of chicken and mainly a creamy curry sauce-the ratio was decidedly wrong. Overall a just ok experience which we will not be repeating.
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Date of stay: December 2019
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 Brent S, General Manager at Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Villas
Responded 2 Jan 2020
Dear affectianado Thanks for taking the time to provide us with your valuable feedback and I apologise the room and the meals were not up to expectations and TV did not work in room and veneer on bathroom door was peeling off. We will be sure to action your comments and ensure our consistency is improved. Our goal is to ensure everyone that leaves the hotel recommends us and this gives us a good opportunity to benchmark ourselves and make the necessary improvements needed. Regards Brent Stander
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My wife and I were on an organized tour of New Zealand. We stayed here for 1 night. The manager Brent came onto our tour bus to welcome us in person when we arrived. The grounds are spacious, as are the rooms. My wife and I had room #139. The bed was comfortable, and there was sufficient storage space. My only complaint is that the shampoo and conditioner contain methylparaben and propylparaben, which are bad for you, endocrine-wise.
There were 2 guest laundries. The washer and dryer cost 2 NZD per machine per load. You can buy washing powder for 2 NZD at the front desk.
We ate dinner and breakfast in the MacKinnon Room Restaurant. The food was good. This was the first place we stayed at during our 18-day tour that the hostess at the restaurant asked for your room number, before seating you for breakfast, and then asked you to use the hand sanitizer by the hostess stand.
The hotel was within walking distance of the waterfront, restaurants, a grocery store, and attractions (Te Anau Glowworm Caves).
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Date of stay: March 2020
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
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.
Nice location and view of the lake. No AC and no screens on windows/door. Room a bit small with 2 queens filling up most of the space(they said no king size). Breakfast was good with bacon option that was actually cooked. No wine/bottle opener in room and when I asked for one, they made me give it right back. The next night I asked again and said I had to come to the bar. Ugggh!. We made a "reservation" (required) for the hot tub/sauna but we went there, the sauna was off and the hot tub barely useable (no jets). Pool was fine (not heated) , but towels were lacking. Although they had a couple chairs on our "patio", there was no table to put anything on.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
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.
Other than the views of the water and a decent swimming pool, there is little to recommend this hotel. We spent a disappointing night at this hotel in December and were really surprised at the significant number of issues given the price, Distinction Brand, and marketing.
The hotel layout is very odd- with long unwelcoming corridors and glass doors everywhere. There are also no elevators and you end up hauling your luggage long distance and up stairs. The outdoor areas near the pool were quite sad looking, and need a basic landscaping refresh and fresh coat of paint. The pool was fine and our kids enjoyed swimming.
Our room (standard double) was not only extremely small, but was also really hot and seemed to have no airflow. The hotel had put a fan in the room, which we had to run continuously to maintain a basic level of airflow in the room. And opening the sliding glass doors was not an option because there was no screen and mosquitos quickly flew in.
Inexplicably, the restaurant at the hotel is well-rated, and so we tried to have dinner there. Service was incredibly slow, basic requests were forgotten and we had to re-ask multiple times, and the food was average at best. We skipped breakfast after that experience, which appeared to take place in a gigantic banquet room better suited for a cruise ship than a hotel.
Overall, just kind of a dated, weird place. Strongly recommend booking elsewhere.
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Date of stay: December 2019
Value
Rooms
Service
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 Brent S, General Manager at Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Villas
Responded 22 Jan 2020
Dear Kira Thanks for your review and I apologise you experienced issues during your stay. We have addressed these with our team to make the improvements needed. We sincerely hope you enjoyed the rest of your time in Fiordland and had a safe trip home. Regards Brent Stander
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The not so great- Very tired and basic villas. Comfortable enough for one night but need some modernising. Villas are tucked around the back of hotel grounds and it looks a bit like a derelict site with a broken road base and potholes and old buildings. Needs an update badly , old blinds and poor lighting. Fridge and fan very dirty, 1 x globe is blown in lounge room and it’s also quite dark inside. Bed is very uncomfortable and hard to sleep. Doesn’t have aircon- just a fan.
The positives are- Polite service on checkin and gave late checkout along with storing our car for a night whilst travelling on the Milford sound for a night.
Easy walk to town and lake is across the road.
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Date of stay: March 2020Trip 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.
This two-storey hotel overlooking the lake and mountains was quiet, but close to the small town’s centre. Our room was comfortable and adequate, with two double beds and a small bathroom. There was no air-conditioning, but a floor fan provided sufficient air movement to make us comfortable.
The bar and dining room were pleasant and inviting, but what distinguished this hotel were the staff who made our small group feel special by welcoming us into a private dining room and providing such an excellent dinner.
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Date of stay: April 2019
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
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.
We had a comfortable two day stay; our superior room was clean and well - appointed. It did get very warm in the room (the weather was warm and sunny) but a fan was already provided in lieu of air-conditioning. We had the excellent buffet breakfast, plenty of choice and good value. We had dinner on one evening - a very good menu and wine list and a delicious meal. All the staff were helpful, friendly and professional.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Location
Cleanliness
Service
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 Brent Stander, General Manager at Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Villas
Responded 24 Feb 2020
Dear Helen Thanks for your kind words of encouragement and we are delighted to hear you enjoyed your stay and hope to see you back soon. Regards Brent Stander
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Stayed at this hotel during the last leg of our fantastic NZ holiday. NZ hospitality is phenomenal and everywhere we go we are greeted with friendly faces. We have stayed at several hotels across South Island and they all have strength and deficiencies, esp around peak seasons when staff shortage is an issue. But we tend to gloss over the deficiencies because the people is so nice and soul of a hotel. But this hotel has some serious issues. It charges at premium price compared to hotels in Queenstown, but the facilities are really substandard. It’s like stepping into a time capsule of the 70s. There is no elevator and we have to wait for the poor overworked porter to bring them to 2nd floor, there were two suitcases in our room from the previous tenants which the porter had not had time to remove. My kid got stuck in the bathroom because the doorknob was faulty (luckily we opened it after a long time…. Sigh). We left the room at 5am and returned at 3pm but nobody serviced our rooms, the house staff and their trolleys were at the corridor right outside. When I asked them politely about servicing our room , they just changed the towels, I had to hand them the rubbish bins to empty. Guess they were temporary staff. The room has a pseudo-aircon knob that does not work, not even an air vent. We could not open the window due to sandflies and so it was like an oven all night since the weather has been warm. There was a fan in the room but quite noisy. The furnitures are all worn out and the carpets are just….sigh. I gave one more star to the ratings because of the great sunset outside our room and proximity to the restaurants.
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Date of stay: December 2023Trip 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.
We had a two bedroom which has only one bathroom. Rooms were very outdated, except for bathroom updates. Found them to be very dark. Breakfast was expensive and the service was average. We also had Christmas buffet at the sister hotel - one of the only places open - it was extremely overpriced and not very good. There are not many places to choose from in this area, so this one is fine as long as you set your expectation that it is not "luxury" as described.
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Date of stay: December 2019
Value
Cleanliness
Service
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 Brent S, General Manager at Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Villas
Responded 8 Jan 2020
Dear Suzanne Thanks for your review and comments and we have taken on board and will use as a tool to benchmark ourselves. We hope you enjoyed the rest of your time in Fiordland and apologise the hotel and services didn't meet with your expectations. We sincerely hope you had a safe trip home. Regards Brent Stander
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I really enjoyed this hotel as it has a view of the lake, the rooms are very spacious and the layout of the room is set up so you have plenty of space for your luggage, a large writing desk, comfortable chairs and a very comfortable bed(s). We also had one delicious, gourmet dinner and two very good buffet breakfasts. The staff is so nice and right there if you need anything.
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Date of stay: March 2020
Location
Cleanliness
Service
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.
Westlake Village, California742 contributions160 helpful votes
Yes, there are ATM's, I used my credit card everywhere I went, restaurants & shopping! Loved the original gift shops in city! Beautiful selections!
Love the quaint little city!
Westlake Village, California742 contributions160 helpful votes
To your question about hair dryers, yes! No air conditioning, we were there in Feb 2019 & it was very hot! There was one rotating fan in our room, asked for another to keep air recirculating, we were on the first floor & had a door open to an outside patio, left it open for the cooler air to come in!
Hotel staff were exceptionally helpful & polite! We were on a Tauck Guided Tour who arranged everything for us including going to the glow Worm Caves & Melford Sound !
A must do on your trip to Te Anau! Views from our room were of the lake, close to shopping! Excellent restaurant in hotel!!!! Would definitely recommend returning, best in the city!! Not a Ritz Carlton, but adequate for our needs thru Tauck Tours!
There are more places to choose from in the Te Anau area.
PRICE RANGE
$392 - $473 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
distinction te anau hotel, distinction hotel te anau
LOCATION
New ZealandSouth IslandSouthland RegionFiordland National ParkTe Anau
NUMBER OF ROOMS
115
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